More than three decades ago hotel interior designer Chandu Chhada left his home in India after completing his architecture degree in Mumbai to begin an Asian odyssey discovering the region・s diverse architectural styles. Aged 22, he arrived in Hong Kong where he was offered work with a renowned firm of architects and decided to abandon his travel plans.

In 1980 he established Chhada, Siembieda and Associates, which has achieved worldwide success working on prestigious commissions for leading hotels including the Four Seasons in New York, the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels in Mumbai, and the Conrad in Hong Kong. Recently, his interior design of the Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel (located next to the Tokyo Disney Resort) earned him a Disney award for best interior design of a hotel.

A lifelong interest in yoga helped to inspire the design of the highly acclaimed Ananda Spa, (which Mr Chhada partly owns) situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, and purported to be the birthplace of yoga.

：When I arrived in Hong Kong it was supposed to be the first leg of my voyage of architectural discovery. I spent several days wandering around with my sketchbook making drawings of great hotels such as the Peninsula and the old Repulse Bay Hotel, and talking to architects. This led to me being offered a job with Pacific House Design, so I decided to follow my Karma and stay - it・s a decision I have never regretted.

My passion for hotels began at age 14 when my father, who was a real estate developer, took me to one of the greatest hotels in India, the Imperial Hotel in Delhi. More than 30 years later, I was involved in the refurbishment project of the same hotel.

My work is influenced by both Indian and Chinese cultures but I also find inspiration from the interaction of people, arts, crafts, the location of the hotel and the architecture of the building. Above all, I try to interpret the brief of the client by complementing the local environment. There is always the challenge to work within budget but there is also the challenge to exceed the client・s expectations.

There is a very good reason for being based in Hong Kong. Most of the world・s leading hotel chains have either regional headquarters or a strong presence in Hong Kong, which means Hong Kong is a great base for talking to people. There is no question about it: Hong Kong is the hub of the East where things happen.

As a profession there are a lot of extremely gifted Hong Kong-based designers and architects working on major hotel projects all over the world. This happens because we have a rich pool of talented people who understand the complex requirements of hotel design.

A hotel can be defined as a community centre covering the broad spectrum of interior design. The necessary skill sets you find in Hong Kong enable us to successfully create these working and entertainment environments, which in turn defines Hong Kong as a world-class city in the area of design.

Being so close to the southern China development area we are also able to combine the best of design with sourcing materials at extremely competitive prices. This is our competitive advantage and we must ensure we not only maintain it but also build and expand on it. It is a strength we must recognise to support the tremendous potential for further expanding our design capabilities.