Kapil Chopra is one of India’s leading hoteliers. After a successful leadership stint at Oberoi Hotels, he struck out on his own and launched the uber-exclusive Postcard Hotel chain of boutique properties, rewriting the rules of hospitality in the process.
Guests at The Postcard Hotel, a chain of rapidly expanding boutique stays spread across South Asia, can have breakfast at any time they want. They can check in and check out whenever they please. And the welcome drink is a cocktail.
The force behind Postcard is Kapil Chopra. He started his career as a management trainee at the Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development in 1994, and rose to be President of Oberoi Hotels in 2013. He held that position until 2018, when he struck out on his own and launched The Postcard Hotels. Not only has this upscale boutique hotel chain ridden out the pandemic, it has become the gold standard in its category.
Chopra sees The Postcard Hotel chain as ‘transformative’ rather than ‘experiential — the latter word is overused, he feels.
Big on data, Chopra did a lot of research while launching his luxury boutique chain. He sensed an untapped niche. There were millions of domestic luxury travellers but no one to cater to them. All luxury hotels in India were targeted towards wealthy foreigners, who, while well paying, constituted only a small percentage of travellers in India.
With a focus on local experiences; tasteful interiors; regional cuisine; and impeccable service standards, Chopra seems to have hit the jackpot. Launching with a big bang — three hotels on the same day — Chopra has since opened properties in Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Many more are in the works and the Northeast is on his radar in a big way.
The Postcard Hotel chain is possibly the biggest thing to have happened in hospitality in recent times and is one to watch.
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