For luxury travel concierge Chinmoy Lad, there’s no such thing as regular work hours. As the founder of boutique travel agency, The Suite Life, Chinmoy’s work is curating luxury experiences for clients across the globe, taking their journeys to new, life-changing heights. This means he’s in the business of asking the right questions, figuring out exactly what each client dreams of and using his extensive connections to match them to one-of-a-kind destinations, luxury hotel stays, dining experiences, and wilderness excursions. Speaking with Chinmoy about how he creates these perfectly tailored adventures is like settling into a genie’s lamp and seeing how a traveler’s deepest wishes can come true.

Chinmoy describes his line of work as being a “conduit” between travelers and service providers to create memorable trips. He seamlessly connects travelers to the experiences they seek and, in doing so, builds relationships with boutique hospitality providers that offer exclusive, warm, and trusted service time after time. Although working with his clients is the number one priority, Chinmoy has also amassed a staggering Instagram presence, reaching luxury travel influencer status by inspiring over 60,000 followers with sneak peeks into coveted luxury hotel stays. While any one of these images is a testament to Chinmoy’s expert eye in the world of high-end travel, there is a much deeper story to each one that speaks to the personalised work of curating luxury experiences. You may notice that the Instagram posts, unlike those of most other luxury travel influencers, do not show Chinmoy himself or others at these locations. This was a conscious choice, because as a luxury travel concierge, he is driven to keep the focus off his own personal tastes and instead keep the spotlight on what a luxury experience has to offer for the specific desires of each client.

Chinmoy’s knowledge of the travel industry spans twelve years of experience. Beginning in marketing and content creation roles before realising that it was one-on-one travel consultancy that excited him the most, Chinmoy’s success has skyrocketed with his arsenal of skills. Bringing together the different threads of his professional life, Chinmoy explains how he grew The Suite Life website into a remarkable gateway. It not only gives readers access to the boutique travel agency’s services, but also introduces them to Chinmoy’s work as a consultant at Zebrano Travel, and offers thorough reviews and stunning social media content, inspiring readers with insight into the world’s finest hotels, resorts, villas, private islands, yachts, airlines, and residences.

In a digital age where booking everything from a two-night vacation to hot air balloon ride is just a click away, what role does a luxury travel concierge play in creating the perfect trip? The answer is manifold. An expert in his work, Chinmoy brings guests to hideaways so intimate that they aren’t even widely advertised online. Moreover, in any travel itinerary, he focuses on the details that elevate an impersonal vacation plan into one that reaches right into a traveler’s soul. As he explains it, his purpose is to craft a client’s luxury travel experience from beginning to end, in ways that a simple online booking could never match. Having built strong connections with hundreds of luxury hospitality providers, especially hotels, Chinmoy states that by doing his job well, he sets the stage for not only his clients, but also these providers, to each “maximise and showcase their potential.”

After all, a hotel may offer just that special bottle of wine, flower arrangement, airport transfer service, or unforgettable locally-led food tour that a client is seeking and would leave them feeling more welcome and satisfied with their trip than they thought possible. But how can these services best shine if clients aren’t aware of them and the hotel staff aren’t clued-in on a client’s needs? This is where Chinmoy’s conduit capabilities and in-the-know expertise make all the difference.

Furthermore, in any trip, no matter how many variables are accounted for, there’s something that could go wrong out of anyone’s control. Case in point, Chinmoy recalls a time when clients traveling in the Seychelles were suddenly left unable to enjoy many of their planned activities due to extreme weather. Going back to why regular work hours don’t apply to his line of work, he explains how he adapts on the spot and instantly sets about making alternative arrangements so that the vacation remains an enjoyable and relaxed experience for all parties. With this kind of curated care only possible with a luxury travel concierge, travelers can rest easy that no matter the turn of events they can make the most of their trip.

Over the years, Chinmoy has come to appreciate and embody the philosophy that a true luxury stay is one that “has a sense of place and is embedded into the local culture.” When asked what qualities live up to that standard, he identifies four main components. First, there’s the design and architecture of the accommodations. For example, when assessing destinations and working with clients who prioritise an immersion in the natural surroundings, Chinmoy looks for hotels that are architecturally “ensconced by” the natural landscape. Furthermore, the interiors the interiors at these stays can evoke a sense of by incorporating local building practices, colour palettes, and aesthetics.

Next, Chinmoy looks at how embedded a luxury stay is in its community, beyond just catering to visitors. As he astutely points out, this means something different depending on each stay. If, for example, a hotel is in the heart of the city and often draws locals to its restaurants and bars, that is a promising sign that it provides a genuine taste of what makes that city special. If, on the other hand, a hotel’s appeal is its remote location, then factors such as whether they train and employ warm staff from surrounding villages can be considered.

Another element Chinmoy reflects on is how well a given hotel can facilitate the kinds of experiences that a client desires in a destination. These include in-house services such as healing spa treatments, but also goes beyond the facilities into how well-connected a hotel is to local offerings that a client may be interested in. When evaluating this, years of building good relationships with hotels comes in very handy as Chinmoy can trust the establishments he works with to provide highly-tailored and thoughtful services. One such example would be, as Chinmoy remembers from his own travels, a hotel connecting guests to local guides who can tour them around the farming communities of the region, sharing first-hand knowledge of the farm-to-table culture there.

Related to this, and last but not least, Chinmoy looks for accommodations that facilitate outstanding experiences of the destination’s cuisines. This could mean that there are memorable restaurants and bars at a hotel itself or it could mean staying in a neighbourhood full of finding dining establishments or living in an environmentally-conscious property with its own farms for fresh, organic ingredients. As Chinmoy says, excellent food can not only save the day when a trip doesn’t go according to plan, but it can also make a good trip infinitely better.

Looking back on the twelve years that he’s been in the travel industry, Chinmoy has a lot to reflect on what has changed over time. He notes that the COVID pandemic particularly hit a reset button for the industry as a whole. Mass tourism reduced drastically during the height of travel restrictions, an impact which is a stark reminder about the harms of irresponsible tourism as well as government policies that allow it. He points to countries such as Bhutan as glowing examples of destinations where thoughtful, sustainable, and slow tourism is encouraged.

In his own clientele, Chinmoy began focusing more on short-term luxury properties as opposed to hotels, allowing him to best support clients’ needs during the time of restricted travel. He also reflects on how, over the last ten years, there has been a definitive shift towards more interest in boutique, family-run properties that provide an intimate rather than mass produced, experience.

Most importantly, there is the matter of what lies ahead. When speaking about the professional challenges he is excited to take on, Chinmoy shares that he is especially eager to curate more experiences in the niche of adventurous journeys such as months-long sailing voyages and extreme camping opportunities in remote areas near the Arctic and Antarctic. Figuring out how travel in such situations can carry the air of luxury is certainly a worthwhile endeavour.

As a luxury travel concierge, it’s fascinating to take a behind-the-scenes look at Chinmoy’s entrepreneurial journey and multi-faceted insights into the travel industry. The story behind the gorgeous Instagram photos is clearly one of careful, client-by-client curation of what luxury travel can mean. With a keen nose for figuring out what clients really want and redefining what luxury travel that is in tune with local cultures can look like, Chinmoy is an expert to look out for.