The name “Oberoi” reminds us of the comforts of a 5 star hotel along with the traditional Indian hospitality. Biki Oberoi is the chief of the Oberoi group. His actual name is Pruthvi Raj Singh , but he prefers his pet name “Biki”.

Biki, aged 79 says, “I led my life luxuriously just like anybody in one of my hotels.” Thats why his name is synonymous with “Luxury” nowadays. He has 32 hotels situated in 5 countries.

The interesting thing about his life is that upto his 32nd year, he did absolutely nothing except roaming all around the world. He spent his time in 5 star hotels in London, Rome, Paris, New York, Tokyo etc. in hotels like Claridges, Crillon(Paris), Hassler etc.

All of these were encouraged by his father just for one reason, which was to understand the standards of service provided around the world. This way he thought he could better serve the clients by reaching their expectation levels. All his experiences helped his father, Raj Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi, the founder of the Oberoi group, in establishing another hotel christened “Oberoi Sheraton”, in Mumbai.

The story of his Dad:

Biki says that his father (Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi) is his inspiration and that Raj Bahadur started his career with a salary of just 50 Rs per month! He would eventually become the owner of 30 hotels. His father had a great ability to look into the future and do the right thing in the present. He expected a scarcity of Scotch during the time of the 2nd world war and so he kept the stock by that time in India.

Biki believes that owners should make their customers come back to them by developing trust and loyalty for their services. In fact, once a foreigner complained to Biki about problems he faced in the hotel like having to adjust with a dirty table, having an alarm in a very bad working condition and getting a wrong fax number from the management and the like. In reaction to this, Biki wrote back to the foreigner asking to be excused for the bad service. He not only returned the entire amount, but also gave him an offer to stay in any one of their hotels for a period of four days, free of cost.

The secret of his success is that he advises his employees to carefully consider the complaints given by his customers because hardly 1 out of 10 ever give a complaint and the remaining 9 would never return back.

He believes that “The Guest is Always Right” because for him word of mouth is always better than any advertisements.

Achievements and Accolades:

  • He received Life Time Achievement Award in 2003 from international hotel investment forum .
  • He donated to many charitable trusts and also helped mentally handicapped citizens. He worked for the cause of education and for environmental purposes.
  • He extended his service to flight catering and airport restaurants.
  • His hotel “Oberoi Amar Vilas” in agra was awarded the “Best 5 star Deluxe Hotel” by the Indian Government in January 2007.
  • Out of top 10 hotels listed in “Forbes Traveller 400“, 5 hotels are from Oberoi group.(2006)

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