TravTalk India Online Magazine
‘Adversity is a blessing in disguise’ goes the old saying, and no one understands this better than Manish Kriplani, MD, Baywatch Travels, who has helped fill the gap in demand and supply for luxury villas through his latest venture – Baywatch Stayzz. The brand offers serviced luxury villas for rent, soon to be available through an online portal as well.
Nisha Verma
The idea to launch Baywatch Stayzz came to Manish Kriplani when he saw the demand for driving holidays while talking to his clients. “We realised that most of the villas available in the market were average, with no housekeeping, butler service, etc. I wanted to fill that void with luxury villas offering a butler service. I wanted a full-service villa with a minimum area of 5,000 sqft on the beach. I started talking to friends who had such villas and realised that there was a huge availability of very high-end luxury villas that the owners wanted to give. The idea was to be different from an Airbnb; we didn’t want to give a villa where a person opens the door and there is nobody there. We are Indians, we want to be pampered,” he shares. For service and staff, Baywatch is talking to housekeeping and hospitality companies, and Kriplani says that there is a huge availability of these resources caused by the loss in jobs due to the pandemic.
Today, he is working with different clients on different models. “There are a few luxury villas we are taking on lease, some are on revenue-share, and for others we are only doing sales and marketing. We have a whole range of modus operandi for obtaining villas,” he adds. Kriplani is also preparing an e-commerce portal that will host all these properties and villas. Currently, there are nine villas in the portfolio, and the company is planning to bring more under the Baywatch Stayzz umbrella.
Expansion plans
Kriplani says that he has big plans for Baywatch Stayzz, and should have around 50 villas in Chennai in the next few months. “Then we will go to Bengaluru, Kodaikanal and Ooty. We are talking to potential investors who know the industry. The way forward is to raise funds from a few angel investors and some other sources as well. We can put up offices in Delhi and Mumbai, because there have to be at least 200-250 listings for a company to be commercially viable and that’s what our plan is,” he says.
In times of COVID-19 and with hygiene protocols a priority for everyone, Kriplani says he has ensured that social distancing, cleanliness and hygiene be maintained at all properties. “My priority for these villas is to maintain top-notch hygiene and cleanliness for our clients. Every time a client checks out, we do proper deep cleaning and sanitise everything. We have ticked all the boxes for a good holiday for a client. At this point of time, when they have nowhere to go, all they have to do is pack their bags, get into their cars and drive to one of these villas where everything is taken care of,” he says, adding that clients will also get a villa that has some character and charm.
Open to weddings
With no dearth of innovative options, Kriplani says that they are even looking at having intimate weddings at the villas because all of them have huge lawns. “We are specialists in destination weddings and I hope that with this, we will provide the same curated luxury weddings that we have provided overseas. The guest limit will be 50-70 people. Our plan is to make sure that we provide good venues.
