Herstory: Neena Gupta on Reinvention, Risk, and Building Miiro From the Ground Up

Sometimes the best-laid plans are the ones you keep rewriting. That has certainly been true for Neena Gupta, whose career has taken her from law, high-stakes strategy, and M&A dealmaking to the launch of Miiro, the boutique hotel brand she created in late 2023 and has already grown to six properties across Europe in less than two years.

Before Miiro, Neena built a successful legal career, then joined InterGlobe, one of India’s leading conglomerates, with interests spanning aviation, travel, and hospitality, where she rose from general counsel to executive director and head of strategy. But even as she climbed, she found herself pulled toward something more creative. That instinct eventually led her to one of the most ambitious chapters of her career: building a hotel brand from scratch.

What makes Neena especially compelling is not just the brand she is building, but the candor with which she talks about power, voice, and leadership. She is frank about fighting to be heard in male-dominated rooms, clear-eyed about the realities women still face as careers and caregiving collide, and adamant that women do not need to shed their feminiinity to lead. Her advice is practical: stay visible, know your value, and take your own credit. Because if you do not, someone else will.

It was a joy to tour Templeton Garden, Miiro’s charming 156-room London hotel in Earl’s Court, and chat with Neena about changing the course of her life, what drew her into hospitality, and what it takes to build a brand that resonates with today’s demanding travelers.

You began your career in law before moving into hospitality. What first drew you into the industry, and what made you want to build your career there?

I would say this is a fine story of one thing led to another, and nothing that I planned for. I would not pretend that I am a hotelier by trade, and I would not pretend that this is something I dreamt of. I did not grow up in a hospitality background.

I always knew that I needed to stand on my own feet, and I made life quite hard for myself. I chose law, became a lawyer, and did very well. I became a trusted advisor to some of the leading industrial families in India. Then I moved into the corporate side when I joined InterGlobe as group general counsel, advising the founders on strategic initiatives, acquisitions, governance, joint ventures, and major relationships. Over time, I kept climbing the corporate ladder.

What pulled me toward hospitality was that it felt creative. It involved people. It gave me access to branding, refurbishment, design, and guest experience. Even before Miiro, that part of the business always interested me.

I have actually had this tremendous capacity as a person to change the course of my life many times in my career.

Later, you made another big shift, from legal, strategy, and M&A work into building a guest-facing lifestyle brand. What excited you about making that leap?

At InterGlobe, I led the acquisition of a portfolio of European hospitality assets, including a group of bed-and-breakfast-style hotels in major gateway cities. When I saw the buildings, the locations, and the curb appeal, I thought: what a waste to keep running them as they were. They were begging for refurbishment. They were begging to become something more.

Building a brand had already been in the back of my mind. I have always been a creative person. I love singing, art, and performance. In college, I had a band, and I am trained in opera and Indian classical music. So when the opportunity came to create something from the ground up, that was incredibly exciting to me.

But if I am honest, it was also terrifying. I fought for the opportunity to lead the project, then could not sleep for weeks once I got it. I had been so successful in strategy, legal, and M&A. I knew that world. Suddenly, I was stepping into something completely new.

lobby vibes at Templeton Garden in London

For people who may not be familiar with Miiro yet, how do you describe the brand and what makes it distinct?

Miiro means I wonder, I marvel, I look around, I pause and reflect in Latin. We wanted the brand to feel thoughtful, calming, mindful, and residential. We did not want it to feel like a hotel in the traditional sense. One of our principles is that it should feel like a home away from home.

We wanted to create something between formal hospitality and very casual hospitality. Not fussy, not stiff, but still warm and well cared for. Coming from Asia, I was used to a very high-touch service style, but I knew that would be difficult to replicate in Europe in the same way. So we had to find a middle ground. We wanted guests to feel looked after, welcomed, and at ease.

Then there is the design. We wanted calming rooms, intuitive layouts, beautiful but practical details, and spaces that feel residential. The idea behind brilliantly considered stays is that the guest should not be irritated by the room. The plugs should be where they need them. The switches should make sense. The room should feel beautiful, but also easy.

When we built the first mock-up room, including the founder, myself, and the team, we had 123 comments. That is how detailed we wanted to be.

A Templeton Garden Suite

What was the white space you felt Miiro could own in Europe’s boutique hotel scene that other brands were missing?

When we were building the brand, we did a very deep piece of strategy work. We interviewed around 1,100 people across London, Paris, Germany, and the U.S. We identified what we called the self-assured traveler. These are people who are not coming to a city for the first time. They are not necessarily trying to tick off the Eiffel Tower or Buckingham Palace. They want to live like locals. They want the cafés, the music, the culture, and the neighborhood feel.

That space felt very interesting to us. Our hotels are smaller and more intimate than giant convention-style properties, so we asked ourselves: where can we create something more personal, more experiential, more flexible, and more rooted in the city? That became the opportunity

Are there any parts of the Miiro concept, from the Refresh Rooms to the food and beverage, that have resonated especially strongly with guests or that you feel express the brand particularly well?

The Refresh Room has definitely resonated. That came from a very real traveler frustration of mine. I hate wasting money paying for a hotel room just so I can take a shower after a long-haul flight and then leave. It feels painful both financially and physically.

The Refresh Room has definitely resonated. That came from a very real traveler frustration of mine.

So even though our hotels are not huge, we carved out a dedicated space where guests can freshen up before check-in or after check-out. You can shower, change, dry your hair, have a coffee, and start your day or head to the airport feeling human again. We have had a lot of appreciation for that, especially from long-haul guests coming from places like Australia or the U.S.

That, to me, is very Miiro. It is thoughtful, practical, and rooted in how people actually travel.

Hospitality employs so many women, yet the top jobs still do not always reflect that. Why do you think that gap persists?

I do not think that gap exists only in hospitality. I think it exists in most industries. It just feels more pronounced in hospitality because so many women work in the industry at lower levels, and then you see the numbers taper off as you get to the top.

Women do not have it easy. Even if societies have evolved, there are still more demands on them personally. At the peak of their careers, they may be raising children, caring for aging parents, or carrying more of the emotional labor at home. Those realities can interrupt the path to the most senior roles.

I would not reduce it only to a question of opportunity, because I can only speak from my own experience. But I do think the life cycles women move through are different, and that matters.

Did you ever have a moment in your own career when you had to stop waiting to be invited and start claiming space more directly?

Definitely. There were subtle moments where I felt people wanted to quieten me or did not really want to give me the space to speak. I have always been outspoken and direct, sometimes to the point of embarrassing people. So yes, I faced that.

I was a rebel. I was a fighter. It did not stop me, but it also did not feel good. Having to constantly fight for your voice is exhausting. And if you are not strong enough, it can absolutely wear you down.

Later in my career, I also learned that if you do not take your own credit, someone else will definitely take it for you. That is something women need to be much more conscious of. Stay visible. Be self-aware. Know the politics around you, but do not get swallowed by them. Keep doing the work, but make sure it is seen.

What advice do women get about leadership that you think is overdue for a rethink?

One of the worst pieces of advice I was given early in my career was that I should not be myself in a corporate setup. I was told to keep the emotions out and, at times, to behave more like men in meetings. I do not think that is necessary at all.

Sometimes you’re given advice to behave more like men in the meeting. That’s not necessary at all.

When women are included in leadership forums, the point is not to add more men to the room in different clothing. The point is to bring a woman’s voice, a woman’s perspective, and her way of thinking. That is what makes it valuable.

So my biggest advice is to be yourself. Be self-assured. Be aware of the politics around you, yes, but do not lose your style or your femininity trying to fit in. And make sure you take your own credit.

What feels overhyped in hospitality right now, and what do you think the industry should be paying more attention to instead?

I think lifestyle is very overhyped right now. The industry talks a lot about lifestyle, but I think we should be paying much more attention to wellness and the mindful side of hospitality.

People are exhausted. They are overstimulated. There is too much information, too much pressure, too much pace. AI, emails, WhatsApps, all of it. So hospitality will have to become much more intuitive. We will not be able to offer one-size-fits-all experiences anymore. We will need to get better at understanding what guests actually need from a space and how they want to feel in it.

That, to me, is where hospitality should be going.

Quickfire with Neena

What does your morning routine look like on a good day? My morning routine on a good day has to be slow. I do not like to talk to anybody for the first two hours in the morning. If I can have a quiet, thoughtful start, with a shower, some music, a little meditation, and a warm cup of tea before the madness begins, that is a good day for me.

What is your non-negotiable when it comes to self-care? I do a very deep detox once a year, an Ayurvedic Panchakarma detox for 21 days. I should not be working during it, but I do. Still, it has kept me alive, I would say.

What is one travel hack you swear by? The ability to have a shower as soon as you land. That inspired the Refresh Room.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? People will come and go. Make sure you stay with the ones who are with you.

What is the worst piece of advice you have ever received? Very early in my career, I was told that I did not have to be myself in a corporate setup. That was terrible advice.

What are you reading, listening to, or watching right now? I read a lot around wellness, particularly how people can heal themselves with food rather than medicine. I’m always dipping into research, and I think Indian Ayurveda has a lot to teach us about how to look after ourselves better.