Luxury Travel Advisor - July 2008 - (Page 44)

COVER STORY GUESTS STAYING in the Kipling Royal Suite at Brown’s Hotel (left) in London will enjoy the amenities of The Suite Experience. HOTEL ASTORIA’s Shostakovich Suite creates a regal ambiance for luxury travelers to St. Petersburg, Russia. (above) ADVISOR INSIGHT Albert Herrera, the vice president of Virtuoso’s Hotels & Resorts program, which includes nearly every hotel in The Rocco Forte Collection, says that Forte’s properties appeal to a wide range of tastes because of their high standards, which are uniform throughout the brand, as well as each property’s uniqueness and design. “They are not stuffy,” he says, noting their relaxed elegance. “[The Rocco Forte Collection] has become a brand that people are beginning to associate with Europe. It has a kind of cult following, which is a legacy of Sir Rocco,” says Herrera. Note: For photos of Sir Rocco Forte meeting with some of the industry’s top luxury travel advisors from a variety of consortia, see page 62. tion will not own the hotels, but have the management contracts, a departure from the company’s old ways. “We have now gotten to a stage where we are a certain size with a good central structure and in the position to look further,” Forte says. “The brand has developed, it’s recognized and people are now coming to us and saying, ‘Will you run our hotels? We like what you do.’ A lot of that opportunity is in the Middle East.” However, he will not, under any circumstances, compromise the integrity of the Forte brand. “I want to keep consistent with the brand,” he says, “and will only take on contracts that fit into our image.” He’d also like to do something in the U.S., though only one city piques his interest. “New York,” he insists. “I see it almost as an extension of Europe.” Family Affair All this work is not being done alone. One of six children (he being the only son), Forte’s partner is his sister Olga Polizzi, who serves as director of design, responsible for crafting the interiors of Rocco Forte Collection hotels. It’s He already has projects in Abu Dhabi and Jeddah slated to open in 2010. They will be new builds and The Rocco Forte Collec- an interesting relationship the two share: Sir Rocco is in charge, but Polizzi is far from diffident. “He’s the boss as far as I’m concerned, and if he really feels strongly about something, I’ll change it,” she says. “However, if I feel very strongly about something, I do fight my corner.” Perhaps not a coincidence, Forte feels more or less the same about his sister. “We are two people who trust each other,” he says. “If I don’t like something, I’ll say so. In the general business context, if she doesn’t like something I want to do, she’ll say so.” Forte’s hotels are known to take on the tenor of their host city. Polizzi studies the history of each city before a design template is put into place. “When I’m doing a prototype, he’ll look at it and say what he feels. If I think I’m right, I’ll try and persuade him,” Polizzi says. But is he a better businessman or brother? “That would be telling,” Polizzi demurely lets slide. “I don’t know which one he’d be more annoyed about, if I said one or the other.” She will admit to her brother being a fervent optimist, with a surfeit of energy and strong knowledge of the hotel business. As a sibling? “He’s okay at that, too,” she says. Around the world, Forte is known as being far better than average at his job; but, if not for some direction from his father, Forte might have become a thespian instead of a hotelier. At the age of 13 he appeared in a TV play, even landing a speaking role. Years later he was approached by a fellow 44 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | July 2008

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Luxury Travel Advisor - July 2008 Contents Publisher's Letter Editor's Letter California Coast Tuscan Villas Ranch Vacations Gansevoort South Rancho Las Cruces Reserva Conchal Spas of the Maldives St. Lucia A Gentleman's Touch The Pulse Just Back Sightings Source List

Luxury Travel Advisor - July 2008

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