Where Guests are revered as Gods, where hosts do everything in their power to satisfy every wish and desire of their visitors, and where true hospitality is always ingrained with king-sized places and hearts offering you a heavenly feeling, “I welcome you all to The Leela Bhartiya City, Bengaluru, an epitome of true Indian luxury hospitality, where we are committed to providing you our beloved guests with unforgettable stays in settings that capture the essence of India,” says Virender Razdan – General Manager.

A Hotel that exudes urban sophistication and modern luxury, the preferred address is designed with exquisite spaces offering the perfect setup for special events.

The Leela Bhartiya city is nestled in a pristine lifestyle enclave of a mixed-use complex. It offers its guests well-appointed luxurious and spacious rooms and award-winning restaurants: Falak, TLO, Quattro and The Library BAR.

The hotel has Amaris The spa, which offers signature therapies, a yoga experience, and a fully functional gym. The mixed-use complex offers guests the comfort of shopping at the mall and various F&B options. To enjoy the outdoors, the hotel offers its guests cycling and picnic in the central park. The hotel is conveniently located just 25 minutes from the airport, within walking distance to BCIT, 12 minutes’ drive to Manyata Tech Park, and 20 minutes from KIADB.

Steeped in Glorious Indian Legacy

Come experience the openness at The Leela Bhartiya city. The open gardens are a true reminiscence of the garden city of Bengaluru. This urban resort offers guests various unique experiences for all our guests travelling in a group or individually.

• Largest room size in the comp set 450 Sq. ft.
• Award-winning restaurants – Falak, TLO, Quattro and The Library BAR
• Convention centre attached to the hotel.
• Eight breakout venue options.
• A 21ft ceiling height.
• Rigging points for convenient setups.
• Freight elevators for hassle-free large setups and car launches.
• Natural light in pre-function areas and multiple meeting spaces.
• Show the kitchen for an elevated experience.
• Dedicated team for end-to-end support.
• Three large outdoor venues for team building and gala dinners.
• Large inventory of base rooms.
• Exactly 85 twin bed options.
• Various MICE experiences – Cricket ground, Football court, wine tours at Grovers, chef’s cookoff, no flame cooking for kids, flee market experiences, a day trip to Mysuru and many more.
• Multiple venue options for weddings.
• Legendary Leela dining experiences for your social and corporate dining.

Where Sun’s Brilliance is Most Charming

Virender’s leadership style is often recognized as a driving force behind The Leela Bhartiya City’s achievements. Shedding light on his approach to leadership and team building within the organization, Virender says, “I like to foster a sense of unity, collaboration, and shared purpose among my team members. I believe in leading from the front while empowering my team, allowing them to voice their opinions and allowing creativity to flow through the system. I inspire and motivate my team to work towards the company’s vision. I strongly believe in empowering my team and coaching and mentoring youngsters. I am straightforward and candid in sharing my feedback with my team.”

With more than three decades of experience, Virender Razdan is a highly accomplished senior hospitality professional known for his exceptional performance. He has held key positions at esteemed establishments of repute in this country. Throughout his career, Virender has exhibited remarkable skills in leading diverse teams and establishing strong relationships, which have played a crucial role in effective stakeholder management. He has demonstrated a unique ability to convert strategic objectives into actionable plans, leading to substantial sales growth and enhanced profitability.

Techno-Touching Sustainability

Being an experienced leader, sharing his opinion on how the adoption of modern technologies like AI and ML impacts the industry and how his brand is adapting to the change, Virender says, “I personally believe that while technology will enable better comfort for guest and efficiencies in processes as we advance, the hospitality industry can never become robotic. I see it getting more experiential.”

It will not be just about the food you eat or the room you stay in; it will be about the whole experience. People would want to explore newer destinations, walk lesser-known paths, and have experiences tailor-made or custom-made based on their preferences. “I also feel the current generation is driven by sustainability, which would be another guiding factor.”

And lastly, the industry would be shaped by wellness and well-being. People would be on the lookout for wellness experiences, including fitness and healthy eating options and rejuvenating their minds.

The future would be the blend of technology, personalization and a focus on wellbeing and sustainability.

A Prosperous Working Culture

The workforce is the cornerstone of any successful organization. Thus, to foster a culture of growth, skill development, and empowerment among their employees, Virender shares that The Leela Bhartiya City focus on having a team built on the foundation of empowerment and gender parity. “The right balance would help us bring the right talent and establish a prosperous working culture in the hotel.”

As stakeholder management, they focus on hiring the right talent that is carefully chosen and imparting them with training and all the desired tools to wow their guest. As a brand, Leela stays committed to growing and developing its people. “While opening up the hotel for simulations, the team members, supervisors, managers, and their families stayed there to experience the hotel and its services. In continuation of the same, we have a policy whereby every new hotel joiner gets to experience one night stay in the hotel and all the hotel facilities during his orientation.” They have also initiated 30-day and 90-day meetings with GM and all HODs. This is part of the initiative to handhold the employees in the first 90 days and help them settle in smoothly.

Overcoming the Obstacles Triumphantly 

As a leader in India’s hoteling industry, The Leela Bhartiya City has faced its share of challenges. Sharing an instance where his team’s resilience and ingenuity triumphed over adversity, Virender remembers, “If I have to name one challenge, then it has to be COVID-19, which was the biggest challenge we faced. We were opening our hotel during the pandemic with so much uncertainty. We had hired our first batch of associates, around 65, which comprised all the departments and all sets of employees, from freshers to experienced staff. They had all reached Bengaluru, finished their joining formalities, got through medicals, etc. That’s when the Lockdown (March 2020) started, and all the staff were confined into their rooms away from their families and couldn’t come to the hotel.”

“We wanted to keep them engaged and motivated, so we thought out of the box and started conducting online training sessions from 9 AM to 6 PM. We did everything from skill training imparted through interactive videos to online sessions conducted by senior management. We also did mentor sessions with celebrity chefs and mixologists to keep the training programme exciting. And as a result, we could keep our team high in spirits and ready for the successful opening of our hotel.”

Rays of Wisdom

In his advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the hoteling space, Virender strongly believes and suggests that anyone who wishes to be part of this industry must be passionate about it, as hospitality is from the heart.

While it appears to be glamorous from the outside, it is a very competitive space, dynamic, and trends constantly change.

So before venturing in, it is important that you research and learn from the best in the trade. The most important thing to remember is to build a brand and emphasize customer experience and sustainable practices for long-term success in the hospitality industry.

Forever Creating Unique Experiences for You 

On envisioning scaling The Leela Bhartiya City operations and offerings in future, Virender says their priorities are

• Create and highlight brand differentiation through immersive programming.
• Leverage the integrated township of Bhartiya City for a thoughtfully crafted experience.
• Create experiential itineraries leveraging location.
• Curate bespoke events, collaborations and strategic partnerships with luxury brands.
• Curated social media channel-specific strategy.
• Hosting Exclusive wine dinners with clubs like Bangalore Black Tie, Bangalore Wine Club, La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, Overseas Women’s Club, and The Wine Connoisseurs.

• Created unique dining experiences that caters to north Bangalore. Hosting art-centric events at the hotel. Poetry evenings, a collaboration with painters, art exhibitions.

“Our restaurant, Falak, recently achieved significant recognition in the culinary industry. It was honored as the 30th Best Restaurant at Conde Nast Traveller India’s Top Restaurant Award 2023. Additionally, it proudly received the prestigious title of Best Independent Restaurant of the Year at the Indian Restaurant Awards 2024 By Restaurant India. Falak is a distinguished establishment, standing proudly amongst the Top 1000 Best Restaurants in the World by La Liste.”
“In the realm of hospitality, The Leela Bhartiya City Bengaluru, an esteemed property, excelled at the Travel + Leisure India’s Best Awards 2023, securing the top spot in the BEST BLEISURE HOTEL (Domestic) category. Furthermore, it was recognized as one of the top 5 hotels for MICE & Weddings by Hospitality Horizon. We want to keep our winning track going and expand to all our brands,” concludes Virender.