The Hindu Business Line : Krishnan’s Leelas

“The Indian hotel industry has come a long way during the past 20 years. We are second to none in our services, efficiency and hospitality. And the country has some of the best properties."

C. Ratheesh kumar

Playing host: C.P. Krishnan Nair

C.J. Punnathara

He is 88 years young, quite literally. Capt C.P. Krishnan Nair, the octogenarian Chairman of the Leela Group, remains as perceptive, intuitive and dynamic as ever, and can rival any of the current crop of top corporate honchos. And that is not surprising. This doyen of one of India’s top hospitality chains started his first hotel at the ripe age of 65: at a stage when most CEOs contemplate retiring from the frenetic pace of the corporate world and boardroom battles .

Taking off

Nair’s first hotel at Sahar in Mumbai was based on a grand vision. It was at a time when the airport was surrounded by slums, and visitors were keen to flee from these sullen grimy surroundings. But he had visions of grandeur not only for himself but also for the airport, its surroundings, and for the thousands of visitors — both foreign and domestic — who flocked to Mumbai every day.

“I dreamt of an airport hotel where flight crew and inbound and outbound travellers could rest and recuperate before resuming their onward journey and other callings of life. At that time, 23 years ago, Sahar was full of shanties, dirt and grime,” he reminisces.

German association

The hotel entered into a marketing alliance with Germany’s Kempinsky group, which has close to a hundred years of rich management expertise in the hospitality industry. When Lufthansa and British Airways became regular customers, Nair had Kempinski to thank. That relationship has continued to flourish and a flurry of projects have come up across the land. Second in line was the Leela Goa, followed by the Leela Palace in Bangalore and the Leela Beach Resort in Thiruvananthapuram. New projects will be commissioned at Gurgaon, Udaipur and Chennai this year. Other new properties have been planned for New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Hyderabad and Pune in the coming years.

“The Indian hotel industry has come a long way during the past 20 years. We are second to none in our services, efficiency and hospitality. And the country has some of the best properties in the world, set in diverse ambience from the deserts of Rajasthan, the beachfronts of Goa and Kovalam, the garden city of Bangalore to the cool getaways of Srinagar and Shimla. These diverse landscapes and rich heritage and culture are hard to come by elsewhere,” he points out.

Earthy philosophy

The Leela Group’s credo of ‘atithi devo bhava’ (Guest is God) is deeply ingrained in Nair’s psyche. Born and brought up in the north Kerala district of Kannur, he soaked in the culture and mores of his native land which has guided his life ever since. He recalls that his mother, Madhavi, left a deep impression on him. “My mother could recall the names and faces of every worker in our paddy fields,” he recounts. That has proved to be the starting point for his HR practice. And today, he has built an empire of 30,000 employees through the Leela Hotels and Leela Lace. On the political and social front, he has traversed the paths of communism and socialism before becoming a full-fledged industrialist.

One noticeable feature about Nair is the long gestation period involved for each of his projects. The idea for a hotel project first took seed in his mind way back in 1957, when he visited West Germany as a representative of the Handloom Board seeking newer markets. His stay at the Kempinsky hotel left a lasting impression on his mind.

The right timing

“Timing is everything in the hospitality industry. At that time India was quite a poor country and required consistent food aid from the rest of the world. It was not the best of times to think of luxury hotel projects,” he reflects. By the time the first Leela property came up in Mumbai three decades later, the country had an inherent need for comfortable hotels and a ready clientele willing to spend on comforts.

The idea for the Leela Palace in Bangalore came about during Ramakrishna Hegde’s stint as Karnataka Chief Minister. Hegde put across a suggestion to Nair: construct a luxury hotel in Bangalore on the lines of the Mysore Palace. Decades later, in 2001, the Bangalore Leela Palace was born on eight acres, with 357 rooms, at a cost of Rs 600 crore. Its Presidential suite comes at a princely price — one of the costliest in the land. The property was adjudged the best business hotel in the world by the Conde Nast Traveller the very next year.

Eco-conscious hospitality

Despite all the glamour of five-star living surrounding him, Nair has his feet firmly on the ground. He continues to cherish the greenery of Kerala, emerging as a champion of environment friendliness. Thus, he makes it a point to ensure that space is never a constraint at his hotel properties. And with the sprawling space come greenery and environmental concerns. The Leela Mumbai is situated on 14 acres and its green canopy is provided by coconut trees that have come all the way from Kerala, says Nair. This greenery, in fact, extends to the 200 acres of the airport, partly due to the efforts of the Leela Group. The Goa property stands tall on 75 acres. It took one lakh truckloads of red soil to instil life and greenery to the arid sands, he recalls.

His work has fetched him accolades and recognition aplenty. The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences has conferred him a Lifetime Achievement Award for being a hotelier par excellence, visionary environmentalist and a beacon of social responsibility. The United Nations Environment Programme has awarded him the Global 500 Roll of Honour award. Brimming with enthusiasm, Nair looks forward to conquering several challenges ahead.

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