‘Good values are precious to me’

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

: tip-off from a friend. “I have come to meet the Big Boss,” he told the security guard on duty. Once in the presence of the man he idolised, it was hard for Kamat to contain his excitement, “I want to be a greater hotelier than you,” he told the rather dumbfounded Oberoi.

But Oberoi was kind enough to pardon the young man no older than his son. Years later when the Orchid Hotel was launched, Kamat extended his first invitation to Oberoi. Unable to make it to the inauguration, Oberoi responded with a tender letter, “I have forgotten many people in my life, but I could never forget you. You expressed a desire to become greater than I was. I had never met a person like you in my entire life.”

Kamat’s desire to excel has compelled him to try out new things. The Orchid Hotel, for instance, is a five-star ecotel, consistently rated as one of the best in the world. Lotus Suites, on the other hand, is a four-star budget hotel in Mumbai, which will be extended to tier II and III cities such as Nagpur, Raipur (located in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh), Amboli and Aronde (both are located in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra).

Orchid itself will be taken to places such as Raipur, even as the group contemplates getting into the luxury heritage and resort segments. None of this would have been possible if Kamat did not take those first tentative steps in that direction in the 1980s.

He began by acquiring loss-making properties in places such as Vapi in Gujarat and Khandala in Maharashtra. This gave him the confidence to go for larger acquisitions such as the Plaza

Hotel in Mumbai. With Orchid coming on board in 1997, however, there has been no looking back for the group. Kamat Hotels India was publicly listed in 1996 and has just completed an $18-million foreign currency convertible bond

(FCCB) issue.

In the midst of all this, though, Kamat never fails to thank a few people who came into his life and made that crucial difference. If Oberoi was the man, Kamat looked up to professionally, the late Behram Contractor, a renowned journalist and columnist, was a personal friend and guide to him. “He was amazing. The grip on language he had was too good. I learnt to appreciate the finer things in life from him,” says Kamat.