Luxury Travel Advisor - March 2009 - (Page 40)

COVER STORY Campbell Gray, who also has an eye on Damascus, where there are “historically wonderful sites to behold.” When asked if the U.S. traveler will feel comfortable traveling to the Middle East, Campbell Gray says, “I’ve heard so much interest from the people in America, but whether Americans are ready to make the leap, I don’t know. When you’re there, it’s dazzling. A bit of peace is all it needs.” Two properties in Morocco and a castle hotel in Scotland are also under development; however, the hotelier isn’t keen on expanding for the sake of expanding. “We’ve got no master plan saying we must have X amount of hotels and we’re going to sell in five years. We’re not doing that. So if we did no more, hey, life’s fine,” he says. As CampbellGray Hotels expands, maintaining the unique quality of each project will be vital to its leader. “I’ve found that people wanted individuality. I’m definitely from the principle that big is never beautiful and so I’ve no desire to make CampbellGray Hotels a big company. But I think we’ll end up with between 10 and 15, and to me that would be just fabulous. My role is to make sure that we are building hotels that are right for the A ROOM AT BEIRUT’S LE GRAY (top), which opens in May, displays a simple elegance. The hotel’s exterior (above) faces a trendy square. Campbell Gray calls the city his “favorite place to go. ” BECOMING CAMPBELL GRAY Even though Gordon Campbell Gray’s offices are technically a few blocks away, he is more frequently found at One Aldwych. “I like to be on top of the hotel. To walk through the lobby in the morning always puts me in a good mood, so I kind of love the place, Campbell Gray tells Luxury Travel Advisor. ” You could say, however, that the first hotel Campbell Gray fell in love with was Claridge’s, where he used to visit his glamorous aunt who lived and worked in London. He’d make the trek from his family’s big country home in the west of Scotland to visit her regularly. “She was really Auntie Mame, no question about it, he ” recalls. “She was a sable-dripping, cigarette-holding, extravagant martini-drinking wonderful woman. We thought she was fabulous. ” As a student, Campbell Gray attended hotel school for a year and did his time working entry-level jobs at five-star hotels (one stint included peeling brussel sprouts). In 1982, he went out on his own and opened The Feathers, about 60 miles from London, where he was able to put into practice all the things he had really believed in. “It was a huge success, he says. Over the course ” of seven years, he also took over The Draycott, one of London’s 40 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | March 2009 first townhouse hotels. When someone offered to buy him out, he decided to stop for awhile and came across the pond to Long Island’s Southampton where he became briefly involved with the Maidstone Arms. It was while walking along the beach in the Hamptons one day that Campbell Gray realized that, despite his love for older homes, he loved the modern ones even more. “I had a shift and I thought, ‘I can’t go back and do another traditional hotel with matching bedspread and curtains and base marble bathrooms.’” And, so, One Aldwych was conceived. “I didn’t want it to be trendy. I didn’t want it to be hip and fashionable. I wanted it to be a modern classic. Even today, the hotel doesn’t draw for ” those who necessarily want to see and be seen; instead, these are clients who have drifted from the more traditional hotels. “One great quote I got came from this 84-year-old contessa who had always stayed at Claridge’s. She said to me, ‘You know, when I stay at One Aldwych it makes me feel young.’ I thought it was fabulous because it could possibly have made her feel old. The lobby, which is really the heart of the hotel, is still packed every night. And it’s not packed with a groovy crowd, it’s packed with a grandmother taking her kids to “The Lion King, two busi” nessmen, a movie star, two secretaries—humanity. ”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Luxury Travel Advisor - March 2009

Luxury Travel Advisor - March 2009 Contents Publisher’s Letter Editor’s Letter Chiang Mai Curtain Bluff Destination Weddings Las Vegas Cruising Japan Tierra Del Volcan Riviera Maya Gordon Campbell Gray The Pulse Sightings Source List

Luxury Travel Advisor - March 2009

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