Making Hospitality Home Like

Rose Petal Hotel is fast emerging as one of the most iconic luxury hotel brands available to travelers today in Kashmir. Founded in 2017, the name quickly became a force to reckon with in the hospitality industry.

Najeeb Ahmad, a founding team member, today acts as CEO. Kashmir Business Voice spoke to Najeeb Ahmad about the evolution of the luxury guest experience and how his hotel is attempting to surpass its loftiest expectations.

Najeeb Ahmad - CEO, Rose Petal Hotel

To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.

Tell us about your journey as a hotel entrepreneur. Any key learnings that you would like to share?

I take pride in being part of Rose Petal Hotel’s success story –a property that captures the essence of Srinagar. It has been a fantastic journey, with ups and downs and lots of challenges, but many great times as well. I have been blessed with fabulous partners who believed in my vision for the hotel and, most importantly, an amazing team that works tirelessly to make a difference every day. I am very grateful for what we have achieved so far, but even more excited about the future and all the great things we aim to do. I am in love with the hospitality business, a bug I caught a little later in life. I started my career as a businessman dealing in exquisite Kashmiri arts and handicrafts. Being intrigued with culture and people from my earlier years, my foray into the hospitality sector was a natural progression for me. Working in hospitality has taught me skills I could not have learnt anywhere else. It taught me about prioritization, swift problemsolving, crystal-clear communication, humility, and how to keep smiling on face despite having a rough day.

What are your thoughts on the current state of the Kashmir’s hospitality market?

I am very hopeful. The way J&K handled the pandemic is truly impressive, and the government has been instrumental in how fast the hospitality industry is getting back on its feet. According to the available data, 22,59,569 tourists visited the Kashmir Valley last year, in 2022. These include 22,40,616 domestic tourists and 18,953 foreign tourists. These numbers are huge and record-breaking for the UT. Jammu and Kashmir is among the 10 states and union territories where the service sector’s (mostly tourism) contribution to state gross domestic product (SGDP) is more than 58 per cent. I am sure that we will only see improvement and further flourishing in the hospitality industry. I also believe that the experience we had with the pandemic has made us even stronger in our hospitality. We have adapted and found ways to protect our guests from the pandemic while delivering the same quality of service they would expect from us.

The hospitality industry in here is very competitive – what do you think sets you apart from the rest?

At Rose Petal Hotel, we offer families, long-stay guests, and business travelers a contemporary home with all the perks of staying in a hotel. Our facilities are perfect to meet any business or personal need that will not just satisfy but “wow” our guests. Besides, our commitment to deliver operational excellence, our prioritization of customer satisfaction, the upholding of our commitment to corporate responsibility, green environmental practices, and an ethos of care set us apart from the rest.

How has your hotel performed since its launch?

After less than six years of operations, we have been able to establish ourselves as one of the major players in the hospitality industry in Kashmir. We have been overwhelmed by the positive response to our arrival in the market and the trust given to us in such a short period. Post-pandemic, our occupancy levels have reached and exceeded those of well-established hotels, and the feedback we’ve received from our guests is heart-warming. This motivates us even more.

What are some of the changes or the shifts that you have seen in guest expectations since your launch?

Guests want what they want, but they want it now, and so much of that is tied to technology. People want a great experience on the website. They want easy bookings and an easy way to find out about the neighborhood while they are in the hotel. They don’t want to wait in line to check in or ask the concierge a question. People want all this in a very easy, simple, and connected way.

What are the biggest challenges you are facing to improve the guest experience today?

I think there are so many that it’s hard to say which the biggest issue is. I will give you two for your consideration: Competitors are constantly upping their game, and there are ever-rising customer expectations as a result of that. For example, the breakfast is always being improved, the room design is always being refreshed, and high-speed internet access is given with higher bandwidth. Customer expectations have evolved to include mobile, and people want to use our entertainment as well as have it on their devices. That’s driven a change in marketing as well. Nowadays, we have to have a presence not just on TV but also on YouTube, Facebook, and other social media channels. We have to worry about searches on Google and TripAdvisor. The technology and how the competition has reacted have evolved customer expectations, which have caused us to do things differently. I think, in general, the biggest issue would be the ever-rising customer expectations, driven by technology.

What are your targets and expectations for the year 2023?

We are committed to a year where we continue to deliver operational excellence, prioritise customer satisfaction and uphold our commitment to corporate responsibility, green environmental practices and to our ethos of care. Our business goals for the year 2023 include driving stakeholder value across the board, identifying new market segments, increasing market share, and continuing to grow brand loyalty across India and beyond. At the core of our hotel's growth target and marketing push is an attempt to evolve our product to match guests’ evolving expectations and not get left behind.

What other novelties should we be expecting for the rest of the year?

Our focus this year will be on nurturing our employees and making sure we do everything possible to find new ways to attract and retain talent and strengthen the appeal of the hospitality industry. While this is not necessarily visible on the outside, I am confident that both guests and business partners will feel the difference.

What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?

I believe in breaking ground with new ideas, spearheading new concepts, and originating new proposals and this is a fact that “if you want to make an impression, you have to differentiate yourself from others”. It takes hard and smart work to be successful in any industry and along with that, be kind and be the better version of yourself than you were yesterday. There should be consistent efforts genuinely put across and look after the people that you work with. These are the keys to success in any of the industries you work in.