Luxury Travel Advisor - January 2008 - (Page 53) THE DORCHESTER COLLECTION TEAM (left) includes Helen Smith, vp of marketing and communications; Chris Cowdray, CEO, and François Delahaye, COO (pictured in the new Rooftop Suites at The Dorchester in London). LAVISH SUITES: All Dorchester Collection hotels are known for their opulence. Shown, top right, is the Royal Penthouse Bedroom at The Dorchester; the living room in the Presidential Suite at the Hotel Principe di Savoia (center) and the living room in the Belle Etoile Suite at Le Meurice (bottom). heading up The Dorchester since 2004; prior to that he was the managing director of Claridge’s for six years. “The owners realized that there was an untapped potential with the Dorchester Collection,” Cowdray says of the planned expansion. “Over the last two years, we’ve established that the company has a very powerful brand which we will expand and promote very heavily.” Cowdray is in the midst of establishing a new team of leaders for the new management company. Staying in place as COO is François Delahaye, who is also the general manager of the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris. Helen Smith, who has worked alongside Cowdray at The Dorchester, has been appointed as vice president of marketing and communications. As for portfolio expansion, Cowdray says there are quite a few other “irons in the fire.” Plans are to grow in the United States (New York is key to the strategy) and throughout the rest of Europe, but growth will be gradual. “We’re looking for hotels that will fit into the portfolio, so it’s not going to be aggressive expansion,” says Cowdray. “We want to grow slowly in areas such as the United States and Europe, which would complement our current portfolio of hotels. We’re not looking to expand into the Far East or the Middle East, and we’re not looking to open resorts. We need to get into the key areas where we want to be first.” While each property in the Dorchester Collection is different and iconic in its own way, they all deliver a very high level of service, says Cowdray. They each have a strong sense of heritage and enjoy a high profile in their communities. “But they also have a sense of individuality,” he says. “These hotels all have very, very strong personalities that you’re not going to get anywhere else. If you go into the Plaza Athénée, it is very different from Le Meurice and very French. You’ve got the Hotel Principe di Savoia, which is very Italian. Then there’s The Dorchester, which has a high profile within London.” Another similarity? The lobbies of the hotels in the Dorchester Collection all have a certain vibe, filled with a combination of sophisticated guests who consider it a thrill to simply be there and with corporate travelers meeting with other VIPs to conduct a high level of business. “It’s all about trying to create a certain energy. I think the lobby defines a certain identity for a property. We’ve worked very hard to establish that,” www.luxuryta.com January 2008 | LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR 53 http://www.luxuryta.com
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