TheGlitz Conversations with Sparkle begins with Sujeet Kumar, Cluster General Manager of Hilton Bengaluru Embassy Manyata Business Park and Hilton Garden Inn, and he admits upfront he’s not entirely comfortable doing interviews. He knows certain things come with the territory when you’ve spent thirty years running hotels across four countries, and this is one of them. But once he starts talking, that discomfort disappears. What remains is someone who’s spent three decades thinking deeply about hospitality and has no interest in performing for the camera.
Most hotel general managers will tell you what they think you want to hear: polished lines about guest experience, brand standards, operational excellence. Sujeet doesn’t bother. He’s direct about what works, what doesn’t, and where the industry is still catching up. When asked if hotels are ready for Gen Z, he doesn’t hedge. When asked about luxury, he doesn’t sell you on amenities.
He talks about Formula 1 pit stops the way most GMs talk about quarterly earnings. He’s candid about being slightly obsessive compulsive when it comes to details, and why that matters when you’re managing 619 rooms. He’s back in Bengaluru because it’s home, because Hilton’s flagship property is here, and yes, because the career move made sense. No script. Just straight answers.
There’s a moment mid-conversation where he talks about checking into hotels as a guest. After thirty-five years in the business, he can’t stop observing: body language, eye contact, whether the namaste is genuine or rehearsed. “You can wear a mask,” he says, “but you can’t cover the eyes.” It’s the kind of insight you only get from someone who’s spent decades watching people, not systems.
The full interview covers his career from management trainee to cluster general manager, why restaurants matter more than profit margins suggest, what stays constant through pandemics and downturns, and what he hopes to feel walking through this property five years from now. But the real story is simpler: what hospitality leadership looks like when someone stops performing and just talks.
The full conversation goes deeper. This is just the setup.
TheGlitz Conversations with Sparkle with Sujeet Kumar
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