Scaling Ekostay: Zishan Khan on Building India’s Fastest-Growing Villa Stays Brand

An Exclusive Interview with Zishan Khan, Chief Acquisition Officer & Co-Founder of EkoStay, professionally managed vacation homes provider

EkoStay’s rapid rise in India’s alternative hospitality space is closely linked to the vision and execution of its Co-Founder and Chief Acquisition Officer, Zishan Khan, who has helped build a network of professionally managed vacation homes across key leisure destinations while redefining the second-home ecosystem for modern travellers.​

You moved from pharmacy to real estate and eventually into hospitality. What inspired this shift, and how did EkoStay come into being?

Zishan Khan: Honestly, my journey looks unusual only on paper. When I was studying pharmacy, I already knew I was someone drawn to spaces, design, and the art of building something tangible.

I enjoyed understanding how things worked, how structures came together, how locations evolved far more than I enjoyed the idea of a conventional clinical career.

My move into real estate was the first time I felt aligned with my instincts. I loved walking raw, unfinished properties and imagining what they could become.

There was something deeply satisfying in taking a place that people overlooked and turning it into something meaningful, functional, and beautiful. That feeling became addictive.

EkoStay came from a mix of curiosity, timing, and the collective hunger of four friends who wanted to build something bigger than ourselves.

We all noticed the same gap India had hotels and it had homestays, but very few professional homestays. Travellers wanted privacy without the inconsistency. Villa owners wanted to monetise their properties but didn’t have the systems to manage them.

The moment we realised we could bring structure, design, and hospitality under one roof, the idea took off.

EkoStay wasn’t born from a boardroom it was born from long drives, property visits, and conversations about how travel in India was evolving. The vision grew organically, and the business followed.

How did you identify vacation rentals as a scalable business opportunity early on?

Zishan Khan: It started with observation. Whenever I spoke to travellers friends, colleagues, families I sensed the shift. People wanted to spend time together in one space, not be split across hotel rooms. They wanted a kitchen, a pool, a private lawn, a living room to bond in.

At the same time, I realised something important: India had plenty of beautiful second homes sitting locked and unused for most of the year. Owners were struggling to maintain them, and many didn’t even break even.

That’s when I saw the pattern. Travellers were looking for spaces. Owners were looking for solutions. The infrastructure gap in between was huge and solvable.

Once we launched the first few villas and saw the occupancy climb far beyond expectations, it became obvious that this was not a niche trend. It had the foundations of a sustainable, repeatable, and scalable business model.

What were the biggest challenges in building one of India’s largest villa-stay networks?

Zishan Khan: Building a villa network across India is not like rolling out the same hotel floor plan a hundred times. Every villa has its own personality, layout, limitations, and quirks. Standardising experience in such diversity was extremely challenging.

We faced everything unpredictable owners, infrastructure issues in remote locations, water shortages, staffing inconsistencies, even delays because one region suddenly got isolated during monsoons.

There were days when we’d open a property, get great reviews, and the next month the entire local team would quit because they found jobs closer to home. Then we’d be back to square one building a team from scratch.

But these challenges forced us to create robust systems training modules, SOPs, emergency protocols, and backup teams. Today, what looks smooth from the outside was built brick by brick through trial, error, and an insane amount of persistence.

How do you approach scouting and acquiring properties across such diverse regions?

Zishan Khan: For me, scouting is a balance of intuition and solid commercial judgment. The first filter is always location viability how strong is the tourist demand in that area, what kind of travellers frequent it, and whether the region has year-round potential or seasonal spikes.

I evaluate the proximity to essentials like markets, medical facilities, accessibility, and basic connectivity because even an offbeat location must remain practical for guests.

We also assess safety, emergency backups, local regulations, and ease of operations, especially in remote regions.

From there, I look at the property’s structural potential, layout, privacy, scalability for upgrades, and the kind of experience it can realistically offer.

If a villa checks these boxes and can deliver a reliable, memorable stay for our guests, then it becomes a strong contender in our acquisition pipeline.

As Chief Acquisition Officer, what criteria define a “high-potential” property for EkoStay?

Zishan Khan: For me, a high-potential property is never defined by just numbers or checklists it’s a blend of practical strength and emotional resonance.

Of course, I look at the fundamentals first: how well-connected the location is, whether the region is already a strong travel market or shows signs of becoming one, and whether the structure itself has the kind of foundation that can be elevated without making the renovation financially unreasonable.

Space, safety, and privacy are key especially in the villa-stay business where families and groups come to unwind without disturbance.

But beyond the logical parameters, I rely heavily on instinct and feeling. Some properties immediately evoke a sense of calm, or offer a view that makes you pause.

Others have layouts that naturally bring people together a warm living room, a terrace with a quiet charm, a corner that becomes the soul of the home once it’s styled right.

Sometimes a villa looks ordinary at first glance, but I can see the transformation in my mind how lighting will highlight its strengths, how landscaping will open up the space, how a few design choices will make it feel elevated.

That ability to visualise the experience before it exists is what helps me identify a true EkoStay-worthy home.

How do you balance commercial viability with design, comfort, and guest experience?

Zishan Khan: I’ve never believed these aspects sit on opposite sides of the scale. To me, thoughtful design is the biggest driver of commercial success.

When a space feels harmonious, well-lit, aesthetically cohesive, and intuitively laid out, guests automatically enjoy their stay more.

They spend time in the home, feel comfortable, take pictures, leave better reviews, and return for future stays. That entire cycle is triggered by design that respects both function and emotion.

Whenever we consider an upgrade, I only ask one question: will this make the guest feel more at home and more valued? If the answer is yes, then it’s worth doing.

We’re not in the business of adding décor elements just to make a property look expensive. Every choice from the colour palette to the type of sofa has a purpose. When the experience is thoughtfully crafted, the commercial value naturally follows.

How have traveller expectations changed in the villa/homestay segment over the last few years?

Zishan Khan: The shift has been massive. Earlier, travellers were satisfied as long as the villa was clean, had a pool, and offered basic comfort. But today’s guests are far more discerning.

They want aesthetically designed homes with comfortable bedding, functional kitchens, high-speed internet, smart entertainment systems, and mood lighting that makes the space feel warm and inviting. They expect the ambience to be curated, not accidental.

More importantly, they want stays that offer soulful experiences not just amenities. People are choosing villas to reconnect, celebrate milestones, work remotely, or simply pause.

Workations, wellness-inspired breaks, close-knit gatherings all these micro-trends have reshaped what “comfort” means. The biggest change is that guests now value how a place makes them feel, which means the stay matters just as much as the destination.

What trends do you see shaping India’s holiday-home and short-stay market in the next decade?

Zishan Khan: The next decade is going to be transformative for this space. I see a big shift toward non-traditional markets travellers wanting to explore quieter hill belts, untouched coastlines, and lesser-known towns with character.

Architecture that blends into nature will become a defining factor, with glass homes, wooded cabins, and biophilic designs becoming mainstream.

Tech-enabled villas will also take over from contactless check-ins to smart climate control. Wellness-centric stays will emerge strongly, with travellers looking for homes that offer calmness, clean design, and spaces that help them disconnect.

And above everything, the preference for personalised, boutique-style properties will continue to rise as people move away from standardised hotel environments.

As Indian cities become increasingly chaotic and fast-paced, villas will become the preferred escape for celebrations, breaks, remote working, and everything in between.

What leadership principles guide you while scaling a business like this?

Zishan Khan: My leadership comes from the ground, not the table. In a business where real estate meets hospitality, decisions can’t be made in isolation.

I believe in visiting properties myself, meeting teams in person, and understanding the guest’s experience firsthand.

This hands-on approach keeps me connected to the realities of the business and helps me make decisions that are practical, not theoretical.

I also believe deeply in trust with team members, owners, suppliers, and partners. Our industry is too operational, too human-driven, to run on shortcuts.

You need people who care. My job is to give them clarity, confidence, and consistency. I’ve always believed that you can scale fast, or you can scale strong and at EkoStay, we’ve always chosen the latter.

How do you build and motivate teams across different states?

Zishan Khan: I’ve learned that teams work with heart when they feel like they’re part of something that matters.

At EkoStay, we make sure every team member understands that they’re not just maintaining a villa  they’re creating an experience that becomes a memory for the guest. That sense of purpose creates pride, and pride creates performance.

We invest heavily in training, in open communication, and in creating an environment where people feel comfortable speaking up. Every team member knows they can reach out directly if something feels off whether it’s operational or personal.

We celebrate small wins, appreciate good work openly, and make sure everyone feels valued, not just instructed. In a geographically distributed business like ours, emotional connection is the glue.

As someone from outside hospitality and real estate, what mindset allowed you to succeed?

Zishan Khan: Curiosity has always been my greatest advantage. I walked into every meeting, site visit, and challenge without assumptions.

I asked questions, listened more than I spoke, and accepted that I wouldn’t know everything on day one or even year one. That humility made the learning curve faster.

Ironically, not coming from the industry helped me in ways I didn’t expect. I wasn’t restricted by traditional thinking or old-school rules.

I approached things with a fresh lens and made decisions based on what felt right for the guest and the homeowner, not what had always been done. Sometimes breaking the norm is easier when you never belonged to it in the first place.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs making career shifts or entering new industries?

Zishan Khan: Waiting for clarity is the biggest trap. You gain clarity only once you start moving. My advice is to take the leap, stay observant, and remain flexible. Learn relentlessly, adjust when needed, and don’t be discouraged by early confusion it’s part of the process.

Most importantly, put your ego aside. When you enter a new field, you are a beginner again, no matter how experienced you are elsewhere.

If you embrace that, you grow faster. If you fight it, you stagnate. The shift becomes easier when you allow yourself to be a student again.

What innovations has EkoStay introduced that you believe contributed most to its success?

Zishan Khan: For us, innovation didn’t start with fancy technology it started with structure. When we entered this space, the homestay segment in India was extremely unorganised.

We brought hotel-like discipline into private villas standardised operations, clear SOPs, layered staffing, quality checks, design frameworks, and a strong owner-partnership model that helped homeowners rely on us completely.

We also built a system where every property was consistently managed, irrespective of location. This consistency became our biggest differentiator.

Once guests experienced the reliability, they trusted us, and that trust is what allowed us to scale while still maintaining the warmth and personal touch that defines EkoStay.

In this conversation, Zishan Khan reflects on the growth journey of EkoStay, sharing insights on acquisition strategy, second-home transformation, and the future of vacation rentals in India, leaving readers with a clearer understanding of how thoughtfully managed villas can benefit both homeowners and guests in a fast-evolving travel market.

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