Art collector and design aficionado, Priya Paul is Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels in India.
Priya Paul started her career under her father, the late Surrendra Paul, as Marketing Manager of the Park in New Delhi. She is the creative powerhouse behind The Park collection of contemporary luxury boutique hotels.
The Park Hotels is part of The Apeejay Surrenda Group, owners of Typhoo Tea - a conglomerate run by the Paul family. Priya’s brother, Karan Paul, is the Group Chairman (her father was the late Chairman and then her mother) and her sister Priti Paul runs the retail and real estate divisions.
Priya is a founding member of the World Travel and Tourism Council – India Initiative and was Chairperson for 2013.
She is a Trustee of the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) and Chairperson. She is a member of Harvard Business Schools’ India Advisory Board. She is also an Executive Committee Member and Ex-President of the Hotel Association of India.
Priya was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions to trade and industry and was nominated Business Woman of The Year four times by The Economic Times of India. She has also been one of the 12 Forebears of Contemporary Travel at LE Miami.
Priya Paul has now been working in the hospitality industry for 25 years.
With a BA in Economics from Wellesley College, Priya completed the Owner President Management Program at Harvard Business School.
She took time out to talk to the Asian Voice.
She must have had early challenges, we wondered. Priya agreed.
“When I entered the industry at 22, I really needed to look at our hotel company and make it operate like a group. I needed to establish common procedures. It was the 1990s, so I decided we could differentiate ourselves with design. From there we started to build.
Priya pioneered design-led hospitality in India and The Park Hotels is a brand that represents New India, combining references to local culture with Western design influences – Conran designed four hotels.
Priya and her “talented” team are constantly coming up with innovative ideas to stay ahead. “I carefully select creative people. Together we have been able to shake up the markets by being bold. We created this niche of design,” she explained. “We stay ahead by selecting the right people, and have a well developed reward system for ideas.”
For example, The Park hotels have introduced “Anything But Ordinary” food experiences such as the “Launch of home in 20 minutes”. Now guests staying at any of The Park Hotels feeling nostalgic and missing home can order from the hotels comfort/soul food section. An “In-room picnic menu” has been introduced to enjoy a fun picnic in the room without having to step outdoors. There are bright plates and bowls, with food served hot in colourful traditional "dabbas" or tiffin boxes, three dimensional coasters, large oversized napkins, and flasks for hot beverages. It all brings alive the child in guests and reminds them of the excitement that they felt during school recess hours – wondering what surprises the tiffin boxes held.
Under “Anything But Ordinary” travel experiences, the hotel has introduced fun eco-friendly Reva cars at its properties in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Guests can explore the city, visit beautiful sights and shop during their stay in the Revas.
For “Anything But Ordinary” Entertainment, the Park has added 39 movies curated by Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak to its library.
Priya’s arts affinity is shown by the hotel goup’s New Festival, a contemporary performance arts festival organized by The Park Hotels and curated by the Prakriti Foundation. The festival started in Kolkata and is travelling to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.
There is also a work bed table to provide a work from bed facility to business travellers. Guests can “convert their bed into the most comfortable office in the world” - just by asking for the work bed table. This cushioned table with a small reading light, a beverage cup/glass holder and a small channel to keep your pen/pencil/stylus allows guests to work on their laptops from their beds.
This year Priya launched a diffusion line of design-forward hotels for the mid-market called Zone by The Park, pioneering this sector in India. “They will be aspirational, in two and three tier cities, design hotels but at a cheaper price – in the £40-£50 range, she said.
Also launching in winter 2015 is a new hotel under The Park Collection, The Park Corbett, located in the Jim Corbett National Park.
