Corporate Reports

Published: Dec 29, 2021
Updated: Dec 29, 2021

LORDS HOTELS AND RESORTS: All set to hit first half-century

In just a dozen years of its existence, Lords Hotels and Resorts already has 41 properties under its belt and is aggressively aiming for many more. Promoter and first-gen hotelier Pushpendra Bansal, who was a civil engineer before he took the plunge in the hospitality business, has a keen sense of timing and is targeting the growing popularity of the lifestyle, leisure and tourism segments for growing his hotel chain. After resounding success in Gujarat, the company has set up properties in six other Indian states and even in neighbouring Nepal. His wife Sangeeta, who has a hoteliering background, is an equal partner in their ambitious growth plans and places great emphasis on customer satisfaction. An upbeat Mr Bansal is confident of taking the company from its current Rs 100-crore turnover to Rs 500 crore in the next four to five years.

Like a batsman in fine form, Lords Hotels and Resorts, a New Delhi-based and Mumbai-headquartered mid-market hotel chain, is all set to hit its first half-century by crossing the 50- hotel mark during the next eight months. It has crossed several milestones within the first 12 years of its existence – a record in the history of the mid-market hotel segment in India. By now, this fast-growing mid-market hotel chain has already set up 41 hotels and has selected locations for a dozen new projects which will take the total number of hotels under its belt to over 50.

The pace of growth will continue if boardroom decisions are any guide. The company’s team working on future growth plans has been selecting viable locations to expand its footprint, and observers say it will not be surprising if Lords hit its first ‘century’ within the next seven years! The main driver behind the rapid strides made by the company during its first decade is Pushpendra Bansal, Chief Operating Officer, a first-gen entrepreneur and someone who ‘accidentally’ entered the hospitality sector. A noted civil engineer, Mr Bansal was constructing a hotel building for one of his clients when he mulled the idea of entering the hotel space himself. After brainstorming the issue with his wife Sangeeta – who herself has had rich experience in hotel operations, having worked with renowned American hotels like the Ritz Carlton and Comfort Inn — the couple decided to foray into hotel management and floated Lords Hotels and Resorts Ltd, acquiring their first hotel in Surat in 2008. Mr Bansal took up the responsibility of COO while his wife took on the role of director in-charge of operations.

The success of the first hotel motivated Mr Bansal to expand his business by setting up hotels in various locations with good business potential. He was clear in his mind that with the changing winds in the fields of lifestyle, leisure and tourism there was tremendous growth potential in the mid-market hospitality segment.

BREAKNECK SPEED

The speed at which he implemented his plan was unheard of in the Indian mid-market hotel segment. Within just 12 years, Lords Hotels has turned into a 40-property strong hotel chain. Incidentally, Lords has also emerged as the largest mid-scale hotel chain in Gujarat, with a score of hotels dotting the entire state. Today, Lords hotels are located in Surat, Ahmedabad, Ankleshwar, Amroli, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Dahej, Dwarka, Gandhidham, Gir forest, Gir-Sasan, Porbandar, Rajula, Morbi, Rajkot, Somnath, Vadodara, Saputara-aakar, SaputaraPetang, Somnath and Chotila Jamnagar. Dreaming of a pan-India presence, Mr Bansal went beyond Gujarat and expanded his footprint to Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Lucknow), Karnataka (Bengaluru-Jayanagar, Bengaluru-Mysuru Road, Belagavi), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Jaipur-Mansarovar, Udaipur, Nathdwara, Jodhpur), Kerala (Thrissur), Maharashtra (Shirdi), Jammu & Kashmir (Jammu) and Arunachal Pradesh. Also eyeing foreign destinations, Mr Bansal started with neighbouring Nepal where there are Lords hotels in Kathmandu, Birgunj and Nepalgunj.

The company is still in expansion mode. Mr Bansal has prepared a list of around 30 locations where Lords Hotels would like to extend its footprint. These locations include Vrindavan, Muarjat, Shikarpur, Pukhra, Gangtok, Vyara, Delhi-NCR, Goa, Muduba-Shivamogga (Karnataka), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kolkata, Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Shirdi, Somnath, Katra Mathura and Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh).

FOCUS ON QUALITY

“No doubt we are expanding fast, setting up one after another hotel. However, we are keen not only to increase the number of hotels but we pay equal attention to the qualitative aspect,” maintains Ms Sangeeta Bansal, director in-charge of operations. “Along wih setting up new hotels, we have been paying utmost attention to the qualitative aspects of ambience, quality of food and standard of customer service to ensure that our customers are not only fully satisfied with the facilities we provide but their stay here should be highly happy and worth remembering for a long time, prompting them to come again and again.” She adds, “Our hotel rooms are not just made of four walls and routine furniture but they are distinguished with modern aesthetic amenities, hi-tech design and a heart-touching ambience. Each of our hotels is a unique personality. For example, our Aarya Lords Club and Resort, Rajkot is an astonishing resort, inspired by the ancient Egyptian pyramids. The resort encompasses seven pyramids which exude grandeur and peace.

Likewise, the architecture of Lords Resort Chotila is inspired by the shape of a crescent moon and a few handpicked rooms are beautifully designed in traditional Bhunga style with a private sit-out overlooking water bodies built around them. Almost every Lords hotel has its own specialities. These unique structures are like an art form which inspires and forms an emotional connect with the guests and offers them a luxury experience.”

Maintaining that “we have already hit a half-century and we are getting ready for continuing our journey to reach our first century,” Rishi Surya Puri Vice President Co-operations of Lords adds, “But just now we prefer a pause for consolidating our gains achieved during the last 12 years.” According to Mr Puri, under the consolidation phase the management will review all facilities and make improvements wherever needed.

Customer services will be updated and will be refined wherever necessary, while infrastructure will be reviewed. Realising that hotels can give good account of themselves if they have trained and polished personnel, a farsighted Mr Bansal set up a hospitality training institution at Surat in Gujarat. “As a result of this institute, we get professionals who can contribute significantly in boosting the image of our hotels,” maintains Mr Bansal.

MULTI BRANDS

The civil engineer-turned-hotelier, Mr. Bansal is now busy exploring new locations for expanding his hotel chain. Today, Lords has four brands — Lords Plaza, Lords Inn, Lords Eco Inn and Lords Resorts. These include modern fully-equipped business hotels, luxury resorts, authentic heritage palaces and rustic safari cottages which have always exceeded expectations of their guests in every way. Adds Ms Sangeeta Bansal, “Right from the beginning we have set a benchmark for hospitality by providing new product innovations and services to meet guests’ evolving needs, and we endeavour to continuously improve upon them.”

Pointing out that the number of pilgrimage tourists is on the increase in the country, Mr Bansal adds that “there are over 200 iconic and sacred places of worship in the country and the number of tourists to these places is on the rise, with these sites receiving around 1.5 million tourists footprints annually. Hence we have decided to focus on this segment. In our upcoming hotels, we would prefer to have around 30 per cent of our hotel portfolio in this segment.”

Adds Mr Puri, “While many of the top pilgrimage destinations like Shirdi have branded hotels, a majority of the sites are served by stand-alone hotels which leave tourists with no option but to manage with what is available. By now, we have set up seven hotels in such pilgrimage destinations and they have met with remarkable success. We will go on adding to this list.”

By now, Lords has already established its footprint in north, west and south India and is now anxious to enter the east as well as the north-east of the country. Possible locations are being explored and over 25 locations have been selected. The Bansals are keen to spread the ‘Lords message’ to overseas countries too. “We have already set up three hotels in Nepal, which are doing very well. Now we are exploring locations in other neighbouring countries as well as in Africa in the coming years,” says Mr Bansal.

The company is firmly on the path of growth. Last year, its turnover crossed the Rs 100-crore mark, and Mr Bansal is optimistic about achieving the Rs 500-crore milestone within the next five years.