About

A travel house
that listens first.

Nine One First began as a small studio of travel designers and hoteliers who believed the best trips are shaped, not sold.

Who we are

A small studio that designs journeys, not itineraries.

Nine One First is a premium travel house for stays, flights, holidays and private transfers. We begin with a conversation, then a small, sharp team of designers, hoteliers and pilots crafts the trip — quietly, carefully, exactly. From a fortnight in Bhutan to a long weekend in Goa, every itinerary is built by people who have walked the road themselves.

12+

Years curating journeys

Countries, hand-picked

2,400+

Trips delivered with care

4.9

Google rating, 320+ reviews

What we believe

Four principles that run every trip we design.

Design, not sell

A designer sketches every trip — they don't just send you a brochure and a payment link. We treat each brief as a creative project.

Real-time, real people

The first response to your enquiry is from a designer — not a chatbot, not a sales agent. On a trip, you talk to a human within an hour.

Honest pricing

We don't take margin on flights you could find yourself, we don't bury supplier fees, and we'll show you the cost breakdown if you ask.

Bespoke, not bulletin

We don't publish a 30-page "Goa itinerary" and ask 200 people to take the same trip. Your itinerary is yours alone.

Our story

Twelve years on a small idea.

We chose to stay a private company. We've never raised outside capital. Every bookable programme we sell, we have personally used or vetted. Here is how we got here.

14
2014

A studio is founded

Six friends who had worked in five-star hotels and tour operators launch a small concierge-only studio in New Delhi.
17
2017

Hotel desk opens

Direct contracts with Aman, Sujan, Six Senses and a small handful of independent luxury houses. We begin earning our front-of-the-line culture.
20
2020

Visa assistance, built quietly

We add a full visa desk during the worst year for global travel — and our designers personally file 1,800+ Schengen and US applications.
23
2023

Re-engineered

A new booking system and a redesigned workspace. We rebuild every tool we use, to make travel planning feel less like filling in forms and more like a conversation.
26
2026

Twelve years on

A small, profitable company serving travellers across 48 countries — without ever having raised a single dollar of outside capital.

Partnerships

The hotels we love, the partners we trust.

A short, deliberately incomplete list. We've worked with most of these teams for ten or more years, and the access and pricing pass-through gets better every year.

Aman Resorts

Direct contracts across 35 properties, with the all-villa Sanctuary's concierge team at our back.

Six Senses

Long-standing DMC relationship since 2017. Upgrades and late-checkout grace where we ask for it.

Sujan

Jungle & desert tents across Rajasthan and Kenya — perhaps the most authentic collection we've ever curated.

Oetker Collection

Our go-to for European heritage palaces, including the Ledges in Edinburgh and the Crespine in St Barths.

Raffles

Old-world hotels in Istanbul, Paris, Doha, Cambodia — for travellers who care about a story before they check in.

Belmond

Trains in Italy & Peru, Andean lodges, hotel barges — the kind of slow, beautiful travel we love designing.

The desk

The four people who actually design your trip.

We have a small senior team. There are no internal "trip designers" and no "sales agents." The person you speak to at enquiry is the same person who'll be on the phone at midnight if you need them on-tour.

Manav Sridhar

Co-founder & Lead Designer

Former concierge at The Leela Palace, New Delhi. Has spent over 700 days in Bhutan.

Aisha Khanna

Co-founder & Visa Lead

Worked at the US Embassy (consular intern) before joining us. Files the trickier Schengen cases herself.

Rohit Mehra

Head of Stays

Three years as a hotel GM. Knows every property manager at every hotel we work with by first name.

Sana Pathak

Head of Concierge

Booked 11 surprises in 2025. Thinks a birthday should always be at a place you've never been.

In the press

A short and honest pull-quote selection.

Condé Nast Traveller

""The small studio in New Delhi that did our Bhutan trip better than anyone we had tried.""

Travel + Leisure India

""A rare agency that holds itself to the standard of the hotels they book.""

BBC Travel

""What struck us is that nobody at Nine One First ever said no.""

Read before you book

Policies, plainly written.

All written by us, never copied from another agency. They are short, accurate, and updated when the rules change.

Have a trip in mind already?

Tell us roughly where, when and with whom. We'll come back within one business day with a sketch itinerary you can refine together.

Start a conversation → Bespoke / Concierge

A travel house
that listens first.

A small studio that designs journeys, not itineraries.