Saira Hospitality partners with luxury and lifestyle hotels and creates bespoke pop-up hotel schools to educate members of local communities for employment in hospitality positions from line level to mid-level.

Saira Hospitality educates and equips students with the knowledge and life skills needed to create a career and build a future in the hospitality industry. Content features key topics such as tangible and intangible service qualities, loyalty programs, turnover, service recovery, mindfulness and wellness, cultural & emotional intelligence is taught in addition to a focus on soft skills, experiential learning and communication skills.

Saira further identifies the future hiring needs of the partner hotel and incorporates as much of the brand's orientation, culture and training as possible into the high-quality curriculum content so students at the end of the program, form a pool of well-trained, local labor for the brand to hire from, on schedule. Above all, Saira identifies members of the local community with the hospitality gene, the desire to serve.

Saira sets out to prove that through community education, turnover rates in the  hospitality industry can be greatly reduced globally.

1. Vetted, Trained, Motivated, Local Talent for Entry to Mid-Level Positions

2. Community Diplomacy

3. Long-Lasting, Trusted Relationships with the Community

4. Enhanced Guest Experience through Local Service

5. Higher Retention

6. Pre-Hiring, Bespoke Training

7. 501c3 Benefits

8. Work Opportunity Tax Credit

9. Pool of Talent to Hire from On Schedule

10. Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration Collaboration

Saira is a model that can be applied globally – unfortunately, there are people all over the world in need of opportunities and fortunately, a booming tourism industry full of hotels who need people who understand how to deliver memorable, bespoke service.

Saira launched a successful pilot at A Place Called Home in downtown Los Angeles at the end of 2015.

In November 2016, Saira graduated 42 local students from a nine-week pop-up hotel school  in Todos Santos, Mexico, in partnership with the Standard Hotel's latest boutique hotel acquisition, Bunkhouse Hotels. 86% of the students who applied to Bunkhouse were hired for both entry-level and mid-management roles.

In October 2017, Saira graduated a further 58 local students from a seven-week pop-up hotel school on the East Cape of Cabo, in La Ribera, Mexico. Graduates are to be hired for the first phase of the Costa Palmas development, a beach club managed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, opening before the end of 2017.

In November 2018, Saira graduated 75 students from an eight-week pop-up in the British Virgin Islands in partnership with Necker Island & Moskito Island by Virgin Limited Edition, Little Dix Bay by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Scrub Island Resort, Autograph Collection and Bitter End Resort.

In November 2019, Saira graduated 73 additional students after a two-week pop-up in Namibia, partnering with Habitas Lodge.

To date, there are 248 Saira Graduates.

Harsha Chanrai, Founder / CEO

From a young age, Harsha was strongly influenced by her father’s philanthropic work in primary health care, eye-care, and safe water projects in Nigeria and India, in addition to his work with Mother Teresa.  She was educated in her hometown London, England and developed a passion for luxury hospitality as Director of Marketing for Six Senses Resorts and Residences in Asia. Harsha continued in hotel operations as the F&B Marketing Manager for the Fullerton Hotel, Singapore and at the Aman Resort, Sri Lanka. Seeking a way to merge her passion for hospitality with her deeply rooted dedication to philanthropy, Harsha enrolled in the MMH graduate program at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, where she began developing the concept for Saira Hospitality. Saira Hospitality won first place at Cornell University’s Business Plan competition in 2014, it was here that Harsha realized the strong correlation between hospitality and philanthropy. Both are linked through the hospitality gene, the gene of service: service to the guest and service to humanity.