Hospitality is the art of making people feel they are special. In hotels, it is the art of making them believe they are connoisseurs of the fine life. The great luxury hotel chain of India, the Oberoi Group, is helmed by its stylish doyen Biki Oberoi, who loves the best Cuban cigars and horses. In 1984, he inherited a nine-hotel chain from his father and the Oberoi Group founder Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi.
Today it has 30 hotels, of which seven are abroad, and a Nile Cruiser and a Motor Vessel in Kerala. It is a Made in India story of a homegrown brand, which is considered the epitome of class and comfort. He is known to have said, “A luxury hotel is like a beautiful woman. If you do not look after her and bejewel her from time to time, no one will desire her.” Touché.