The Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach, Kerala

This place is located out in Moonnilavu, which is a bit of a drive up in the Kottayam district. It’s quiet out here compared to the busy beach areas. Most of the time we are just handling the paperwork and making sure the records are straight for the main property. We have this house, Elamplasseril, where we keep things organized. It is a very green area with lots of trees around us and it rains a lot during the monsoon. People often ask why we are way out here instead of right on the sand but this is where our office work happens. We spend our mornings checking emails and talking to the team down south. It’s a small group of us here and we’ve known each other for years. Sometimes the internet is a bit slow because of the hills but we get the work done eventually. We have our tea breaks out on the porch when the weather is nice. It’s not a fancy corporate setup with glass walls or anything like that. It’s just a regular building with desks and some old filing cabinets. We focus on the details that people don’t usually see when they are on holiday. There is a lot of back and forth between us and the coast. We just try to stay on top of the schedule and make sure no one misses a booking or a message. It’s a steady kind of life.