The Amalgamator of real estate and Hospitality

Young and brimming with ideas

BRAND CONNECT

Published: Mar 27, 2020 02:23:57 PM IST

Updated: Mar 27, 2020 03:21:45 PM IST

The Amalgamator of real estate and Hospitality

Having completed 13 long years in the Real Estate industry—Sahil Bhatia, Joint Managing Director, BAANI Group (est. 1982), has scaled heights through his sheer passion for work.

Sharing his life journey Sahil Bhatia moves down the memory lane and recollects, “Discipline was a priority for my parents and it was supplemented by St. Columba’s School, New Delhi, which elevated values. Thereafter, I pursued a degree in BBA from Lancaster University, England.” For him music and fitness hold a really special place and help him unwind in his own safe space.

RISING TRIUMPHANT

BAANI Group, which started out as a large fashion house, ventured into real estate in 2001. Young and brimming with ideas, Sahil Bhatia pursued hotel management after a degree in BBA. Remembering his early days, Sahil said, “Before I could join the business my father said, if you want to do this, you need to prove it to me, but more so to yourself.”

Proving his metal, Hilton Garden Inn, BAANI Square, opened its doors in 2011. This brought his love for the real estate and his dream to be in the hospitality industry together. Today, the hospitality vertical owns 2 hotels and the real estate arm owns over 10 buildings—with a total area of 2 million sq.ft.—leased out to all fortune 500 companies and managed by another vertical pertaining to professional facility-management company.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE CHALLENGING TIMES

He believes in drawing inspiration from experiences whether his own or of others. He emphasises, “Lessons in life influenced me and success stories inspired me. In my formative years, I took speed bumps a little too hard and I learnt that when I fall, I just need to get up, brush it off and keep running till I reach my destination.”

Considering how unorganised the real estate sector is, he considers recalibrating, embracing and moving forward with the unruly policy and governance changes, and faltering economy as a mark of real success.

ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Being part of the ‘high the risk, higher the reward industry’, he had never been tempted by the grey shades. He runs a transparent business based on organic growth amidst a highly competitive market. He believes in working on a 5-year plan, where he knows where he wants to be and starts working backwards with 100 per cent efforts. Proving it he said, “The Hilton Garden Inn is now being recognised by the Hilton umbrella as above & beyond the performance and services of its global counterparts. We are in process of upgrading the brand to one that is more suitable.”

Talking about his achievements he said, “My achievement is the quantum of my hard work and perseverance. My pride and biggest achievement till date is that BAANI Group is a zero-debt company.” The road ahead will hopefully be reaching international shores with the Group looking for opportunities to acquire hospitality assets worldwide.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Hilton Garden Inn won TripAdvisor Award in 2014 and 2015, BAANI Group has added another 5-star luxury business hotel under its ownership which will be completed by the end of 2020.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.

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