Raj Shetty

Shetty was born in the small town of Kundapur, near Udupi, on Oct. 13, 1960. He lived with his family in Mumbai for the early part of his life.[3] His family had been in the business of restaurants and food, and he wanted to enter the hospitality business. Once his father died in 1973, he worked towards his education. He started to work at a young age and moved to Dubai when he was 18.

Shetty first invested in the Al Ras hotel in Deira. The business turned profitable. In 1997 he launched the Ramee Group of Hotels, Resorts and Apartments. As of 2017 it operated 42 hotels, apartments and resorts in India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Muscat.[4] Regent Palace Hotel is the Group's flagship hotel. He launched Ramee Grand Hotel & Spa, a 5 star property in Bahrain. Shetty owns R-Adda and Bombay Adda, which are well known lounges in Mumbai & Bangalore. The company is further expanding its luxury market in India with a property in Pune.

Mid-range offerings are underway with the Ramee Rose concept, with projects in Abu Dhabi, Chennai and Mumbai.[5] The Ramee Group is actively engaged in the real estate development, hotel management contracting and travel agency operations. The group employs more than 5,000 employees from 15 countries across the globe.[6]

Shetty is the Founder Trustee of Ramee Foundation & Charitable Trust, which is engaged in charitable activities such as helping the deserved in the fields of Education and Medical Help.[7] He believes in "Education to All" which he believes is the only solution to improve the standard of living of every individual.

Through the Ramee foundation he has supported many students financially to complete their Education. One of the major contributions is building a First Grade College in Koteshwara, Kundapur, Udupi District. When he realised that no proper buildings were available for one of the government colleges there, he constructed a building and gave it to the government. The college changed its name to "Kalavara M. Varadaraja Shetty First Grade College". Some 2000 students study for their, B.SC, B. Com, B.A, M.Sc, M.Com, M.A.

Restaurans operated by the group include:

• Rock Bottom Café RUKA Lounge (Japanese restaurant/lounge on the roof top of Ramee Grand Hotel)
• Mirchi (Indian restaurant and takeaway)
• Rocky's Café
• Far East Seafood Market (authentic Far Eastern style restaurant with 18 seawater tanks, featuring live lobsters from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Oman, live crabs and live local hammour)
• Bollywood Café

Shetty featured in the Forbes Middle East Magazine in the list of Top 100 Indian Leaders in the U.A.E, and Top Indian leaders in the Arab World 2014: Top Owners. He has received numerous awards, including South India Travel Awards, West India Travel Awards, NRI of the Year Awards[8] and Hotelier Middle East Power 50 Awards.