Atul Khanna, director, Vivaana Culture Hotel, recently joined NewsX for its special segment, NewsX India A-List series. Atul is a conservationist at heart and is extremely passionate about culture and heritage. He has restored a twin haveli into a heritage boutique hotel called Vivaana Culture Hotel in a village of Churi Ajitgarh near Mandawa, Rajasthan.
After a long and successful corporate career, a business leader Atul found his true calling and passion for culture and heritage. Sharing his journey with us and the inception of Vivaana Culture Hotel, he said: “For anybody living in Delhi area surrounded by all these beautiful monuments and always staying next to the old fort and the abandoned stone, it becomes quite natural to love history and heritage. I always loved heritage so when I turned 50, I decided to follow my heart and heritage was my calling. I went wandering in my favourite car ambassador and wandered all over India especially Rajasthan.” Talking about some of his most memorable projects, Atul said, “We have had fun working in Agra and restoring Havelis in Old Delhi was a lot of fun. It’s a good feeling as sometimes all these buildings are being pulled down so it gives you a great feeling that you have saved the heritage and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Sharing with us his inspirations while undertaking these conservation works and projects, Atul told us, “I got the opportunity to travel all over the world and when you go to countries like Morocco or Cuba or discover the towns in Europe, you realise how proud they are about the heritage that’s my inspiration. Also, the small villages of India, the beautiful religious heritage villages, beautiful hotels and heritage hotels have all been my inspiration.”
Speaking of heritage and conservation and how he ensures to strike a balance that core value of the property is not lost but it also has modern amenities, comfort, and is sustainable, Atul said, “It starts from the sensibility point of view that you have to be proud of the heritage and use that sensibility in all your projects. Also, whether it is foreign travellers or Indian travellers, they all are demanding comfort. It’s difficult and I think this is one of the most challenging tasks that you have to find the right balance without losing sensibility, and ensure that the hotel is comfortable for your guests.” Talking about sustainability, he said, “To start with, I think solar energy, especially in Rajasthan has been a boon. It is crucial and I would recommend all hotels to make sure that they have solar panels on the terraces. That’s a practical thing to do and the government is supporting you there. We are trying our best not to use plastic in the hotel but we are also educating villagers about the same. We are doing our bit in terms of sustainability and are trying our best to not only keep doing that but also spread it in our surroundings.”
Sharing some of the biggest lessons and challenges from last year, Atul said, “The pandemic came as a shock to the whole industry. And we especially think Rajasthan is really affected by that because 80% of our clientele was coming from overseas. There’s been a lot of learnings and among the most important ones is even in difficult times, you don’t let go of your core team as that is the backbone of your establishment. Despite these tough times, the core team remains with you and that’s extremely important. Indian travellers are also vital for your business. One has to think out of the box like we were not looking at weddings but now have small weddings at our property which has become an important part of our business. Hence, a lot of learnings when we go into normal and when things come back to normal. I’m sure we can carry forward some of them.”