Sahil Adwalpalkar – MD of Adwalpalkar Constructions & Hospitality

He had a dream… “Sitting in a Jacuzzi with a beer in my hand and gazing at the limitless sea” Presenting Mr. Sahil Adwalpalkar – MD Adwalpalkar Constructions & Hospitality who converted this dream into a reality to give his countless guests an experience of a lifetime.

A Civil Engineer with a masters in Construction Management by profession and a trendsetter at heart, Mr. Sahil Adwalpalkar , MD Adwalpalkar Constructions & Hospitality, entered the night life scenario in Goa at a time when this niche market had mainly individual players . Today, following his lead, many business houses have a finger in this pie.

“While Goa is THE place for night life, starting a night club involves a tremendous amount of research….the right location, ample parking, size, consideration for neighbouring residents to name a few”. All these were taken into consideration and seven years ago Goa saw the birth of SinQ a night club that’s upbeat, trendy, chilled out and chic.

However, being an outsider in this niche market the going was tough. Marketing and positioning were key factors. There were highs and lows but the focus was on establishing the brand in the first year which Mr. Adwalpalkar and his team succeeded in doing. The second year saw them leveraging the brand through a completely hands on approach. He personally took interviews and zeroed in on staff that more than experience, had the right attitude. According to him, “for the kitchen and other technology driven areas one needs experienced and technically qualified people but direct customer interaction needs people who will never say no…and for that one has to have the right attitude”.

At a time when social media was not so popular for business marketing reasons, the team went all out promoting the brand across all social media thereby bringing to it visibility not only in Goa but across the country.

Once SinQ became an established brand in the nightlife sector, he decided to expand the brand to the hospitality sector. However, he also knew that over exposing a brand across different sectors, especially in this case from night life to hospitality might dilute the brand. But being the trendsetter and risk taker that he is, he took a critical decision and decided to go ahead despite misgivings from people around him. And so was launched SinQ Beach Resort, followed by The Party Hotel next door to SinQ. Talking about The Party Hotel…a completely novel concept. Stay where you party, only couples’ entry, bold design, live DJ feed pumped into all the rooms…an irresistible combination leading to a resounding success.
With the success of The Party Hotel there was no looking back. The group carried on its expansion plan into hotels and nightlife and today they have about 15 such entities. SinQ Beach, Showbar (Morjim), Soi, Soro( Assagaon), Soho to name a few, spread across the beach belt of Goa. While they are all part of the same group, each one has a distinct entity- fresh, bold, day party, nightlife, inland, beachfront. According to him, when people plan a holiday in Goa, they already have an agenda worked out even before reaching here… food, party, relaxing on the beach. The SinQ group gives them exactly that exceeding expectations each time every time. He is able to grow and retain his guest population because he believes that a brand should never get complacent about the service it provides. This is a dynamic industry with new players entering the market at regular intervals. In order to create a good emotional bank account it’s important that the same level of service be provided for every guest from “inception through stabilisation and beyond”. To this end he is working towards enhancing the experience by adding a personal touch for guests right from check in to checkout through a single point of contact. This constant up gradation has today led to the turnover of SinQ Hospitality matching that of the construction wing.

The secret to his success is innovative, interactive and interesting design and technology; their design and technology is not static. It’s dynamic and keeps getting up graded with changing requirements. At inception, he spared no expense and made sure he had the right consultants with the required expertise in their respective fields. Their staffing system with its stress on hospitable frontline staff that goes out of its way to create a memory and a lasting experience for all clients (even down to procuring stuff that may not be available at the venue) is another reason they have succeeded. In 90% of reviews, besides the venue, customers have talked about the staff which is helpful and an environment that makes them feel safe. Another important factor is the huge respect and recognition Mr. Adwalpalkar has for his staff that has taken ownership, helped to grow the business and thereby evolved and grown with it. “Recognition by a client and more importantly the management to a well performing individual is what keeps the staff motivated to perform even better”.

As a person, who from the construction industry ventured into the hospitality industry, he feels that it is a “fantastic” place to be in. In a country where the food culture and hospitability is so deeply ingrained, there can only be a positive upwardly mobile trend. Good work is immediately visible and recognised especially in today’s world where social media plays such an important role in making or breaking a brand. In terms of monetary gains, besides the salary, tips add up to a huge amount. So all in all this is an industry which has financial and professional growth benefits for the people in it.
He strongly feels that government authorities need to have strict rules in place to create a clean and safe environment and promote Goa as an upmarket destination.