Shridhar Nair has been the General Manager of the celebrated The Leela Goa resort for over 7 years now. He is a double graduate in Arts and Hotel Management from Mumbai University & Kerala respectively, and he has also attended Cornell University‘s General Manager Programme at Ithaca. Straight after college he joined The Leela Palaces & Resorts as a Management Trainee and have now been with the group for over 22 years. Shridhar has worked in different capacities and sections across various Leela Hotels (both business hotels & resorts) and joined the flagship Goa resort as the Head of Food & Beverage section in 2009. He moved on to take over as the General Manager of the resort and successfully spearheaded the comprehensive 15 million dollar renovation project.
Shridhar comes from Mumbai. He is married and his wife is also a hotelier. He has two children, a daughter and a son. And a Labrador.
1 Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?
Having been born & raised in cosmopolitan Mumbai, I find it difficult to look beyond Mumbai as “home”. It is truly a melting pot of cultures & religions and having travelled around the world, I would always rate it as my most favourite place!!
2 What are your proudest achievements?
Amongst other things like becoming the youngest General Manager in the hotel group, the successful execution of the prestigious BRICS summit ( where we hosted 11 heads of states & their delegations ) at the resort in 2016 would surely feature as my proudest achievement.
3 What inspires you?
I have always been deeply inspired by travelling across the world especially historical places. The opportunity to experience and interact with people from various cultural & ethnic backgrounds across the globe has helped give me a fresh perspective on improving human relations.
4 What has been biggest obstacle in your career?
Overcoming the then-established notion that maturity comes only with age & not experience was one of the stumbling blocks in my career. I was considered to be too young to shoulder serious responsibility and I had to overcome this challenge with a lot of persistence & grit.
5 Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
The founder Chairman of The Leela group Late Captain CP Krishnan Nair was someone who could not only spot talent but also nurture it to be successful. I’m so thankful that he took me under his wing. His commitment to quality, opulence and trust in people has deeply inspired me in my career.
6 What is the best aspect about your current role?
The Leela Goa is a sprawling 75 acres resort and it’s not less than a paradise on Earth. I have considerable influence in ensuring that our guests, from various walks of life (who visit us with very high expectations) have a memorable experience at the resort and this is a responsibility I take very seriously !!
7 And the worst?
Again, the resort is beautiful and is nestled between Arabian Sea and River Sal. This has its own challenge in terms of the maintenance. Also I’m directly responsible for maintaining very high guest service standard so that our guests find value for the money spent – I can never relax in my own resort!
8 What are your long term goals?
Since all through my career, I have only been part of the luxury hotels, I would like to head a group of luxury hotels sometime in the future. I think I will enjoy expanding footprints of an Indian brand on foreign soil and somewhere contribute in taking Indian hospitality to the world.
9 If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
I would strive to keep the government out of conducting or directly influencing businesses!! Also looking at the growth prospect of Tourism in India, I would implement policies, tax structures and FSI benefits to accelerate the growth in this sector.
10 If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why.
Benoît Lecomte, for sure. He is a French-born long-distance swimmer who claimed to be the first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean without a kick board in 1998. His skills would certainly come in handy in a difficult situation!
