MEDIA CENTRE - Events

HotE, London (Sep 2016)

HotE, London (Sep 2016)

Philip was invited to moderate a panel at HotE, London in September 2016. The panel was called "The Luxury Sector" and his excellent panellists were David from the newly launched Principal Hotels, Filip from Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Nevius recently moved to London from Rosewood and Valantin recently moved to Belmond from FRHI. Phil's fun "takeaway nuggets" based on the following questions are listed below:

Q1: On a cold winter's night, you and your wife plan a trip to a luxury hotel. Which hotel would you choose and why?

Q2: If you wanted to emulate the success of the Bvlgari-Marrott tie-up, which non-hotel luxury brand would you seek to collaborate with?

David's answers:

A1: Babington House for the ultimate relaxed getaway experience, and best chance of zoning out from work.

A2: Selfridges because of its extensive reach across demographic groups and cultures, whilst maintaining high levels of quality.

Filip's answers:

A1: Any Aman resort anywhere in the world. They are all of a super high standard and offer outstanding customer experiences anywhere they are present.

A2: Patek Philippe for their timeless elegance, longevity and uncompromising standards.

Nevius's answers:

A1: Splendido Porto Fino, Italy. The ultimate luxury experience in a location where there are no other luxury hotels and no chance of any other hotels being built. Possibly the highest barriers to entry anywhere in the world, where the last real estate transaction was over 10 years ago.

A2: Depending on the geography, select a brand that is appropriate to the location and culture. For example, Aston Martin in the UK, Ferragamo in Italy and Hermes in France.

Valantin's answers:

A1: Casa Las Tortugas, Mexico. Remote, difficult to get to, high quality, authentic, local experience. Second to none.

A2: Burberry because of their ability to transform and embrace new technology and new demographics.

Many thanks panel and well done for providing such stimulating and enjoyable responses for an engaging session.