India’s age-old hotel industry is being taken forward by a competent young brigade of suave and polished descendents. Whether it is the third-generation Nairs of the Leela Group, Keshav and Arjun Baljee of Royal Orchid Hotels, Satyen Jain of Pride Hotels, Varun and Siddharth Reddy of Country Club, Vikram Kamat of Kamat Hotels or Padmaja Kumari of HRH Hotels, the nouveau generation is here to reign and to expand.

Satyen Jain, CEO and Director of Pride Hotels, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and MBA. Son of veteran hotelier, Mr. S.P. Jain, this young gun was felicitated with the Young Hotel Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association (FHRAI) in 2007.

His enjoyments may be those of an average youth, with lemon ice tea being his favorite beverage and Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead, his weekend read, but his vision can only be termed as aggressively royal.

Satyen Jain dreams big and performs far beyond others of his age, but there is a methodology in the apparent madness. When he says that Pride Hotels will hold a place among the top 5 in the country by 2020 and then explore operations overseas, one would think he was a typical, result-oriented leader. However, on closer inspection, his keen attention to process shines forth when he says, “Getting a hotel ready is cumbersome but if we break up the projects into small bits and make sure the progress is continuous then nothing can stop us from achieving success.”

Little wonder, then, that this hotel scion is in charge of implementation of strategic goals for the hotel group. He has a keen eye upon applying international standards in F&B, technology, room facilities, soft furnishings and hardware at the Pride Hotel sites.

The Pride is one of the fastest growing hotel groups in the country. It registered an exponential increase in turnover from Rs. 100 million in the year 2002 to Rs. 750 million in the year 2009. The hotel chain has grown aggressively with luxurious, five-star hotels in Bangalore, chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Nagpur. It has maintained gross and net margins of 45 percent and 28 percent consistently, which compare with the best in the Industry.

While five-star hotels in India are at par with global competitors, there is a near absence of internationally acceptable three-star and four-star hotels. Realising this, Satyen Jain aims to fill this gap with the Pride Biznotels. The perfect choice for today’s value-conscious traveler, the Pride Biznotels form a chain of moderately priced, upscale, full service business and leisure hotels with operations having commenced in Ranipet, Jaipur and Mahabaleshwar.

Each of these will have about 60 to 125 smartly furnished rooms with facilities designed for a comfortable stay. Business travelers will find a complete infrastructure exclusively designed for them, including conference and interview rooms. Those seeking to unwind will be able to choose from a range of recreational facilities.

Despite the global economic slowdown, Pride Hotels across the country had close to 70% occupancy levels. In all likelihood, the father-son combination of S.P. Jain and Satyen Jain will take the Indian hotel industry by storm, making Pride Hotels a force to reckon with in the years to come.