Reload, Re-engineer, Reset

W Goa introduced an entirely new concept of luxury-lifestyle hotels to India. Cajetan Araujo talks to Hotelier India on what the passion points for the country’s first W Goa are and how this new segment is rewriting the rules for luxury hotels looking to attract the aspirational millennial customers.

- Deepali Nandwani

A man of mixed parentage, with one of his parents hailing from the salubrious state of Goa, Cajetan Araujo calls Austria home. But like a quintessential global citizen, he has lived and worked across the world—from St. Regis Mumbai, his last assignment, to St. Regis Bal Harbour, Miami and St Regis, Doha. Ten months ago, he was chosen to headline W Goa, a hip, young, trendy hotel that exemplifies the changing face of luxury hospitality. In an extensive interview, he talks about the issues Goa faces as a luxury travel destination and what it means to be the GM of a hotel that revived Goa’s party culture.

You moved to India to open St Regis Mumbai. What has your experience been like?

At the time I moved to Mumbai, there were very few experts in opening up St. Regis hotels and it was a very tightly knit group. So my decision to move to India was both professional and also personal. To be able to expand the footprint in the Indian market was a very exciting proposition.

What has been your experience of the luxury hospitality market and how has it changed?

I think India has had some wonderful home-grown luxury brands, such as The Oberoi Group, Taj, The Leela Hotels and, these brands have benchmarked Indian luxury in very unique ways. The Oberoi Group is, in fact, at par with international standards and has often been listed in the top 10 hotels of the world. Also, don’t forget that the Hiltons and Sheratons were once considered ‘luxury. But, of course, the market evolved and the perceptions changed.

I think the term luxury was coined in the 90s to separate true luxury from five stars, or what we refer today to as ‘Upper Upscale’. The classic brands that have stayed true to the luxury DNA have perfected the art of how it has to be delivered. Hotels that called themselves ‘seven star’, truly benchmarked themselves as luxury.