Power List 2023: Ajay Bakaya

Chairman & Managing Director

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts

A trailblazer in Indian hospitality, Ajay Bakaya has spent 45 years as a hotelier in India, Africa, Australia, France & UK.
He has contributed to the phenomenal growth story of Sarovar since its early inception, beginning from a shared office table to over 100 hotels today. He was Director Rooms at Australia’s largest hotel, now the 878 room Hyatt Regency, Sydney, and he was a GM with Oberoi Hotels at the age of 31 years. An MBA alumni of IMHI (Cornell – ESSEC, France), and a graduate of the Oberoi School, Bakaya leads with entrepreneurial zeal.

Success Mantras:
“My biggest mantra has been ‘always take your work seriously but don’t take your life so seriously’.
“The second mantra that has helped me is that I am a strong stickler for personal discipline. I believe that if you have no personal discipline, it is unlikely you will have professional discipline.
“And finally, what are you doing to be a better person than you were yesterday? Every business must have a philosophy. It is the philosophy that drives the profits and not the other way round. If the only aim of a business is to make money, one wouldn’t go very far.
“In the Sarovar case, it has always been to deliver more than what is expected to our guests and owners alike.
“And my mantra for my team, particularly for my GMs, is to believe and act as if you own the hotel, as if it is your home. Walking into your home is always welcome, and every effort is made in making sure that one goes out happy. If you look at your business, your hotel, as your home, you can never ever go wrong.”