Placing the Hoteliers and Operators Who Define India's Finest Guest Experiences
The professionals who open luxury properties, turn around underperforming hotels, and build revenue management systems that optimise across 300+ distribution channels are not found through job boards. A General Manager who has pre-opened three five-star properties from construction to first guest, a Director of Revenue Management who has lifted RevPAR by 28% across a 15-property portfolio, an Executive Chef who has earned a Michelin star in a previous posting — these specialists are identified through hotel school alumni networks, brand-chain GM communities, and decades of industry relationships. That is the practice Gladwin brings to every hospitality mandate.
700+
Hospitality & travel professionals mapped
14+
Specialist hospitality mandates placed in 36 months
28
Hotel brands and chains with active alumni relationships
The Challenge
Why Hospitality Talent Is Uniquely Difficult to Source
India's hospitality sector combines global brand standards with local operational complexity. The best operators are embedded in properties — not circulating in the job market.
General Managers are retained, not recruited — until they are not
Top-performing GMs are locked into multi-year contracts with performance bonuses, housing, and brand loyalty incentives. They do not appear on job boards. When they become available — due to ownership changes, brand exits, or contract completion — the window is narrow. Identifying these moments requires real-time intelligence from within the hotel management community.
Luxury and lifestyle roles demand intangible qualities that CVs cannot capture
A Director of Rooms at a luxury heritage property needs more than operations experience — they need aesthetic sensibility, cultural fluency, and an instinct for guest anticipation that cannot be trained. Assessing these qualities requires hospitality-specific evaluation methods and references from within the luxury segment, not generic competency frameworks.
Travel technology talent sits at the intersection of two scarce pools
OTA product managers, revenue management system architects, and distribution technology leads must combine deep hospitality domain knowledge with strong technology skills. These professionals are concentrated in a handful of organisations — MakeMyTrip, Booking.com, Sabre, Amadeus — and are intensely competed for across Asia-Pacific.
Coverage
Roles We Place — Across Every Hospitality Discipline
Our hospitality practice covers every domain-specific role — from hotel operations and F&B leadership to revenue management, luxury lifestyle, and travel technology.
Hotel Operations & General Management
- General Manager — Luxury / Upper Upscale
- Cluster General Manager
- Hotel Pre-Opening Director
- Director of Rooms
- Director of Housekeeping
- Front Office Director
- Resident Manager
- Director of Engineering & Facilities
- Spa & Wellness Director
Food & Beverage
- Executive Chef
- Director of Food & Beverage
- Pastry Chef — Fine Dining
- F&B Concept Development Head
- Banqueting & Catering Director
- Restaurant General Manager — Standalone
- Sommelier & Beverage Director
- Kitchen Operations Head — Multi-unit
Revenue Management & Distribution
- Director of Revenue Management
- Cluster Revenue Manager
- Head of Distribution & Channel Strategy
- Pricing & Yield Management Lead
- OTA Relationship & E-commerce Manager
- Head of Reservations & CRS
- Revenue Systems & Analytics Lead
- MICE & Group Revenue Head
- Corporate Rate Strategy Manager
Luxury & Lifestyle
- VP — Luxury Brand Operations
- Guest Experience & Personalisation Director
- Head of Butler Services & VIP Relations
- Heritage Property Restoration & Operations Lead
- Destination & Experiential Programming Head
- Luxury Residence & Serviced Apartment GM
- Private Members' Club Director
- Luxury Safari & Wildlife Lodge GM
Travel Technology & OTA
- Head of Product — OTA / Travel Platform
- Revenue Management System Architect
- PMS Implementation & Integrations Lead
- GDS & Distribution Technology Head
- Travel Data Science & Personalisation Lead
- Head of Loyalty & CRM Technology
- Dynamic Packaging & Pricing Engine Lead
- Booking Platform Engineering Manager
Access
How We Reach Hospitality Talent That Cannot Be Found by Search
Our hospitality network has been cultivated through hotel school alumni communities, brand-chain leadership circles, and years of engagement with India's finest operators.
FHRAI & HAI Network
Active relationships with Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and Hotel Association of India (HAI) members — covering ownership groups, management companies, and independent luxury properties across India.
IHM Alumni Network
Deep alumni connections across Institute of Hotel Management campuses — IHM Mumbai, IHM Pusa (Delhi), IHM Bangalore, and IHM Hyderabad — covering three decades of graduating hoteliers.
WTTC India & PATA Engagement
Relationships with World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) India members and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) India Chapter — providing access to travel and tourism leadership across operators, DMCs, and OTAs.
Brand-Chain GM Communities
Maintained relationships with current and former General Managers across Taj, Oberoi, ITC Hotels, Marriott India, Hyatt India, and Accor India — the six ecosystems that have trained India's most accomplished hotel operators.
HRACC & Culinary Networks
Engagement with Hotel & Restaurant Approval & Classification Committee (HRACC) assessors and culinary professionals through the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations — providing access to F&B and chef talent across fine dining and institutional segments.
Methodology
How We Validate Operational Excellence — Not Just Brand Names
A hotel brand on a CV confirms affiliation. Our methodology confirms whether a candidate can open a property, manage a P&L, and elevate guest satisfaction scores.
Property-level performance validation
For GM and operations mandates, we validate actual property performance: RevPAR growth, GOP margins, guest satisfaction scores (NPS/GSI), and team retention rates. We compare these against brand benchmarks and competitive set performance to distinguish strong operators from those riding market tailwinds.
Pre-opening and turnaround capability assessment
Pre-opening a 250-key luxury property is fundamentally different from managing a stabilised hotel. We assess candidates' specific pre-opening experience — from OS&E procurement and staff hiring timelines to soft-opening management and brand compliance during construction handover.
Revenue management technical depth check
For revenue roles, we validate hands-on system proficiency — IDeaS, Duetto, or Atomize — and assess understanding of demand forecasting models, competitive pricing algorithms, and distribution cost optimisation. Candidates who manage revenue by intuition alone are flagged.
Guest experience and cultural fit evaluation
For luxury and lifestyle roles, we conduct scenario-based assessments — handling VIP escalations, managing cultural sensitivities in heritage properties, and designing bespoke guest experiences. References are sought from luxury industry peers and discerning ownership groups.
Track Record
Mandates We Have Run — Anonymised
A selection of recent specialist placements across the hospitality and travel sector. No client names are shared in line with our confidentiality policy.
General Manager — Luxury Heritage Property Pre-Opening
Indian heritage hospitality group converting a 19th-century palace into a 120-key ultra-luxury property in Rajasthan with an international spa brand partnership.
Required 20+ years in luxury hospitality with at least two prior palace/heritage pre-openings. Deep understanding of heritage conservation regulations, HRACC five-star classification process, and ultra-luxury guest experience design. Placed within 61 days.
Director of Revenue Management — Multi-Property Portfolio
Indian hotel management company operating 18 upper-upscale properties across 12 cities with a combined inventory of 3,200 keys.
Mandate required hands-on IDeaS RMS experience across a multi-property portfolio, proven RevPAR index improvement of 5+ points, and experience managing OTA commission optimisation at portfolio scale. Placed within 37 days.
Head of Product — Travel Technology Platform
Well-funded Indian travel-tech startup building a B2B hotel distribution platform connecting 50,000+ properties with global OTAs and travel agents.
Role required deep GDS and channel manager product experience, understanding of hotel connectivity APIs (OTA XML, HTNG), and prior experience scaling a travel-tech product from 5,000 to 50,000+ property integrations. Placed within 43 days.
Start a Search
Share the hospitality mandate. We will map the talent landscape in five working days.
Whether you are hiring a General Manager for a luxury pre-opening, building a revenue management team, or placing an Executive Chef — share the brief with us. Our hospitality practice team will respond with an initial market perspective within 48 hours and a detailed talent map within five working days.