Hospitality Design - November 2014 - 38

from the guest editors

Photo by THOMAS WHITESIDE

finding room

Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu

We were delighted when Stacy and her team
approached us to guest edit this issue of the magazine. Excited
at the prospect of a new challenge, the chance to think about
hospitality in a whole different way, speak to good friends
about topics we're both passionate about, and have inspiring
conversations with others we've long admired. While we've
had the good fortune of having our work published in many
magazines over the last 30-plus years (including countless
times in Hospitality Design-thank you HD!), this was an
entirely different experience. The whole HD team made
it great.
The choices we made in this issue were first and
foremost based on personal experiences. When we started
brainstorming theme ideas, we kept coming back to our
strongest hospitality memories-of places. Places that
resonated physically, emotionally, or more often than not,
touched us in multiple ways. We were curious about why
these places resonated with us, what these people (the owners)
were all about, what they were doing that made staying with
them inspire us, and more broadly, what makes people "get a
room" and make the choices they do.
George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg
Founders
Yabu Pushelberg

038

November 2014 hospitalitydesign.com

To that end, we spoke to some truly amazing people. There
were also some we weren't able to connect with in time, like
the Tawaraya inn in Kyoto, which was made indelible in
the minds of Canadians like ourselves when [former] Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau stayed there with his then-girlfriend
Barbra Streisand. The Tawaraya still operates on the same
basic principles of innkeeping as it has been for the last 400
years. Our own experience staying there was one of ultimate
care, warmth, and generosity.
Five years ago, a good friend encouraged us to join him
on a trip to Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that the country was
still struggling through the effects of civil war, we were
immediately captivated by its innocence and beauty. While
there, we visited the home of Geoffrey Bawa, the inventor of
contemporary resorts, and someone who was at the forefront
of taking a holistic approach to landscape, architecture, and
interiors. His work became a great inspiration, and we're
happy to share some of that here in this issue.
A little further back, maybe nine or 10 years ago, we read
about a small bed and breakfast in Puglia, Italy. George called
them up, and thus began the enchanting experience of staying
at Il Convento di Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, which is to
say, essentially staying in the home of Lord Alistair McAlpine
and his lovely wife Athena, who still runs the B&B today
[after his death in January]. Writer, collector, and bon vivant,
Alistair gave the convent as a wedding gift to his new bride,
and their strong personalities permeate the approach to food,
furnishings, and service, making it personal and edited in the
most distinguishing way.
More recently, we heard former tech executive Zita Cobb
speak of her love of Newfoundland, the island she grew up
on, the challenges the people there faced, and her notion of
creating a destination there. She is incredibly vibrant and
unique, and the Fogo Island Inn, a brave piece of architecture
on Canada's east coast, reflects that vibrancy.
The reason we chose to focus on smallish innkeepers is
because the essence of innkeeping is easily lost on most hotel
companies; convoluted in brand standards and guidelines and
not focused on the human aspects of great service. People
everywhere are looking for a richness of experience that is
curated, edited, and formed for them. We were not interested
in the standard principles of hospitality, rather more of what
individual style and vision can instill, and how they motivate
us to "get a room."
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - November 2014

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