Vishal Kamat

The executive director of Kamat Hotels on the journey from his grandfather's dishwashing roots to a ₹700-crore empire, and why he does not believe in growth for growth's sake

- Arun Janardhan

When Vishal Kamat, the executive director of Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd (KHIL), was growing up, he didn't really consider any vocation or business. He was always clear that he would join the family's storied hospitality enterprise—one that traces its history in some form or the other to over a century, is synonymous with highway road journeys, reliability and consistency, idlis and filter coffee.

The recognisability of the restaurant brand across western and southern India is such that “Kamat” is ubiquitous with south Indian fast food and a certain standard of hygiene and affordability.

Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd also operates 22 hotels in the fourand five-star categories, owning two of the properties and leasing 11 others, with a total inventory of about 2,500 rooms. The Orchid Hotels, their flagship brand, is present in 19 cities, with the highest number of properties in Mumbai and Pune, including IRA by Orchid, Toyam by Orchid and Fort JadhavGadh (near Pune).

The company has a layered history connected to the family, going back a few generations but significantly from the time of Vishal's grandfather Venkatesh. He was prolific in the restaurant business, with Satkar, the vegetarian restaurant opposite Mumbai's Churchgate station started in 1957-58, followed by Samrat, Status in Nariman Point, known for its Gujarati thalis, Santoor and many other “S” brands.

Venkatesh's son and Vishal's father, Vithal, who pioneered the hotel business after taking over from his father in the early 1970s, wrote a book Idli, Orchid and Will Power (2018) about his journey from the concept of a single, family-style restaurant to a hotel chain. KHIL, incorporated in 1986, went public eight years later