INTERVIEW
The new hotel houses two signature restaurants (left) and its bedrooms average 45sq m, making them some of the largest in London’s luxury hotels (above)
“Corinthia London is an extraordinary achievement in terms of how we bought it to market, what we bought it for and how we’ve developed it in terms of its relative value in the market”
Bespoke pieces are a hallmark of Corin-
thia properties. In London, designers Based Upon were commissioned to make a 9sq m (97sq ſt ) bronze artwork of the T ames, and bronze elevator doors. Another unavoidable talking point is the extravagant Full Moon chandelier in the main lobby comprising 1001 crystal baubles, created by French designer Chafi k Gasmi and made by Bac- carat. At two-tonnes, hotel designers had to add a new glass atrium to accommodate it, and Naudi declines to disclose its cost. The hotel is home to several ‘firsts’ –
mostly notably the launch of spa operator ESPA’s new brand ESPA Life (see p50), which is a holistic wellness facility, off ering naturo- pathic treatments, acupuncture, osteopathy and functional medicine alongside regular spa and beauty services. “We knew the spa had to be very special,”
says Naudi, who seems delighted with their choice of ESPA as partners. “We were very impressed, not only with their knowledge of how to create a fi ve-star spa, but also how to make that spa work as a business.” Another luxury brand, Harrod’s, will open
its very fi rst hotel retail space there too. The hotel’s 12 Sky Mansion residential
apartments have yet to be finished, but will be the height of super-chic design with some of them occupying well over 1,200sq m (12,917sq ſt ) of space. Each residence has a private liſt that links to the hotel’s own service area, private access to the spa and underground car-parking. With suggested values at the top of the market in London, it
CORINTHIA PORTFOLIO
Corinthia has three luxury facilities in Malta – its original Palace Hotel & Spa, St George’s Bay, and the Marina Hotel. T ere are also hotels in St Petersburg, Budapest, Tripoli, Lisbon and Prague. T e Corinthia Taormina Golf Resort in Sicily opens in 2012.
is no wonder Naudi is beaming about Cor- inthia’s £305m overall investment. T e quest for design quality and craſt sman-
ship seems to be at the core of Corinthia’s philosophy, and this appears to emanate from the company’s founder Alfred Pisani who still plays a very hands-on role in the company today. Naudi says: “Everybody in the company has met the chairman. He is a very inspirational character who built his business from a small island with little money and limited human resources.” As a young man in the 60s, an inexperi-
enced but passionate Pisani obtained one of the government loans being off ered to promote development on Malta, which had recently gained independence from Britain. But he couldn’t fi nd anyone to build his hotel, so he became the builder himself.
‘SPIRIT OF CORINTHIA’
Because the company has evolved as a tight- knit, family inspired business, everybody feels a strong sense of ownership. Naudi says: “I love the way I can be involved in
56 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
every aspect of hotel creation from the pur- chasing of the site right through to deciding how breakfast is laid out. I could even tell you the price of that chair [he points to a meeting room chair] because we have sat down and had a discussion about it”. Naudi acknowledges that the challenge
will be to keep and engender that feeling of pride and “spirit of Corinthia” among all hotel staff as they open in new countries. “As much as we put importance on the size of hotel bedrooms and quality of bathrooms – the human side of hoteliering has to remain the most important part of our business.” T e company has taken half a century
to expand its portfolio to nine Corinthia branded luxury facilities and several non- branded hotels. Naudi says growth, which will focus mainly on the Corinthia brand, will be measured, and “no-one is pushing us to open 100 hotels”. A new golf resort being built in Sicily
will be the fi rst Corinthia hotel where the company will just be the operator, not the investor. Naudi believes that as Corinthia becomes known for its multi-skill, more of these ventures will follow. He is also confi dent the expanding com-
pany will retain its Maltese charm. “I think we have the best of all cultures – the warmth of the Mediterranean people, structure inherited from the British and the trading instincts of the Arabs.” Corinthia appears to uphold these values in its company culture, and in the competitive world of hotels, they sound like a recipe for success. ●
SPA BUSINESS 3 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92