TIMELESS TALES OF NEEMRANA: 30 YEARS OF REVIVING HISTORY

One couldn’t have asked for a better location than the historic 19th century Tijara Fort Palace near Alwar in Rajasthan to meet and know the man who gave a new definition to the hospitality industry up close and personal – Aman Nath. It was Nath who first introduced the ‘non-hotel’ hotel brand – Neemrana Hotels. The concept, shares the septuagenarian hotelier, is that none of the properties under the Neemrana brand were originally meant to be hotels. “They are all monuments of historical significance with different stories to tell about our glorious history and culture. We have restored them to their past magnificence and glory,” he says.

It all began back in 1977 when Nath along with Francis Wacziarg started looking at restoring historical properties which held stories about the glorious past of India. “What was first spotted as a vast and splendid ruin of the Fort Palace of Neemrana has since become synonymous in India as a foremost example of architectural restoration-for-reuse. We have focussed continuously on restoring our historical wonders and converting them into modern-day heritage hotels which can give a true picture about our culture, heritage and values to the discerning traveller,” says Nath. 

Neemrana Then

Neemrana Now

But it was not a planned move. “You don’t say I’m going to grow up and run hotels. Here, I feel my alma mater, Modern School Barakhambha Road in New Delhi, played a big role. I’ve taught at the Doon School briefly and visited many others but Modern School, in my view, is the most creative of all. The spectrum was so wide there that it made it easy for us to imagine we could do everything,” he says. Little wonder then that despite being a non-architect and a non-hotelier then, it was aptitude and aspiration that naturally drove Nath in the direction he wanted to go. 

In 1986, Nath acquired Neemrana Fort-Palace and began its restoration. The hotel finally opened its doors for guests in 1991. “When I first did Neemrana, everybody thought I was an agent of Acharya Rajneesh. There were a lot of articles that mentioned about him hiding his treasures here but then they got to know me as also to the idea that I was no smuggler who wanted to put his gold bricks here. From then till date, I’ve been as transparent as glass with the people here. When you have nothing to hide, the people on the other side reciprocate with the same transparency. They also feel good about it because this is their heritage first and they have grown up around it. They had never imagined it ever coming alive in a way that would employ hundreds of them,” avers Nath who is a historian by education, has practiced graphic design and copywriting for some path-breaking ad campaigns, co-written and authored 13 large-format illustrated books on art, history, architecture, corporate biography and photography, two of which have won national awards. In fact, two of these books are used as official gifts of the President and the Prime Minister of India.

Work is meditation for Nath but refuses to take credit for all the success. “When you have 700 team members working at 18 properties across 13 locations, everybody must be doing something right. All you need to do is empower and believe in them. You can either lock up everything and keep chasing people or create systems for smooth flow of operations. This is exactly what we have done. A majority of our people are not trained but then Indians are smart, warm and hospitable so if you teach them systems and give them all that it takes, there’s nothing that can hold them back. Then on, it is team operation,” he explains.

Nath feels posterity will remember you if you touch history. “You may wear the most expensive ring in the world but when you’re dead, it goes to the next person who can afford to buy it. But architecture is something that remains there. Whatever we’ve done has helped extend the life of Neemrana which will turn 560 in 2024. If the livelihood of 300 people depends upon it, they will ensure it prospers as it is related to them. In the past, it was a different ballgame with a ruling head or a king. However, it has now changed with a company running the show,” says the septuagenarian who works 20 hours a day even today.

Now this may sound shocking, but Nath discloses that the organisation has never taken a loan for any of the projects which he says has surprised most of his friends including many hoteliers. “For me, the joy is when you’re talking about restoring properties of the Chauhans, the Rajputs, the Marathas, the Sikhs, the Jadhavs than talking about financials. We’ve also done Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, British and Scottish properties. In a short period of 30 years, we have touched many parts of India’s colonial history as also the dynasties and families. We are one of the youngest hotel chains of India with the oldest properties – 14th century, 15th century, 16th century, 17th century, 18th century and 19th century. And in the entire world, a chain doesn’t do such a wide spectrum of 700 years. When you add up all these years, it comes to 5,000 years of history on offer,” declares Nath proudly.