Management

Chender Baljee

Chairman and Managing Director

An MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad, Chender Baljee is the Founder, and Chairman & Managing Director of Royal Orchid Hotels. He has over three decades of experience in hospitality.

Chender has been recently featured in the IIM Ahmedabad book “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish” which chronicles the rise of 25 entrepreneurs. He is an active member of the All India Management Association, the Greater Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Confederation of Indian Industry. He is a certified Hotel Administrator from American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH & LA).

Shankar Mani

President – Projects, Royal Orchid Hotels Group

Mr. Mani has over 35 years experience in the hospitality industry covering areas of operations, corporate management, new development and project management. Prior assignments include Senior Vice President – Oberoi Hotels and Consultant – Hotel Design & Development. Mr. Mani has worked in India, US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. He holds Bachelor's Degree in Engineering from IIT Chennai and Master's Degree in Business from IIM Ahmedabad.

Willy Ribbe

Chief Operating Officer, Royal Orchid Hotels Group

Willy is a Hotel Management Graduate and has over 28 years of extensive experience in Hospitality industry. Prior to joining us he was working with the breathtaking properties of Ritz Carlton at Doha, Qatar as Area General Manager. He has had an illustrative career with Marriott Hotels in Europe and USA and spent time in some of the award winning Marriott hotels like the New York Marriott Marquis, Marriott Hotels in Washington DC, Bucharest Marriott Grand Hotel to name a few. He has held various senior Management positions for over 25 years in Marriott Intl. including Cluster General Manager Position in Europe.

Shekhar Bhargava

Executive Vice President

He is an alumni of IHM, Mumbai with over 27 years experience with leading hotel chains like The Taj Hotels, Welcom Group Hotels, Holiday Inn, Choice Hotels and other International Hotels in India and other European countries. He loves playing chef even in his personal life, a keen cuisine enthusiast, loves tennis and reading.

Harish Kumar Chopra

Chief Financial Officer, Royal Orchid Hotels Group

Harish is a Chartered Accountant, a Graduate in Commerce and also completed certified Treasury Management from ICFAI. He has extensive experience in overall functioning of Accounting and Finance Department. Prior to joining us he was working as Vice President Finance with Shipra Group. He also worked with renowned Groups like Suncity Projects Pvt Ltd, The Bank of Nova Scotia, Norcool India Pvt Ltd, Tata Finance Ltd, MGF India Ltd, DCM Ltd and Telemecanique & Controls Ltd. He brings with him a rich experience of over 19 years in Accounting, Fund Raising and Investor Relations and we are sure that with his advent, our Finance division will scale to newer heights.

K V Rao

Advisor – Finance

He holds a Masters Degree in Economics and over 36 years experience with Syndicate Bank and the Manipal Group. He loves music and traveling.

Sundeep Mathur

VP – HR

He is an MBA graduate, has expertise in Human Resources & Industrial Relations. Prior to joining Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd., he worked with The Park chain of Hotels for over 8 years as Corporate Director Human Resources. He has worked over 7 years with Tata Iron & Steel and while working with an IT startup Company in Chennai he was instrumental in taking the company’s employee strength to 950 persons.

He brings with him 16 years of rich experience in various sectors like Hospitality, IT and Steel.

He is an ardent enthusiast of music and owns vintage motor vehicles.

Ray McShane

Vice President - Sales for Royal Orchid Hotels Group and General Manager – Hotel Royal Orchid, Bangalore

Ray is a Diploma holder in Hotel Catering & Institutional operation and has 23 years of extensive experience in Hospitality industry. Prior to joining us he was working with the Centara Hotel & Resorts as General Manager. He has worked for The Grand, New Delhi as General Manager and Centara hotels Himachal Pradesh, Habtoor Hotels, Dubai & Lebanon as Area General Manager, Conrad Hotels, Turkey as Resident Manager, Hyatt Hotels, Kazakastan & Saudia Arabia as Director Business Development, Jeddah Intercontinental, Saudi Arabia, Forte Crest Regent Park, England, Hilton Associate and Plaza on Hyde park, England as Sales & Marketing Manager to name a few. He has held various Senior Management positions in India and Abroad.