Under his leadership, the hospitality chain set new benchmarks for luxury and attention to detail, and he oversaw the opening of several iconic luxury hotels in India and overseas. He is also credited with placing Oberoi Hotels & Resorts on the international luxury travellers’ map.
“A visionary leader, Mr. P.R.S. Oberoi’s unwavering dedication and pursuit of excellence elevated The Oberoi Group to international acclaim,” read a statement from Vikram Oberoi, MD and CEO of EIH Ltd, and Arjun Oberoi, executive chairman of EIH Ltd. “His influence extended beyond corporate success, touching the lives of countless hoteliers through mentorship and a commitment to unparalleled standards.”
EIH Ltd is the flagship company of The Oberoi Group.
PRS Oberoi, popularly known as Biki, studied in India, Switzerland and the UK.
Known for fostering a work culture rooted in compassion and integrity of every member of the organization, he also established The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development in 1967. He received numerous awards and accolades for his contribution to the hospitality industry including the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. Biki Oberoi received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence in 2012. Accepting the award at a ceremony presided over by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he had said “We built some hotels but it is not bricks and mortar, but our people who have made our hotels known worldwide.”Kapil Chopra, former president of The Oberoi Group and founder and chief executive of The Postcard Hotel, said Oberoi’s idea to build world-class hotels in India was way ahead of its time.
“He believed in the India story as much as we do today, except that he believed in it 30 years back,” he said. “And that is why he never compromised on what he was building. His focus on attention to detail and the dream of making the best hotels in India will continue to inspire generations and set new benchmarks of service excellence.”
Abhimanyu Singh Lodha, general manager at The Lodhi, New Delhi, who worked at The Oberoi Group previously, said there won’t be another like him.
“He knew people who worked for him individually. That meant he would not just know them by their name, but their background, their education, and their growth pattern in the company,” he said. “There are so many stories of his legendary eye for detail and the perfectionist that he was. Resorts were his baby and the opening of The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur forced all the hoteliers to up their game. It changed the way hospitality was perceived in India.”
Jaideep Dang, MD, hotels and hospitality group at JLL India, said he was “truly blessed” to have worked with him closely for many years while he was at The Oberoi Group.
“I realised soon enough that no syllabus could capture his universe of knowledge. It was so vast. Mr Oberoi’s intuitiveness, perfection and resolve was extraordinary. He has left so much of him in every member of this industry that his genius will live on and on,” he said.
PRS Oberoi was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM), recognizing his “exceptional” leadership and vision.
He was also presented with the Corporate Hotelier of the World award by HOTELS magazine USA, and the 6th International Hotels Investment Forum in Berlin honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
A former employee called him a modern-day Maharaja.
“An extraordinary human being and an exceptional hotelier, Mr Oberoi’s contribution to India (not just the hospitality industry) is immense. Worldwide, Oberoi is synonymous with luxury and impeccable service standards,” she said. “He was the only Indian hotelier who truly understood luxury, hospitality and heartfelt customer service. If today, India is a destination for global, well-heeled travellers, Mr Oberoi made it so.”
Back in mid-1970s, when the financial journal Institutional Investor used to rate hotels and no Indian establishment ever made the cut, it rankled Rai Bahadur MS Oberoi, Biki’s father. Oberoi Sr told Biki this had to change, and that’s when the journey towards building a world class chain began.
He took his father’s words to heart: Quality became an obsession with him. It led to the creation of outstanding hotels with exceptional service that have repeatedly been rated among the best in the world. Properties such as The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, and The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra.
The Oberoi hotels were an extension of his personality. He was chief architect, designer and planner.
“The architects and designers are not very amused when I don’t agree with them, which is quite often. They build for themselves and have big egos. I tell them to build for consumers or someone else,” he told ET about a decade ago.
Such an encyclopaedic knowledge of the nuts and bolts of a hotel comes from building and operating dozens of them and being a hands-on hotelier.
A widely travelled man, he would look for ideas.
“Subconscious observation,” is how he used to put it. For example, from the Regent in Hong Kong, he picked up the large size of the bathrooms, and from Carlyle in New York, he got the idea for walk-in closets.
“We have 70-80 sq ft closets in our hotels so that you can hang your clothes, put up your suit and tuck away your suitcase,” he had told ET. “Others are copying us now.”
Also quietly noted were things that are not to be replicated–like using technology that’s too hi-tech.
“Recently, I couldn’t locate the bedroom switch for half an hour in a hotel. It was frustrating. User-friendliness is one thing but too much technology can be intimidating for guests. You should use technology that people use at home,” he had said.
Moving beyond the brass tacks of the hotel, Oberoi had a sharp people orientation. Something inherited from his father, who met every employee he hired. He followed his father’s dictum: hire carefully, train carefully and keep them motivated.
