Vikram Aditya Singh

Founder & Chief Executive

Excelsior Asset Management & Advisory · New Delhi · Jaipur

• Owner-side advisory for independent luxury hotels, from feasibility and pre-opening through ramp-up and stabilisation.
• Feasibility and DCF valuation, capital-stack structuring, management agreement negotiation, property-improvement plans, hold-versus-sell analysis and owner reporting.
• Current mandates include the repositioning and asset management of two landmark properties.

Founder & Mentor

Hidden India · New Delhi

• A boutique house built on long ties with local communities, craftspeople and conservation partners.
• Launched Rambha Palace, Orissa, and mentored Hidden India’s high-end camps.

Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder

The Claridges Collection · New Delhi

• Co-founded the hotel management company with the promoters of The Claridges and led the house back from a pandemic floor with average rate below USD 50.
• 58% rate growth. F&B doubled to ₹91 crore across sixteen outlets. EBITDA set on a sixfold trajectory.
• Created or relaunched ERAWAAN (contemporary Thai), Pickwick 2.0, Jade 2.0, Aura 2.0, the Lutyens Deli and the revived Ye Olde Bakery.
• Launched Cinqtuair, a longevity and wellness centre, and Sumaya at The Claridges.
• Redesigned the guest journey during the closure, and settled long-standing land-use matters with the authorities.
• Authored The Claridges Redevelopment Master Plan.

The case →

General Manager

The Leela Palace Udaipur · Udaipur

• Led the world’s number one hotel (Travel + Leisure, 2019) through the pandemic, protecting product, asset and team.
• Wrote the recovery and repositioning strategy the hotel carried into the reopening.

The case →

Vice President & General Manager, The Lodhi · Vice President & Head of Hospitality

DLF Limited · New Delhi

• Took the former Aman New Delhi, a Kerry Hill house, from under-indexed to India’s most awarded hotel: revenue 3.5 times (₹34.77 crore to ₹123.76 crore) and RevPAR five times, with no new rooms.
• World’s number two hotel and India’s number one, Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice 2017. Secured Leading Hotels of the World membership.
• Introduced the 25 Commandments culture framework and the 4P discipline: profit, people, product, process.
• Launched India’s first hotel pre-arrival personal preference menu through Guestfolio CRM.
• Opened four destination tables, each a standalone profitable brand: Perbacco with Chef Adriano Baldassarre, YOKOSO, The Safari Bar, and MKT at The Chanakya, an 18,000 sq ft food hall on its own P&L.
• Ran DLF’s restaurants across its malls: SET’Z at DLF Emporio, CHA SHI, Café E, Café C and The Lodhi Bakery.
• Hotelier of the Year and General Manager of the Year (2019). The Lodhi Spa: Country Winner, World Luxury Spa Awards (2019). Elan: Outstanding Wine List, India Wine Awards (2019).

The case →

Hotel Manager & Deputy Vice President

Trident Nariman Point, The Oberoi Group · Mumbai

• Full P&L for a 555-key hotel across F&B, banqueting, MICE, retail and spa.

Founder & Chief Executive

Overture Hotels & Resorts · India

• Qualified Moonriver Resort & Spa for Leading Hotels of the World.
• Launched The Deltin Daman, India’s first integrated gaming and entertainment resort, and consulted to Lebua, Bangkok.
• Launched the Rockfish and KOI restaurants.

General Manager & Regional Director, India

Alila Diwa Goa, Alila Hotels & Resorts · Goa

• General Manager of Alila Diwa Goa and Regional Director for the brand in India.
• Sharpened the resort’s position in the Goa luxury set, tightened rate discipline, grew weddings and banqueting and lifted profitability.
• Built the programming: destination dining at Spice Studio and Vivo, the Spa Alila ritual menu, and a calendar of residencies that carried the resort through the monsoon.
• Built the developer relationships behind Alila’s expansion across Rajasthan, Kerala and Gujarat.

Vice President, Operations

Datai Hotels & Resorts · Malaysia

• Led the group as it moved from GHM management to owner-led operation under Khazanah Nasional, managing the general managers of The Datai Langkawi, The Club Saujana, Saujana Golf & Country Club and Carcosa Seri Negara.
• Owned group brand and service standards. Wrote the guest experience journey and a balanced scorecard benchmarked against Four Seasons, Aman, Mandarin Oriental and Peninsula.
• Relaunched four restaurants, including the Thai restaurant at The Datai. Wrote the service design for the new Beach Villas and the Dream Away sleep programme.
• Built concepts and business models for Datai Desaru, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

General Manager & Area Director

Taj West End · Bangalore

• A repositioning that delivered an immediate RevPAR lift. Named number two business hotel in Asia by Condé Nast UK.

General Manager

Taj Campton Place · San Francisco

• RevPAR index from 55–60% to 85–98% against Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental.
• Invested through the 2008 crisis rather than cutting back.
• Brought Chef Srijith Gopinathan to the hotel and authored the California-Indian concept with him. The restaurant won its first Michelin star in the 2011 guide, and later a second.

General Manager & Board Director

Taj Exotica Resort & Spa · Maldives

• Reopened a post-tsunami resort with the beach gone and the spa dark. Within a year it was the top asset in Taj Luxury International.
• Average rate USD 818 against a USD 638 budget; final-quarter rate above USD 1,400 at 90–95% occupancy. RevPAR index 140%. F&B above USD 4 million for the first time. A USD 1 million-plus surplus on the relaunch.
• GOP margin of 65%, driven by rate. Presidential Villa sold personally at USD 17,000 a night.
• Created Jiva Spa, the highest-grossing spa in the Taj system. Built the dive, big-game fishing, seaplane and private-island programme. Deep End earned the Maldives’ only Condé Nast Hot Tables listing.
• 97% guest satisfaction; LHW quality score 91.4% against an 81.4% global average; the highest Gallup engagement scores in Taj Luxury International.
• International Hotel of the Year, Taj Awards for Business Excellence (2007).

The case →

Director of Operations, International Luxury

Taj Hotels · Mumbai

• Founding team of Taj Safaris, the Taj and CC Africa (now &Beyond) joint venture. Scouted the sites and set up the Madhya Pradesh tiger circuit of four lodges, and built a five-year plan of 21 projects and 221 keys.
• Part of the team that moved The Pierre, New York from Four Seasons to Taj. Helped launch Taj Denis Island, Seychelles.
• Wrote the room and villa standards and the F&B standards for Taj’s luxury tier.
• Created the Nesting Experience sleep programme with Ploh, Singapore, and set up the Talent Swap programme for future international leaders.

Director of Food & Beverage, Luxury Palaces

Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur & Rambagh Palace, Jaipur · Rajasthan

• With both palaces in renovation, wrote the new service and product playbook, including the Palace Butler programme.
• Opened seven restaurants in one year, among them Suvarna Mahal, The Polo Bar and Neel Kamal.
• F&B revenue up 58% at Rambagh and 42% at Lake Palace at about 85% flow-through. LQA and Richey scores from the low 60s to above 90%.

Executive Assistant Manager, Food & Beverage

The Oberoi Udaivilas · Udaipur

• Number two at the resort.
• Wrote the F&B sequence of service for Oberoi’s Vilas resorts and a contribution-margin wine and beverage pricing grid.
• Brought in the Glitch recovery log from Four Seasons, later adopted across the company.

The case →

Food & Beverage Operations, progressive roles

Four Seasons Hotels · North America

• Ritz-Carlton Chicago (a Four Seasons hotel), Four Seasons New York, Four Seasons Vancouver and Four Seasons Olympic, Seattle.
• Highest Richey rating for in-room dining across Four Seasons (2001).
• At Vancouver, led the Terry Fox Foundation fundraiser, raising more than CAD 100,000 for cancer research.

Training

The Dolder Grand, Zurich · Suvretta House, St. Moritz · Hilton International, New Delhi · Switzerland · India

• Service, kitchen and training roles. Gold Medal, Salon Culinaire, St. Moritz (1995).