Becomes first Lady to head Taj’s UK operations
Pune born, a hardcore Mumbai Girl Mehrnavaz Avari has been recently appointed as Area Director UK and General Manager, St. James’ Court Hotel and Taj 51 Buckingham Gate at St. James’ Court, London. She will be overseeing all commercial and operational aspects of the iconic properties of Taj group. Before moving to London her last position was Deputy General Manager at flagship Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai. She is the youngest and first Lady General Manager to head IHCL’s London operations.
It may be noted that, in IHCL’s management portfolio this is supposed to be the most challenging, impressive, coveted and most sought after position. Mehrnavaz is a seasoned hotelier with around two decades of sound experience, notably in large food and beverage operations and in leading development projects. She will continue to enhance the customer centricity and operational excellence of the two hotels.
Educational Assets: Mehrnavaz, a double graduate in hospitality and psychology with sociology, she always remained topper in her institutions and passed out with flying colours. She completed her primary education from Mumbai’s prominent Convent of Jesus and Mary (CJM) School at Fort and higher secondary Science, from Mumbai’s prestigious Jai Hind College. She completed her Hotel Management degree from India’s premier hotel Management institute IHM Mumbai in 1999-2002. Later, she chose to gain exposure to the accommodations division for two years, and subsequently earn her masters of management from the Cornell University in New York and the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. As part of her Master’s program at Cornell she did two internships of a month each: in quality at Ritz Carlton New York and in revenue management at Four Seasons Austin in the USA. Her stint at Cornell was made possible by the scholarship provided by Taj, she acknowledged.
Mehrnavaz began her hospitality career as a management trainee with IHCL in 2002. Over a period of time, she “rose through the ranks” to assistant food and beverage (F&B) manager. After enhancing her hospitality skills, and completion of her Master’s program in the US, she was promoted as F&B manager at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. Subsequently she was elevated as resident manager at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. After seeing her outstanding performance, she was promoted as GM at Umaid Bhawan Palace Hotel at Jodhpur.
Hotel tradition follows in the family: Mehrnavaz is not the first from her family to join the hotel industry. Her elder sister Perinaz Avari was first entrant in the trade. Interestingly, Perinaz also has done her Catering education from IHM Mumbai with Honors. Soon after completion of her education, she began her career at Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai. She worked for Taj group for ten years in different capacities before migrating to the US. She worked in F&B operations from 1993 – 1998 and from 1998 – 2003, she worked in Sales & Marketing for five years as Head of department overseeing sales, marketing. Perinaz is popularly known as “Chef Peri” based in the San Francisco Bay Area in the US. She is a culinary instructor, writer, author and consultant on topics related to Indian food and cooking specialists with global experience. She currently runs an Indian and Parsi cooking school called “Simply Bhonu” which is a big name there.
Accolades: Mehrnzwaz, on different occasions she won recognition for her managerial skills as also or being the best sommelier at the Taj group. She was also involved with the Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Hospitality Industry and lent her expertise as vice president of the Maharashtra State Council.
“It is my privilege and honour to be a part of the team at Taj London Hotels at a time when the hospitality and tourism sector has begun to recover from the unprecedented crisis. We look forward to taking ahead the legacy of “Tajness” and welcoming guests at our legendary hotels in the heart of the city,” said Mehrnavaz Avari on her appointment.
Mehrnavaz Avari, replying to Mumbai Messenger Newspaper’s email reply said “I love exploring new places. Walking, I feel, is the best way to experience a city. Seeing and experiencing new culinary concepts is a passion that rolls over from work to my personal life. And finally, music is a great de-stressor,” she lists her interests.
She further added “My aim is to be a well-rounded hospitality professional and excel through a fast-track experience in operations and general as well as through academic excellence. Looking forward to making a difference as area director in the UK with the support of “our stellar team,” Mehrnavaz is appreciative that she has “learnt from every person I have worked with along the way — some teach you what you should do and some teach you what you should not do!”
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
