India, Feb 25: The Board of Directors of Royal Orchid Hotels has appointed Keshav Baljee as Executive Director, marking a decisive step in the company’s next phase of structured growth and brand expansion.
Keshav has been on the Board since 2019, playing a pivotal role in shaping strategic initiatives, strengthening the asset light model and sharpening the company’s brand architecture across markets. His elevation to Executive Director aligns responsibility with the impact he has already been driving.
Keshav is the Founder of Kensington Villas, a curated luxury villa development company, with successful projects in Alibaug. He earlier founded and led Spree Hotels – a budget hotel management company – building it into a pan-India hotel management company under the “Zip by Spree” and “Spree” brands. Spree was also a leader in facilities management and clubhouse management. He sold Spree to Ease My Trip, a listed travel conglomerate.
In his previous tenure as President of Royal Orchid Hotels from 2007 to 2011, Royal Orchid’s portfolio expanded from four to 24 hotels in under five years, with over 1.2 million square feet of hospitality assets jointly developed. He led investor relations, private equity and debt engagements, and institutionalized governance and corporate processes during a high growth phase. He was responsible for spearheading the asset light strategy, and signed the first few management contracts in our company, a division which now has over 100 + operational third-party management contracts.
As Executive Director, Keshav will spearhead the overall growth strategy of the group.
An alumnus of the Indian School of Business and the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania, Keshav began his career in investment banking with Lehman Brothers and UBS, specializing in M&A before returning to India to build and scale hospitality and real estate platforms.
The Board expressed confidence that his entrepreneurial approach, financial discipline and operational clarity will position Royal Orchid Hotels strongly for its next chapter of growth.