5-STAR · PALACE · RESORT · UHNI RETREATS · LUXURY GCH
Luxury & Premium Hotels
Executive Search
44+ Luxury Hotel Leadership Placements — with an average 94 Days time-to-placement and a 12-month candidate guarantee.
44+
Luxury Hotel Leadership Placements
94 Days
Avg. Time-to-Placement
90%
Offer Acceptance Rate
12 Months
Candidate Guarantee
Specialisation withinHospitality & Travel·Crafting World-Class Experiences
Luxury and premium hotels in India span the Taj Hotels (Indian Hotels Company / IHCL, listed), ITC Hotels (demerged entity, listed 2024–2025), Oberoi Group (EIH, listed), Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts (Brookfield-owned since 2019), Marriott International (Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, W, JW Marriott, Sheraton, Marriott, Le Meridien, Westin), Hyatt (Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency), Hilton (Waldorf Astoria, Conrad), IHG (InterContinental, Six Senses, Regent), Accor (Raffles, Sofitel, MGallery, Fairmont), Four Seasons, Aman, Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental, and the fast-growing boutique / Indian-luxury names (SUJÁN, Ananda, Vana, Amanbagh, Devi Ratn, Atmantan, Rosewood Goa, the upcoming Cheval Blanc).
Is This Your Situation?
If any of these sound familiar, you're speaking to the right practice.
→A palace hotel sought a new GM to lead ₹900-Cr revenue property — placed in 96 days
→A global luxury brand needed a Cluster GM for its Rajasthan portfolio — closed in 92 days
→A wellness retreat hired a Chief Wellness Officer to lead its ayurveda programme — placed in 86 days
→A hotel-asset-owner family-office sought an Owner-Representative for 4-property portfolio — closed in 108 days
Our Luxury & Premium Hotels Track Record
Situation:
A heritage-palace hotel with ₹900-Cr revenue needed a new GM to lead post-renovation repositioning.
Outcome:
Placed a candidate with prior Taj-flagship and Aman-property tenure in 96 days; ADR +42% year one; GOP margin expanded 420 bps.
Situation:
A global luxury brand needed a Cluster GM for its 4-property Rajasthan portfolio.
Outcome:
Placed a candidate with Oberoi and IHCL tenure in 92 days; cluster GOP +28% in year one; brand-audit scores improved across all 4 properties.
All client details anonymised. Specific mandates available for reference under NDA upon request.
Our Luxury & Premium Hotels Practice
Luxury and premium hotels in India span the Taj Hotels (Indian Hotels Company / IHCL, listed), ITC Hotels (demerged entity, listed 2024–2025), Oberoi Group (EIH, listed), Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts (Brookfield-owned since 2019), Marriott International (Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, W, JW Marriott, Sheraton, Marriott, Le Meridien, Westin), Hyatt (Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency), Hilton (Waldorf Astoria, Conrad), IHG (InterContinental, Six Senses, Regent), Accor (Raffles, Sofitel, MGallery, Fairmont), Four Seasons, Aman, Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental, and the fast-growing boutique / Indian-luxury names (SUJÁN, Ananda, Vana, Amanbagh, Devi Ratn, Atmantan, Rosewood Goa, the upcoming Cheval Blanc).
Gladwin’s Luxury & Premium Hotels practice places General Managers, Cluster GMs, Regional Operating Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Commercial Officers, Directors of Rooms / F&B / Spa, Directors of Revenue / Distribution, and Asset-Side / Owner-Representative leadership roles. Every mandate addresses brand-standard governance, owner-operator P&L alignment, HNI / UHNI guest-recovery architecture and the Indian heritage / palace / resort operating discipline.
As a specialist CEO mandates in hotel chains, our practice also covers COO placements in hotel operators, our practice also covers Hospitality & Travel practice overview, and as a source for Hospitality — mid-market & budget hotels.
The Luxury & Premium Hotels Landscape Today
Indian luxury-hotels RevPAR crossed ₹16,500 in 2025 with occupancy in top cities at 75–82% and ADR above pre-pandemic peaks by 35–55%; luxury / upper-upscale grew fastest. IHCL (Taj) crossed ₹7,000 Cr revenue; ITC Hotels demerged at ₹3,400 Cr revenue; Leela at ₹1,200 Cr post Brookfield expansion. Marriott India is the largest by room count. Luxury supply pipeline is constrained in top cities; destination resorts (Rajasthan, Kerala, Goa, Himalayas, Andamans) are in aggressive build-out. Wellness / UHNI-retreat (Ananda, Vana, Atmantan, SOUKYA) is a premium sub-category.
Key Leadership Challenges in Luxury & Premium Hotels
Brand-standard governance — GM accountability for brand-specific service scripts / standards / audits
Owner-operator alignment — asset-owner P&L vs operator-brand-standard often diverge in capex / positioning
UHNI / HNI guest-recovery architecture — loyalty-program stewardship and CRM-personalisation at property level
F&B franchise-building — signature restaurants drive 30–45% of luxury-hotel F&B EBITDA
Talent retention — senior hotel operators across brands have limited India-side GM roles and frequently relocate internationally
Wellness / spa / experiential-retreat operations under ayurveda / wellness-therapy certifications
What We Look For in Luxury & Premium Hotels Leaders
Across mandates, luxury & premium hotels leadership tends to cluster into a small set of archetypes. We calibrate each search against the profile your board actually needs — not the one most commonly available.
The Luxury GM
A senior hotelier with 18–28 years across IHCL / Oberoi / ITC / Marriott Luxury / Four Seasons / Aman, palace-or-resort GM tenure, brand-standard-audit discipline and the temperament of HNI / UHNI guest-recovery.
The Regional Operating Leader
A senior operations leader with Regional-VP / AVP tenure across 8–25 properties, cluster-P&L stewardship, brand-standard-governance fluency and owner-operator-alignment credibility.
The Commercial Officer
A commercial / revenue / sales & marketing leader with luxury segment credibility, distribution-channel-mix discipline, brand-positioning architecture and digital-direct-bookings stewardship.
The F&B Leader
An F&B director with signature-restaurant build-out credibility, Michelin / World-50-Best-adjacent benchmark discipline, chef-ecosystem stewardship and F&B-EBITDA-margin architecture.
The Wellness-Retreat Leader
A wellness-and-ayurveda retreat leader with Ananda / Vana / SOUKYA / Aman-wellness benchmark credibility, programme-design stewardship and the UHNI-guest care discipline.
The Asset Manager
An asset-side leader with hotel-asset valuation, management-contract governance, capex / PIP navigation and operator-selection credibility on behalf of family-office / REIT / fund owners.
Regulatory & Compensation Context
Regulatory Backdrop
Luxury-hotel operations observe FSSAI and state Food Safety Rules; Shops & Establishments Acts; Factories Act for kitchen / laundry / engineering; Building and Other Construction Workers Act; Fire-NOC (NBC 2016 + state rules); CCoE / PESO for diesel / LPG; Bureau of Indian Standards for pool / spa; state Tourism Department classification (1–5 Star + Heritage); State Excise for bar-and-beverage operations; Legal Metrology; Pollution Control Board (consent under Air / Water Acts); Environment (Protection) Act for large resorts; Ministry of Tourism incentive schemes (SEIS, incentivised FDI); FEMA (100% automatic FDI in hospitality); GST on rooms (12% / 18% / 28% based on tariff); Wildlife Protection Act 1972 for safari-adjacent properties (Taj Safaris, &Beyond); Archaeological Survey of India for heritage / palace properties.
Compensation Architecture
Luxury GMs (flagship city hotels / palaces): ₹3.5–9 Cr total (fixed + property-P&L STI + often housing and school-tuition support); Cluster / Regional Operating Officers: ₹4–10 Cr; COOs (listed chains): ₹6–18 Cr + STI + ESOP; Chief Commercial Officer: ₹3–7 Cr + STI; F&B Directors: ₹2–4.5 Cr (flagship); Wellness-retreat CEOs: ₹2.5–5 Cr + STI + wellness-programme-P&L participation; Owner-Representative / Asset Manager: ₹2.5–6 Cr.
Roles We Typically Place
Why Gladwin International Leadership Advisors for Luxury & Premium Hotels
General Manager / Cluster GM searches at luxury and premium hotels
Regional Operating Officer / Area Vice-President searches
Chief Operating Officer / Chief Commercial Officer searches
Director of Rooms / F&B / Spa / Sales & Marketing searches
Director of Revenue & Distribution searches
Asset-Side / Owner-Representative leadership for hotel-asset-owners
Wellness-retreat leadership (CEO / Chief Wellness Officer at Ananda / Vana / SOUKYA-scale properties)
Organisations We Serve
IHCL (Taj Group) — Taj Palaces, Taj Exotica, Taj Safaris, Seleqtions, Vivanta, SeleQtions Boutique
ITC Hotels — ITC Luxury Collection, Grand, Welcomhotel, Fortune, Storii
Oberoi Group (EIH) — Oberoi, Trident, Maidens, Clarkes
Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts (Brookfield)
Marriott International — Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, W, JW, Marriott, Sheraton, Le Meridien, Westin, Luxury Collection
Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, Accor, Four Seasons, Aman, Six Senses, Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental
Wellness-retreats — Ananda in the Himalayas, Vana, SOUKYA, Atmantan, Amanbagh, SUJÁN
Luxury & Premium Hotels leaders assessed on the Hospitality “PINNACLE” framework
Seven dimensions calibrated for hospitality and travel leadership. Dimensions are calibrated for luxury & premium hotels mandates where relevant.
Parent Practice
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