Nikheel Advani on Building Grace Bay Resorts: Mentorship, Luxury Service, and Branded Residences in Turks and Caicos

Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome, um, to the Hospitality Mentor podcast. I'm your host, Steve Turk. Join me as we dive into the personal stories of some of the world's best hospitality professionals. We follow the journey of their ups, downs and wild turns to find out what it truly takes to make it in the amazing world of hospitality.

Speaker B: Here's something I've learned after years in hospitality. The best operators are incredibly intentional, uh, about how they use their time. Because when your day is filled with manual tasks like updating calendars, responding to repetitive guest messages, or managing payments, you're not focusing on leadership or growth. That's why tools like Lodgify exist. Lodgify is an all in one platform that helps hospitality operators manage short term rental properties more efficiently. It keeps your calendars synced across booking platforms, automates guest communication, processes payments, and even lets you create your own direct booking website. So instead of juggling multiple systems, everything lives in one place. And what I love about that is simple. It gives you your time back, which is one of your most valuable resources in hospitality. If you want to check it out, Hospitality Mentor listeners and viewers can get 60% off of Lodgify's yearly and bi yearly, professional and ultimate plans with the code THM M60. And that's THM60M. Now back to the episode. Welcome to another episode of the Hospitality Mentor podcast. And today, listeners, we're very lucky. I'm excited about this one. We've got Nikhil Advani, co founder, chief operating officer and principal at ah, Grace Bay Resorts and Turks and Caicos, which I've never been to. Uh, my last name's Turk. I need to get there. It's my island. I need to make it there. But Nikhil, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker C: Thank you, Steve. I mean, it's an honor and a pleasure. And with the name Turk, you've got to come here.

Speaker B: Now. I have no experience.

Speaker C: I was just going to say off the bat, you've got to come to Turks and Caicos. I can't believe it was meant to be.

Speaker B: I need to get there. My grandfather, one of my favorite pictures of him is him wearing a Grand Turk hat. So I need to get there and get over there. But we always start the podcast the same way and it is. What was your very first job in hospitality?

Speaker C: Um, I was a dishwasher and a banquet server. That was my first official job in the business, uh, luxury hotels in Singapore. My, um, first step into hospitality was slightly unique. Um, my dad at about 16 said, I need to talk to you. And you know we had this beautiful restaurant. We used to go to an Italian restaurant in the Grand Hyatt in Singapore. And so at 16, when I'm thinking, wow, this is. This is something important, I'm talking to my friends, and they're like, hey, yeah, your dad probably wants to buy you a car. I'm like, this is so cool, because all my friends were getting car, you know.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Um, and I thought this would be cool. So I found something a little bit more sensible because I want him m. To think that I've got my head screwed on correctly. Uh, I was in engineering school at the time. I was 16. So we go to this beautiful Italian restaurant in the Grand Hyatt, and, um, he says, basically, I'm wealthy and you're not. And I'm like, okay, this doesn't sound like I'm going to get a car. That's not how it works. And he says, basically, you can stay at home without paying rent for now, but you need to start to think about that. Uh, and you need to start to cover your own expenses.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: And I'm thinking, wow, this is probably the worst meeting I've ever had. He's, uh, an incredible mentor of mine. And I'm sure he's thinking. And at that time, I was not thinking, you know, what a good. What is this about? I'm thinking, right? So, so fast, uh, forward, he says, go get a job. You know, you just start working. So I started washing cars and all that. And that's not the greatest thing. So he says, let me tell you something. Uh, let me introduce you to the wives of, um, the ambassador of France and the ambassador of Belgium. And, you know, on the weekends, they have events at their home. And then if they do it in the embassy, they have a whole crew, but at home, they kind of hire people to attend the bar and serve the food and that. But why don't you go and do that? Uh, so at 16, I started my first company called Hospitality Cartel. Cartel Hospitality Consultants. And I started doing these. It was only me in the company. And once in a while, if I needed help, I'd call my buddies. And, you know, one was studying law, one was studying computer science. And, you know, all these guys would come help me out, right? And so I was the sort of, uh, the lead, uh, and I started to enjoy this. I was meeting incredible people. I was learning more about getting good at, you know, bar service. The chef there brought me in. Um, I think it was, you know, showing me how to serve all these fancy dishes. And that's where the magic started, really. So the end of the year I went back to my dad and said, look, I'm really loving this. I'd like to make this a career. Um, and of course, uh, leave engineering. So, okay, let's, let's think about this. My mom was freaking out. She's like, oh my God, this is a disaster. Look what you've done. You got to become a waiter or uh, you know, or seven and you know, not that there's anything wrong with that, kind of cool if you ask me, but at that time was an engineer and a server. Which one do you want to be? Right? Uh, so my dad says, look, you can start at the bottom. This is how it works. You know, he was a ship captain and then he did a lot of incredible things when he came on, on land. He started the first nautical institute, um, in Singapore with, with the government and he was part of that team. So he says you're going to start at the bottom just like in a ship. But you've got to learn every rule and you've got to do it well. You got to have a vision, get some good education and grow, you know, as, as you, as you go along. And that's really what happened, um, with incredible mentors in my life. Um, I enrolled in the hotel, uh, school in Singapore, which was run by Lausanne at the time it was called Shatek. It was incredible that that was a key moment in my life. Um, I had very little professional, uh, experience. So I had some working experience, you know, hospitality. But I, I was in for something totally new. And that one year, it was 1989, I joined the food and beverage, um, ah, hands on trade qualification at Chatek called NTC2. And it was an incredible change of how things then rolled out. Um, you know, so that was the start. I love it.

Speaker B: You cover a lot there and I think it's going to be interesting to see you had that entrepreneurial mindset already starting a company at 16 and just kind of figuring things out as you go with your friends. I love those kind of stories.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And I can already hear, you know, have my mom in my ear, but she said kind of same thing. And my dad was an attorney and I remember I was going to be attorneys, like, listen, whatever is a long life, whatever you're going to do, be the best at it. Go study and go do this.

Speaker C: Exactly what he said, be the best. And you know, and if you love it, it's not going to feel like work. And that's what, you know, I don't think I'll ever retire in my life. I love what I do, even today. There's some great days and there's some challenging days, but all in all, it's incredible. I get up every morning, um, so psyched. And no two days are the same. Um, so it's really interesting that you can find something new. It's all about finding, as we said, motivating our teams. Right. To be the best they can be, giving them the tools, giving them the resources, pointing the vision, developing the vision with them, um, and with our clients and with our guests. So it's really a fun, fun experience. Um, and it's hard work, uh, I have to say. Um, you know, we work weekends, we work long hours.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: So much fun. If I had to go back again, I don't think I'll change too much.

Speaker B: Well, I want to go back to that because, uh, what you kind of said, I tell people too, is hospitality is lifestyle. It's not a career lifestyle.

Speaker C: You got it? I say the same thing.

Speaker B: Right. And so for you, you said you're going to school, you kind of start getting your, your legs under you really understanding the profession in school. How does this start to transition for you? Because I know you go to University of Massachusetts Amherst to continue studying.

Speaker C: That's right.

Speaker B: Isn't that something that you switched schools during that time or tell us about?

Speaker C: I did really well in the first year, um, got scholarship, um, and decided, okay. My dad said, okay, that's the next, next fund. You're doing well. Let's get you to the next phase. So we applied to a couple of universities in the U.S. um, Houston, Vegas, uh, Amherst, give. These were the top, which hotel schools at the time, Cornell as well. And he felt, okay, Cornell you should go as a master's or Harvard and Cornell you should look at later. But, you know, Massachusetts seems good. We looked at the program. Um, there's some great professors there. Um, and so we said, okay, that's what we're going to do. But during the time I was in, um, hotel school in Singapore and in Massachusetts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, uh, I was working, I ran the wok restaurant, uh, in Amherst and in Singapore was working in backwards in server position, uh, bartending positions, in stewarding positions as well.

Speaker B: Yeah. Learning.

Speaker C: And that gave me a lot of knowledge about how the inner workings of a hotel operated.

Speaker B: Yes. And so as you start to continue your journey, how do you are, ah, you. Because you end up at Ritz Carlton for a long time during, like the heyday when you start to arrive there, what role did you start in? Was it in food and beverage that you get?

Speaker C: There is a banquet operations manager, and that was sort of, uh, my secondary foray into hospitality. Uh, it first started in Singapore, like I said, as banquet waiters and all that kind of stuff. Dishwasher, stewarding. Uh, I also played a role, uh, in, um, helping, uh, set up the Domino's Pizza in Singapore during my education, my army time. So, you know, so that. That was really interesting because, um, you know, in Singapore, it was the first couple of Domino's Pizzas that were opening. So you make pizzas, you deliver them and all that. So I got into pizza business. So as I left University of Massachusetts, I interviewed with Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and everywhere. Uh, and then Pizzeria Uno came as well. So, um, they said, look, we need a turnaround team. You seem like a good guy. And they offered me 10,000 more than four seasons or Ritz Carton Wood. So Ria started in the pizza business.

Speaker B: That's amazing.

Speaker C: They had an incredible leadership team. Uh, I was posted with, uh, two really professional people who work in this family service business. Uh, for a long time, I was part of a team of three that was, um, part of the turnaround team that should a property, uh, or one of their flagship properties in the Massachusetts area was not, uh, performing to the level. We'd go in there, we'd make the management changes we need to make, the process changes we need to make. And we had about 90 days to get it up to scratch. And so, uh, that was my first couple of years, um, out of university. I was 23 when I joined that team. Uh, and then at 25, I joined the Ritz Carlton. And then Rit Carlton totally changed everything for me.

Speaker B: One second, I'm gonna pause you, because I'm just curious. Okay, you go to Ritz Carlton and you apply. Like, hold on, Nikhil, this is the pizza guy. What is it? We're gonna let this guy.

Speaker C: That was a tough one. So I'll be very honest. So when I went and applied, uh, in Boston with Ritz Carlton, they said, well, we don't know whether you're the right guy, you know, uh, but I had a good connection in Singapore, and, uh, they wanted me. They. They knew me. Yes, I was a pizza guy, but I also worked in a lot of luxury hotels, um, you know, before. Right. And they knew an entrepreneurial spirit. And opening a property, you need that entrepreneurial spirit. So they do all these tests. Uh, you know, it's, uh, They've got all these psychological testing and I turned out to be one of the right fits. So they start me on and then, of course, then they do the management fit. And it's, it's, it's. I love Made in Heaven. Right? Uh, and so I then become one of the key opening guys in food and beverage, then transition into deputy hotel manager, um, and grow with the company. I did roughly, uh, about seven to ten openings for Ritz Carlton. We were growing very big in Asia, so it was Singapore, Malaysia, Osaka, Bali helped those properties. Um, and then, um, we moved on to the U.S. uh, and uh, my key roles were in, uh, New York city and Washington D.C. and then helped open Sarasota and Philadelphia as well. So, I mean, it is best, one of the best training, uh, grounds, um, at the time and even today, I would say, um, just really, really great mentors. And I think one thing I find be remiss not to say is getting great education and great experiences are very, very important. But having mentors, uh, uh, are, uh, what changes your life. It takes you from good to great. Um, not necessarily, you know, all the things that you know, but these people will open doors for you that most, you know, most time you can't open yourself. And I think I've been blessed with some of the best mentors in the world. Um, they're the greatest leaders.

Speaker B: Any of them stand out to you when meeting.

Speaker C: Coming up, uh, people like James McBride, who's one of the key principals at, uh, Nihi Sumba, um, Peter Schoch, um, who, um, drove, uh, as vice president, uh, Capella, who, uh, started the Ritz Carlton hotel company, then went on to Capella and now is doing a lot of consultancy. Ove Amler, who ran Ritz Carlton, uh, and at the time he was, uh, the coo. Um, so these are the key people and that I still keep in touch with today. And, you know, people also, uh, that are at. I have mentors that are younger than me who are teaching me stuff today. Um, Franklin, who is the head of our personal concierge team. And he's incredible, bright Jamaican gentleman with hospitality in his heart. And I'm learning so much from him as well, uh, because he touches the guests every day and we strategize as to, hey, what can we do more? How can we wow them? And if we're having glitches, what do we do to solve that? So there are so many mentors that they can be older to you and more senior, but they also can be younger to you. Um, my dad was a great mentor. Uh, he's always been over time. When I look back at what he told me at 16, it definitely was um, a definitive time in my life to pick the right direction. Uh, and I felt really honored that he would do that. Didn't understand it at the time though, because on Fridays and Saturdays at 6:30 all my friends were going to happy hour. I was going to work. But the good news is I was making three, four hundred dollars a weekend and they were spending here. Four hundred and fifteen. That's pretty cool.

Speaker B: Big money.

Speaker C: So 50%, uh, as a good Asian boy would go to saving and the other 50% I could do what I want. So I broke that into two parts. The 25% I went and bought something really cool. Sometimes technology, sometimes clothes, well, whatever. And the other 25% I went to the bar at about 11 o'. Clock. Everybody was waiting for me because I was buying drinks for everybody, you know, so that was sort of the story in how that worked out. And I think those were really um, important years in my life to learn hospitality. If you want to host, if you want to learn hosting because hospitality is about, ah, making people feel special. Um, the embassies, um, ambassadors, wives and ambassadors themselves are pro at that. So I learned from uh, you know, uh, the ambassadors how to host, um, you know, you know, it was interesting. Uh, how do they make people feel really special?

Speaker B: I love that. And you got to learn even more of that while you're at risk, Carlton, because you're there seven years growing through that company and you get up to be the executive assistant manager, director of food and beverage. And those are the kind of roles I was at in my career as well. So I understand well, but you make a change and this is something I see some people do, some people never leave Ritz Carlton. And they're there 25, 30, 40 years now.

Speaker C: You see a very long stint.

Speaker B: So how did you decide to make a change to, to Raffles? Because you're growing and growing.

Speaker C: So hotel manager at Raffles is a one off situation. You know, it's a hundred odd year hotel. You uh, can you, it gives you more than you can do. It was national service for me. They had done a whole executive search around the world. And then the VP at the time, who I knew really well, called me and says they, they've narrowed down to you. I should have just picked up the phone and saved a whole bunch of money and, and called you. I said okay, look, I can't say no to this role, you know. It's, it's incredible. The Raffles Hotel is, is, is one of the best hotels in the world today. It's got, um, three Michelin keys and all that kind of good stuff and, you know, always on the top lists and, and we took it at that time from number 37 in the world to number two in the world. I worked with an incredible general manager by the name of Javier Rosenberg, another friend and mentor the world mentor. And again, you know, he was younger than me. Great guy. We, we worked incredible as a team together and we had really great leaders. I mean, um, when we look, when I look back at that team, um, 20 restaurants, um, Hunt suites, um, a theater, banquet facilities, retail, um, with 60 retail shops. So it was a whole city block. It was, it was a little, um, a little island, so to speak, in, and one that you cannot miss if you come to Singapore.

Speaker B: Yeah. And so how was that feeling there? Because it is such an iconic hotel, people around the globe know it. What was it feel like when you're, all right, I'm running this hotel?

Speaker C: I mean, it was surreal. Uh, as I said, you take more than you can give the VIP guests that come in there. Uh, Ms. M trial was the CEO of Raffles Hotel at the time, and she had been the general manager of that property, and she lived on property, so it was intense. And she was an incredible. Talk about another mentor, an incredible mentor. She taught me what made the Raffles Hotel different. Why was it better? Ah, uh, or why was it, you know, how did it make people feel? Raffles is about you walk into this historical building and it has so many great things. A, ah, food and beverage was a huge focus. So that's another place that we hosted some of the most famous, um, chefs, Michelin star chefs, winemakers, chateaus, all these things came together in this magical, um, sort of execution. But again, the bottom line is it was hospitality. How do you make people feel in this experience?

Speaker B: So in that hotel, you know, I've worked in some very top tier hotels, and this is one of the trophy hotels around the world. Was the P and L a big focus or was it, listen, make sure the guests are happy. The P and L will come in.

Speaker C: I think, you know, Raffles, they were able to find a great balance for both. Uh, you had incredible product and service and that was key. That was not negotiable.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And you still have to make money, you know, and so that, that taught me a lot of stuff. We had an incredible financial controller and you know, you get two types of financial Controllers, some that are pure accountants, they're very good at what they do. And some that understand operations.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: Uh, and when you. We had one that had both those skill sets. And that's beautiful because you could take an idea to him, you could bounce ideas off him. And even though we had to spend some money today, um, and make the change and make it profitable over a period of time, he had the patience to wait. You know, I think that those are the kind of things we look at as, you know, being an FMB director yourself. Yeah, you know, we're creative, we've got these, these great ideas. But you need a financial control in the GM that's keen, uh, to support those ideas.

Speaker B: You know, if not, they're like, what is this? What are you spending money on? How much? What? No, you got going to make money. I promise you it's going to work. All right, so you're there. Listen, you have a great run there. Two years at this iconic hotel and I guess this is where the entrepreneurial spirit must be coming back. How do you now transition into co founding?

Speaker C: Uh, so this is pure luck, right? So I'm going to meet a buddy of mine who's opening the Set Eye. He tells me about, you know, do you want to join this? You want to be part of the Set Eye in Miami, which is a world class hotel out here?

Speaker B: Miami, I know it very well.

Speaker C: And I said, you know, I don't want to do another city hotel. I'm very honored that you'd asked me, uh, to join you and be part of this. And he says, okay, why don't you go to the Caribbean? I had a friend there and I'd never been to the Caribbean, by the way. And he didn't know where Turks and Caicos was. Nobody knew where Turks and Caicos was 25 years ago. Um, it was, it was nicknamed the New Caribbean. Right when we get started. So, uh, it was really cool. I went to meet, um, who is now my business partner, Mark d'. Or, and uh, he said, listen, well, you know, we have this 21 suite hotel. Um, we'd love you to come be part of it. You have the skill sets, you understand luxury, you seem to be entrepreneurial, but you also understand we did the first Risk Carton residences in Washington D.C. um, and we learned, uh, by, you know, jumping, um, into the fire. Because hospitality and residences we thought were the same business and they're actually different.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: Um, so we learned the hard way, but we learned very quickly, um, in Washington D.C. how to open luxury residences. What does it take? How to manage a strata? Uh, all these kind of things that were valuable, uh, and early days. So we did that. It was really, really cool. Um, so there was a magic. I landed in Thompson Caicos. And firstly, I'd never seen beauty like this before. I mean, best beaches in the world. And voted regularly for the last God knows how many years. Um, the people were very, very welcoming. And Mark was an incredible guy. And I thought, I could do this. Of course, I tell all my friends that I'm moving, like, What? I had 800 team members at the Raffles, um, and they were incredible. One, ah, hundred fifty chefs, uh, top chefs in the world, you name it. Reaper. And then I moved to a 21 street hotel. So my buddies were looking at me and saying, you must have lost your marbles, mate. Now something's wrong. What's going on?

Speaker B: Your mentors, too, were like, what are you doing?

Speaker C: Well, the mentors were a little bit more supportive. They're like, well, you're probably seeing something clearance. Uh, but just remember two things. You're known for two things. Your food and beverage was, you know, huge. You wanted to create the best experiences in food and beverage and service and making people feel incredible. Hospitality was huge for you. These are things you strive at. The Caribbean is not famous for either of those, Just so you know. Uh, and so I said, yeah, m. I know we'll have to figure it out. So the first year was difficult. I'm going to be honest. Uh, you know, it was a huge shift from Singapore to the Caribbean. But what you'll start to learn is what are the strengths and the hospitality of Caribbean people. They call it one love is incredible. You just gotta hire family, you know. And so, yes, service was not great. When we got there, we started a hotel school, uh, training everybody, uh, to. So they have the advantages that we had. Um, and then also food and beverage, uh, finding the right supply chains, finding the right chefs that wanted to come here and be part of this. So there were many people in this journey through the last 25 years that have each contributed something to get us to where we are today.

Speaker B: I love hearing that. And I want to talk about that very first transition because there's so many people listening now. And we get these questions all the time. And they'll ask me, like, you know, Steve, I'm in this role right now. I'm a hotel manager. I'm a gm, but, you know, I've got the golden handcuffs. I make a salary. It's so good. I'm not Ready to leave and start. So what was it for you that made it clear? Was it just, uh, a great offer was you to get maybe some ownership,

Speaker C: potentially move into ownership? We said, look, work one year together, and then if it works and we like each other, because that's really important, um, having great partners. I've had the Same partners for 25 years, and they're incredible. We have a huge level of trust. Um, you've got to also understand you're going to go into a more risky zone. So, yes, you have incredible salary. That's always the case when you're, um, you know, a hired gun. That's always the case. Taking that risk to know that some years you're going to get more and some years you're going to get less. Uh, it's a tough one, and it took me a year or two to kind of get used to that. Um, but, you know, having that entrepreneurial spirit was great. Having great partners is really what made it. Um, you know, Mark and Mike and Thierry, these are partners that I've had for many, many years. They're great people. They're incredible professionals, and each of us have different skill sets. Uh, Mark's expertise is development, um, you know, theories in the operation side. Uh, so we see eye to eye on a lot of things. And he came from the Ritz Carlton. Mike is a finance guy who understands law, uh, and accounting, and really in finance. Again, he understands what we're doing, why we're doing it. So having those talent sets come together is really what has made Grace Be Resorts kind of unique. Uh, nimble, because we can move really quickly. A board meeting can be called in ten minutes, uh, and a decision can be made right away.

Speaker B: I love that. And so, for listeners, I want you to pause this right now. If you're not driving. Okay. I want you to check out gracebay resorts.com so you can understand the beauty and the amazing things that they've created here as we continue this part of the conversation. So pause@gracebay resorts.com. look at some of the images. It's beautiful. I want to go now. I'm looking at it as we're. As we're talking about this, so I want to bring it back to you, Nikhil, where you get to Grace Bay, you get your two years under you, You've got the training going. You've got chefs coming in. You're starting to harness the. The one love, hospitality, energy. What are some of the wins that have happened, uh, during this time? I know you've got countless but what are some of the big ones for you?

Speaker C: Yeah, I'll start by, you know, we got the best service award, um, presented by, um, you know, um, Tindy Crawford and the whole um, con and S team. And so that was incredible that that was a turning point. So the team realized, wow, we can be one of the best in the world. Uh, service excellence was, was something that we pushed hard and they were able to, to bring this to the table. So really, really cool. That was one of the turning points. We've had a lot of successes. I think we started with, with one 21 suite hotel. Then, then we added the villas, which was family friendly, was always adult only. So we ended the villas and then we added the estate, which is the super high end, which redefined um, hospitality in um, Turks and Caicos. And how we did that was creating, um, very similar to what the Raffles had, which was the butler and personal concierge program.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And we were the first to have uh, a personal concierge program that every street category from the junior suite to the penthouse suites had this incredible service. I think those are the few things that we did. We focused on food and beverage because I had to make sure one of the turning points was hiring Chef, ah, Chef Wolfgang from Vegas. So he ran the Bellagio's, um, incredible food beverage program. And then he decided come, he wanted to get back into the mix of actually cooking and actually, you know, so we had our second property here in Turks and Caicos called the Veranda. Uh, so there have been many, many wins along the way. But it's really people, if I think about it, um, who are able to create incredible successes with the local community, um, that I've seen really make the difference.

Speaker B: And how are you finding those people? Because on the islands I've heard so many great stories, but also some scary stories, like, man, we can't find people and they don't want to do what we're telling them to do. And they all know each other, so

Speaker C: we experience all those challenges as well. And I'll start by two, three things. One, we're a newer destination. Um, everybody starts, uh, somewhere. And so all these people were starting new without any preconceptions. So I think being part of the new Caribbean really helped. Um, that was one, two, we started from the scrap. We had a hotel school. We started training everybody. Um, because we had the benefit of those years of training which helped us so much, we said, okay, we'll do that. Three, um, an MP from Barbados who came down to do training for US Said every Caribbean person has these incredible human talents, human connection talents, emotional attachments. You just need to know the key to turn it on. And I think what that changed how we saw things. Mark and me always wanted this to be a Caribbean Turks and Caicos hotel company. And it is. We have the highest number of local, uh, staff, about 75%. And great state Club, which is our flagship property, uh, of the chain of hotels in the Turks and Caicos, uh, was the first luxury property in the Turks and Caicos. So we are one of the preferred employers. So we've always had a great reach and great relationship with the local community. Um, and they've performed incredibly well for us, but also letting them be themselves. Um, at the Ritz Carlton, we had verbiage that we wanted to use, and you had a, uh, hairstyle that you have to have in the Caribbean, everybody wanted to have their own hairstyle. So we said, you know what? We got to let them be who they want to be, uh, within. Within certain standards. So everybody came with, uh, their different, you know, dreads, whatever that may be. And, you know, then those are the kind of things that you also have to allow some of the things that. That the local community want to do and people who are tourists want to see as well. You know, it's not my pleasure. I'd say, hey, man, how you doing? Uh, there's some of the things that in the Caribbean you could. You could do. And people thought, wow, this is great. This is very local, you know, because genuinely.

Speaker B: But, you know, it's funny is you and I both been brainwashed unknowingly. Like, I still shave every day. I don't have to, but I do every day. And I still wear a blazer, uh, about you. But for me, that was like, a big thing at one of the hotels I worked at when I was at Mandarin Raven. Gotta have your sideburns here. And I still have it that way. And my friends make fun of me because they all have beards. I'm m. Like, I don't know. I don't. I don't have. Yeah, you're looking handsome. Nickel. You're looking good. You're looking good. Um, but I love what you're. What you're putting together here, and I love the story of what you created, because you really created a category that didn't exist in Turks and Caicos, or you created luxury environment and got people to come there. Um, and I think that's probably one of the things that I loved learning about the story here. But how did you get people to really explore? Because I know it's probably the marketing and getting it out the word,

Speaker C: multiple roles, right? Um, you're the gm, you're the director of sales marketing, you're the FA B director when we couldn't afford anything, right. And so we went out on the road uh, meeting travel professionals, explained to them what we're going to do. And the one thing you said, I look back at it now, I um, don't think we've stopped a lot to look back at that. As we had a place that nobody knew we were new and uh, so you had to create demand. And then 25 years later when we look back, we are one uh, of the hottest destinations in the Caribbean. And it took us 25 years to build it and it took the government who are forward thinking and um, came together with us. It took a lot of hoteliers. Brands like the Heartland Group which were pioneers, uh, Amman decided out of all the Caribbean to come here. They were big brand names so that helped a lot. Como Parakeet, who was here, uh, that's their flagship uh, in the Caribbean. So all these, these key players and funny, uh, before I was leaving leading the Raffles, I met Adrian Zaka and he said we're going to open a hotel in Turks and Gigas. I said I don't know where that is but I'm going there. And Como had a prop, just had a property there and they were building more villas and, and really investing in that property. So Como be was owned by a uh, billionaire in Singapore. Yeah, Adrian Zer was based in Singapore and he had Amman and I was from the Raffles going to Texas K. So three Singaporean connections, creating it only separately, um, ending up in Sing in in Turks and Kcross.

Speaker B: It's amazing for the small world. That's where everyone is. And the Coma Hotel, they left Miami Beach. I love that brand. I got to actually do some things with them in my land and I just enjoy them very much. And Amman is you know, creating amazing things everywhere and so you are all a part of that. Coming from Singapore, it must be something in the water over there.

Speaker C: We're uniquely Turks, uh, and Kikos, what's that? That's really special. And you know all these, these awards to be put uh, with a small brand that we are to be compared, you know with Michelin Keys just came out. So Como got one, Aman got one and we got one. So to be put in the same category as these top brands, you know, makes us feel very humble and very Grateful. Uh, and we work every day to, to, to improve what we're doing. But what we've learned is, over time, they, if you take care of your team and they take care of our guests, and then you can, you know, rise to the highest levels. And I've always said that to our team from day one. First, they thought I was kidding around. And I said, you're going to be the best. You will be the best. I feel it. I know this. Uh, and, you know, when I started, nobody knew Turks and Caicos. Nobody knew our brand. They kind of heard about us. And, you know, it's famous for diving at the time, but it was not famous for luxury. Um, it was not really famous for branded residential, which is a big part of how we grew it. Mark Yolette, my partner, was a, Was definitely a pioneer in that area, um, in creating some of the finest residential offerings in the Turks and Caicos. And then when we opened the estate, the penthouse sold for the highest price per square foot in the Caribbean for luxury residential. So we were breaking grounds in the hospitality side, having the best service. Service excellent. We were breaking grounds on the, um, residential. Branded residential side. And so that kind of created a lot of momentum and excitement for people to come. And then the other thing that was, was vital. And I talked to two of my mentors again, uh, one who opened the Four Seasons, uh, uh, in Punta Mita, and he told me, listen, uh, the most important thing in the islands, you've got to get along with the people. Number one, they gotta. You gotta get their hearts. And number two is airlift. These two things are key. If you don't have those two things, you're not going to create excellence. And you can't be successful if people are not coming. So besides knocking the doors and going, seeing all the top travel professionals like Bill Fisher, and all these great, great people who've helped us be successful. We also went with the government and put a program together where the airport authority, the government and the private sector came together and said, what can we do to get more flights? And I think the turning point was about 15 years ago when JetBlue started. Uh, JetBlue really came direct from New York. Now we have it from a whole bunch of destinations, including Boston and all these different airlines then jumped on and realized, what do we look at? Is we looked around the Caribbean and we said, look, we're new, so we can see what was successful in different areas. And at the highest end that had a couple of great, um, luxury properties was Angola. And Angola is a Great, great destination. So many times we looked at Anguilla as sort of our competition or how do we learn from them, you know. And then we've now become incredible friends with all the folks in Angola, the um, tourism minister and the tourism board and the hotelier. And you know, what we've learned is we can all grow together. There's enough space for luxury for all of us. But they were a great motivation. Anguilla was in the people of Anguilla, uh, we almost took buying a few properties there over our lifespan but every time we wanted to do something in either Anguilla or Antigua, uh, something came up in Turks and Caicos. So we stayed. And now we have six operating luxury businesses, five um, hotels in a whole villa division and we're building a couple more. So it's kind of exciting. Uh, and what's special is five of our businesses um, run over a thousand dollar ADR. Um, and if you look at the STR report, I think there are a handful of about 5, 600 properties in the world that have that accolade.

Speaker B: That's amazing. And so you're building this and you touched on it. I want to see. I'm not asking for your five year business plan but what are you most excited about in the next year or two because you're doing so many things right now.

Speaker C: Okay, that's, that's an exciting um, you know I, I think the first thing is at the end of this year in our, one of our newest properties, south bank, which is a luxury marina property, we're opening a Pierre Lasoni building, uh, which has 17 incredible condominiums on the water. It's called Arc and that is completion of the fourth neighborhood of SunBank. So we're really, really exciting, excited about that. Our partners there um, are incredible developers. Um, they've been on the island for a long time and they are incredible partners. With us, um, following that in 2027, we um, but we're building the Point which is an extent expansion, a um, boutique expansion of the Point Grace property. Um, so that's another exciting thing that will come the end of next year. We're sort of halfway through building it. We just did a incredible brokers event and Mark just uh, you know brought, brought this energy to life about what we're building there. So those are the things that are coming up. We're also looking at um, our Rock House property which is one of the coolest experiences because it's, it's nicknamed m the Caribbean Capri. So it's bringing the Mediterranean, uh, experience to the Turks and Caicos Islands and Rock Houses. If you haven't been, you've got to try it out.

Speaker B: I'm looking at it now as you're talking to me. I'm like, oh my gosh.

Speaker C: One of my closest buddies, Herman Elgar, who is now CEO of Forbes Travel Guide, says man, this is such a cool property. I feel like I'm in Greece, feel like I'm um, the Amalfi coast. Uh, so that, that property, it looks like Greece. Phase three and four coming up shortly. Again, you know, uh, wellness is a big part of what we do. And definitely Rock House is, is pioneering that wellness experience over the time. And we're looking at different concepts and even maybe a wellness area, uh, in one of the phases.

Speaker B: That's amazing. So how does you start to transition into residential? Right, because it's the one thing to be in hospitality. You said it's two very different things. How did that start coming guests that were kind of dropping that and saying

Speaker C: hey, we would love started in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, uh, where we worked to open the Ritz Carlton in Malaysia. In Kuala Lumpur, the capital, um, the developer group, which is ytl, was very involved with them. We were very involved with them. We, besides uh, opening the Ritz Carlton, we helped them with a full development, a multi use development that included the Marriott, that included um, the luxury retail Star hill, we lot 10 and the first Ritz Carlton residences there. Um, I was not there to fully open that. Then I transitioned to Washington D.C. where we had residences that we were opened. Um, there were some delays because of the financial crisis in Asia. So when we transitioned in 2000 to Washington D.C. we were able to open the first risk carbon residences. Um, and as I said we learned with putting our fire to the feet, uh, and we had to learn pretty quickly. We're learning that two different businesses. And so that experience then was very useful because to raise money in the Caribbean is very difficult. Right. It's a high risk area. So Mark would say this better than I, but over time we've learned that we'll raise about 20% equity. Right. And then we'll sell real estate, um, and then get the last mezzanine loan and the debt piece for the next 20%. So about 60, 20, 60, 70% is raised through, um, selling real estate, uh, to various second, uh, third home buyers. Um, and so that's the capital stack that gets put together. And that's something we perfected over time and understand really well today how to manage that uh, type of business. Luxury branded, residential.

Speaker B: Yeah, I see it a lot here in Miami Beach. That's how they're trying to fund a lot I'm installed out because they weren't making the sales that they needed to make. Yeah. And so for your, when you sell the residents there, do they have access to the hotel properties or. They only, uh, totally do.

Speaker C: So the way we do it is we sell them the residents, um, and they're able to use all the hotel facilities. And when they're not using it, we rent it. So it's really a great equation. Um, you have an incredible quality of light when you come to the Turks and Caicos. You got five star service from all our team members. And when you leave, you don't have to worry about the residence. Uh, it'll be rented, you'll get a check at the end of the year and it even covers all their maintenance costs. So it's really a great equation if that, if, if the numbers all pan out. Um, and so I think Turks and Caicos is one of the leading destinations where luxury branded residences really work. And also we need that to be able to develop more. Uh, so, uh, it's a symbiotic relationship in terms of how the business model works.

Speaker B: That's amazing. I love that tip. I'm gonna keep that in mind because we're just building our first boutique hotel, so maybe down the road you gotta

Speaker C: tell me about it.

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm gonna show you. I think you like it a lot. It's definitely, I think, your vibe just from meeting you and learning about what you're doing here. So, Nikhil, I, uh, have one last question for you. Yes, you covered a lot here, but if you could go back to young Nikhil, the 16 year old starting up the cartel of hospitality and whisper in his ear some advice starting out his journey today. What advice would you give him if he was starting today?

Speaker C: Be passionate about what you do. And one of the mentors in, uh, school taught me one thing, you know, before you complain about anything, do it first. Do it, have the experience and then give some constructed criticism, you know, because many times people say, oh, I don't want to do this, it's too difficult, we can't do this. And you know, be passionate about what you do. Try it out and then come back to talk to done it. Then I know we can, we can have a great conversation. Um, and that was one thing I loved. So I always give it a shot. Doesn't matter what it is, going to try it, you know, uh, make sure you've done your research about it, give it your full. And I think that, you know, really helped me a lot, uh, in my early days especially. So my dad would always say, get it done, then come and tell me what's working, what's not. Don't complain before you've even done it. Uh, you know, so I, I think that's, that's been a key. I'm, uh, a hands on kind of guy. Even today, uh, the restaurant's busy. I don't mind jumping in.

Speaker B: Nice.

Speaker C: So whatever it takes. As I said, you know, these, these fancy titles are cool, but the bottom line is our goal is how do we, how do we give the resources and energy and passion to our team members to be the best they can be? You know, I love that.

Speaker B: I think listeners rewind that last minute, listen to it again. That's great advice for anybody in any career. Uh, Nikhil, I appreciate you joining us today. You shared so many great stories, so many great pieces of advice that listeners. Why don't you just go ahead and pause this, hit that share button, send it to a friend, because if you liked it, your friend is definitely going to like it too. And if you haven't had the chance yet, stop what you're doing. Go to gracebay resorts.com, see all the amazing things that they've created. Um, and really, it really is impressive to see all the things on this website and all the different types of offerings that you all have created from, from an idea, you know. So congratulations to that. Nikhil. I appreciate you joining us today.

Speaker C: Steve, thank you so much. And to all the listeners you know, come visit us. We'd love to talk to you. Um, our goal is how can we help you do what you do better?

Speaker B: I love it. Thank you so much.

Speaker C: Thank you so much.

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