DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Nikheel Advani - Managing Director

MANAGING DIRECTOR, GRACE BAY CLUB

Nikheel Advani, Managing Director of Grace Bay Club, joined the resort in 2004, initially as general manager. He has now expanded his role at Grace Bay Club and serves as managing director responsible for a variety of guest- and owner-related services plus resort development. Nikheel Advani’s energy, entrepreneurial spirit and extensive background in the hospitality industry is put to full use at Grace Bay Club as it evolves from a 21-room luxury suite resort to a full-service resort with 59 villas and suites, three restaurants, water and land sports, a bar and lounge, a new spa and fitness center, a new Hotel School, and a new children’s program.

Advani’s background is well-suited for his position at Grace Bay Club, a resort that has been named to Condé Nast Traveler’s “Gold List” since 1995. Not only does he bring substantial hotel management and food and beverage expertise to the resort from his previous positions at Raffles Hotel in Singapore and The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park, but he has also personally dabbled in a variety of hospitality-related areas. A personal invitation to his home will afford a private glimpse into how superb hospitality should evolve: Nikheel is the consummate host, chef and wine connoisseur.

Advani wasn’t always headed for the hospitality industry. His original, post-collegiate career in engineering proved less-than-exciting for him, and he instead began his rapid ascent in the hospitality world as a server and dish washer, where he experienced from the ground up what it takes to make any customer a happy, returning client. He fondly remembers his earlier experiences as a teenager in Singapore waiting and bartending in the homes of embassy officials, where he was introduced to the protocol of superior hospitality and detail.

Mr. Advani was most recently Hotel Manager at Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Prior to joining Raffles in 2002, Mr. Advani navigated the food and beverage world with Ritz-Carlton for seven years. Rising through the ranks, Mr. Advani began his career at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Millenia Singapore as a banquet operations manager. He was subsequently responsible for the food and beverage openings of Ritz-Carlton properties in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Sarasota, and New York-Battery Park. A priority across all of these positions for Nikheel has been the mentoring and training of staff to develop “peak performance teams.”

Born in Nigeria, raised in Singapore and educated in the United States, Mr. Advani's rich cultural background and work experience in more than 10 cities in three continents has molded him into a “renaissance man” of the hospitality industry. A chameleon in his versatility to handle a variety of positions simultaneously, he became a darling of the media in 2001 when he introduced the world’s first Water Sommelier at 2 West, the upscale restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park. He also made his mark on the hotel’s cuisine with the introduction of “bento box” lunches at the restaurant and food tiers and tumbler drinks at the hotel’s bar, Rise.

Mr. Advani graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with an honors degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration. He also successfully completed the General Manager Program at Harvard Business School. A Singapore national, Mr. Advani is fluent in English and Mandarin and proficient in French and Hindi. In addition to his thirst for visiting new countries and absorbing new cultural influences, Nikheel is an accomplished scuba diver, a fan of motor cross, and an active participant in the Big Brother Mentor program.