PRITHVI RAJ SINGH OBEROI aka BIKKI OBEROI

Today the Oberoi Group has thirty-two hotels including two cruises in Egypt (see end of piece).

And while Bikki narrated the long journey of the Oberoi Group’s triumphs and tribulations with a heavy heart he also narrated the tragic terrorist attack of 26 November 2008. He was in Mumbai at that point and to see what he had created become an epicenter of the Mumbai terrorist attack was heart wrenching. 

‘I was at Taj Lands End hotel for an award ceremony when all of it started unfolding at the Oberoi. The first news that I got was that a gang war had broken out in the hotel. A few minutes later I was informed it was a terrorist attack and there was police all over.’ Bikki, who could not get back to the hotel stayed at the Taj for the next few days but what he saw when he went was devastating. The Trident wasn’t badly damaged, but the Oberoi was. When I went to the Oberoi, I was mortified to see the sight. There was glass and water all over,’ he says.  

Bikki talks about challenging times ahead, as the Oberoi story goes through its own financial roller coaster journey with emerging competition. Scrutinizing the balance sheet is not exactly the mandate of the Global Sikh Trail, which through these stories tries to bring out human triumph and success.

Talking about competition, he says, ‘It surprises me that businesses that don’t even own a single room or even a taxi are worth thirty billion dollars. Technology has taken over everything. So in order to remain in competition we have to strategies and plan accordingly. 

‘However, no matter what happens, there will be space for the luxury traveller,’ he says, convinced that the luxury traveller would only go where he gets genuine luxury. A luxury traveller needs a safe setting, a speedy check-in, good food, great air-conditioning and immaculate housekeeping. Bikki doesn’t hesitate to add that the strength of the group is its staff. ‘When anyone asks me I say it’s the staff. Selection, training and motivation is on what the Oberoi model is built and we are lucky to have mastered it,’ he adds.

Five years ago he took on the biggest challenge of his career: to renovate and refurbish The Oberoi, Delhi (became The Oberoi after the contract with Intercontinental was over) and bring to halt 15% (had contributed Rs.197 crores in 2015) of the EIH’s revenue. Much print space was dedicated to the decision of renovating it and the financial burden it caused to the Oberoi exchequer, but Bikki was convinced that he had taken the right decision. Fortune magazine in its December 2016 issue while evaluating the decision stated: ‘The Rs 325 crore renovation is more than a fix. It is a statement of intent from a man hailed as the greatest hotelier India has produced: EIH’s executive chairman Prithvi Raj Singh ‘Bikki’ Oberoi’.

The Oberoi in Lutyens’ Delhi recommenced operations earlier this year (2018) after a two-year hiatus. ‘Other than changing everything else, a lot of structural changes have been made to make the building safe,’ says Bikki. ‘We had to do it, and I’m glad that we did it,’ he adds.

Bikki, who is eighty-nine, is a satisfied man, having achieved accolades which perhaps no living hotelier in the world has. To carry his legacy forward he has his son Vikram Oberoi and nephew Arjun Oberoi (son of his elder brother) who are joint managing directors. ‘Arjun is like my son,’ says Bikki. Vikram looks after the day-to-day operations while Arjun handles business development. 

And as we bid goodbye to each other, it is clear that India’s ‘larger-than-life’ hotelier is none other than Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi. Not only that, he is by far the driving force that inarguably defines the word ‘luxury’ in its entirety. 

 

Leading Awards

• Best Hotel Group – Telegraph Travel Awards 2017, UK
• World’s Best Hotel Brand – Travel + Leisure, US, World’s Best Awards, 2016
• World’s Best Hotel Brand – Travel + Leisure, US, World’s Best Awards, 2015
• World’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand – World Travel Awards 2015
• World’s Highest Rated Luxury Hotel Brand – ReviewPro’s 2014 Top Luxury Hotel & Brand Report
• Top Hotel Brands (Ranked 2nd) – Travel + Leisure, US, World’s Best Awards, 2014
• World’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand – World Travel Awards 2014
• Hotel-Company of the Year – 2014 HIDEAWAYS, Germany 2014
• World’s Best Hotel Brand – Travel + Leisure, US, World’s Best Awards, 2013
• World’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand – World Travel Awards 2013
• World’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand – World Travel Awards 2012
• Best Business Hotel Chain in India – Travel + Leisure, India & South Asia, India’s Best Awards 2011
• Best Premium Hotel Group Category – Times Travel Honours 2011, The Times of India
• Best Business Hotel Chain in India – Condé Nast Traveller, Readers’ Travel Awards, India 2011
• Best Hotel Chain (outside the UK) – Guardian, Observer and guardian.co.uk Travel Awards 2008
• Best Hotel Chain (outside the US) – Condé Nast Traveler, US, Business Travel Awards 2007
• Asia’s Leading Luxury Hotel Brand – World Travel Awards 2007
• Business Leader in the Hospitality Category East India Hotels) – NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award 2011 (Won by East India Hotels)

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