LUSSO: "What defines a ‘Rocco Forte Hotel’?" SIR ROCCO: A number of things, but to start with a Rocco Forte hotel is never too big, this creates an intimate atmosphere so you can treat each guest as an individual.

A number of hotels that call themselves ‘luxury hotels’ have 350 or 400 rooms therefore end up having executive floors, allowing them to treat certain types of guests better. I do not believe in that - all guests should be treated the same and have the same experiences.

Our hotels all have a strong design element to them, which is a fairly modern approach, but not so ‘way out’ that it becomes irritating and goes out of fashion quickly. The trouble with most design hotels is that they look great in photos but do not work so well for the customers. We make sure our hotels work well for our customers.

The hotel must also relate to the location and country it is in. You have to be able to feel where you are. Many of the chains - even the luxury chains, tend to build the same hotel wherever they go. They feel the same, have the same décor and often the same furniture and carpets. I do not think that is what the sophisticated customer is looking for today.

A lot of luxury hotels are very stuffy, we do away with that and create a friendly atmosphere, whilst still very professional. We have a very friendly and open attitude to the guests. At some of the grand hotels, the staff almost look down their noses at the customers – I don’t like that at all.

All my hotels are linked by the same operating philosophy and service standard across the board.


When did you start Rocco Forte Hotels?

10 years ago, the first hotel was The Balmoral in March 1997.


So which one of your hotels is your favourite?

I don’t have favourites!! They are all nice; besides, I’m not allowed to have a favourite. I like all my hotels as they all have certain qualities - I feel at home in all of them.

I suppose the most majestic would be the Berlin hotel, Hotel de Rome, it is set in the old Dresdner Bank Headquarters built in 1889. It has high ceilings on the ground and first 2 floors above that. It is in the Bebelplatz where the opera house and university buildings are. It is also in a part of Berlin that was not destroyed in the Second World War. There are however bullet holes in the paneling of some of the suites in my hotel, but the building has stayed up. The fact that it is in that part of Berlin gives it an added attraction.

The Hotel de Russie in Rome has become an icon in its own right, and is by far the most popular hotel in Rome, everyone wants to stay there! You come in to the hotel’s courtyard and garden from a narrow street - you enter this beautiful green space, which from the outside you would never expect.

We try and find hotels where you can create something that’s different from what’s already in the city, and is becoming increasingly difficult to do. The Frankfurt hotel, Villa Kennedy, is based on an old villa which we built a hotel around. The villa (which is protected) is used as the entrance, which again gives it a different feel to what you would expect from a hotel.


What was behind your decision to go into Marrakech, your first Africa property?

North Africa is relatively close, it is only a three and a half hour flight to Marrakech - so it’s always been a possibility in my mind to go there. We were approached by the owners who were interested in us managing the property so I went to have a look. I liked the location and the setting - in the middle of the countryside and set in olive groves. The land is very undulating which is unusual for that part of the world.

The philosophy of the owners was also very much in line with mine. We are managing the hotel for them, not investing, but it’s a partnership just the same, for it to work you have to have the same philosophy. I wouldn’t manage a hotel for someone else unless that was the case; otherwise you end up having problems.

So it was a combination of those things, at the moment Marrakech is an important destination – it has become more popular with the English recently, prior to that it was primarily a destination for the French.


What were your impressions when you first saw the site?

I liked it, it is a seven minute drive from the airport (at a very reasonable pace)... it is surrounded by farm land with the Atlas Mountains as a backdrop to one side. I liked the feel of it immediately, it excited me.


Is Assoufid the start of many properties in Africa?

I don’t know, I think we’ll keep an eye on how this one goes and see what happens. I think that Morocco is a particularly attractive destinations, it is a well run country. It works - not all North African countries are like that.


So how long have you been working on the Assoufid project?

The initial contact came around six months ago, but they are already quite far along with the build. In addition to the hotel there will also be 80 villas, 30 of which are sold. We will probably begin construction of the hotel towards the end of this year or beginning of next year – most likely next year. So between now and then we must go through the whole process to get the design of the hotel right.

We have already had the first meeting where we sat around a round table and discussed the hotel and what we wanted. The hotel will have three separate buildings, so it will have an intimate feel and won’t feel like a large hotel. There are a number of Riads in Marrakech that are usually locally run, not always to the highest standard, but they offer a certain level of seclusion and intimacy. By having three separate building we can create that as well.

There will be a spa which we are starting to think through now. There will be a penthouse suite in each building with its own swimming pool on the roof. There will be at least two restaurants and a breakfast room in each building.

Soon we will be building prototype rooms so we can get the design and layout right before we roll them out throughout the whole hotel.


Is there a particular reason you do not have hotels in France or Spain?

No, it is quite straightforward, I have been looking – I want to be in Paris, Madrid and Barcelona but haven’t found the right property. I would much rather find the right building over constructing something new as it adds a bit of quirkiness to the property, which I quite like.


Do you imagine you’ll spend much time there yourself?

I don’t know if I’ve got time to spend! I visit each of my hotels three times a year, a new hotel I visit more often. For some cities there are other reasons that take me there, Rome for instance, my wife if from Rome, and I have friends there. In Florence I’m now on the board for something called the Palazzo Strozzi it is one of the old palazzos which is now used for exhibitions. A group of Florence based businesses have got together in partnership with the local authority to create some dynamism, to create something new in Florence. To some degree Florence has sat back and allowed itself to just indulge in what it already has – the tradition of what is Florence. So this is an initiative to help kick-start this process – so that takes me to the Hotel Savoy in Florence.

Obviously we are just around the corner from Brown’s Hotel. I am in and out quite regularly, never as a hotel guest, but I use the restaurant quite often.


Assoufid has an impressive golf course, are you passionate about the sport?

Yes I am quite keen, I used to play a lot, but haven’t played much recently because triathlon takes up most of my time, last year I only played 3 rounds. My golf has become terrible! I used to have a handicap of 12 and have been down to single figures at times. In addition to Assoufid we also have our golf development in Verdura, south of Sicily, so I really should get my golf up to scratch…or down to scratch!

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Do you foresee Morocco becoming a major golf destination?

There are a few golf courses in Marrakech already and I think there are more on the way, it has a long way to go to catch up to Portugal or south of Spain but I think it is something that will continue to develop.


Other than triathlon, what other sports are you passionate about?

I have done most sports in my life. In school I did all the traditional English sports from boxing – as it was still allowed in those days - to football, rugby, tennis, cricket. I also fenced, I was a very good fencer actually, on the verge of the British team but I gave it up rather stupidly.

And then I shoot, but that’s more of a social thing than a sport.


How was the triathlon last weekend?

It went alright except I didn’t do a very good time. I haven’t done one for a year and I hadn’t run for 12 months as I had an achilles problem – I had done any running until 3 weeks ago!

I also had a problem on the bike, when I got on I thought there was something wrong with me, I was pushing like mad and wasn’t moving, I thought, “Christ, what’s going on, is something wrong with me?”, I was out of breath and then realised there was something wrong with the back wheel. I must have lost about four or five minutes but once I got going again I was overtaking people all the time.

You can easily forget how hard triathlons are. The fitter you are, the harder you go so they are always tough. The run is always a bit of a struggle as it’s difficult to conserve yourself on the bike to leave enough energy for the run.

To train, if I’m in London I swim at the Imperial College pool. At the weekends I go to a water-ski lake near Staines. In the morning between six and nine you can swim in the lake, which is much better practice.


Triathlon swimming is in wetsuits isn’t it?

Yes, a lot of the time you wouldn’t want to go into these places without one!


How are your priorities split between business and sports?

My priority is my business, that’s the most important and what I have to concentrate on most of all. When I started triathlons seven years ago my business was much smaller, so actually I had more time. It’s now more difficult to train as hard as I did. I think I qualified for the world championships this weekend, if I have that’s in Hamburg in September, so I am going to train very hard between now and then. Luckily that includes the summer holidays, which makes it easier to train – after Hamburg I think I’ll give it up. Perhaps I’ll stick to cycling as that’s the part I’m strongest at.


Did you always know you would be in hotels, did you consider any other industries?

I always really wanted to go into the hotel business; my father was obviously very keen to expose me to the industry early on. I had holiday jobs in the hotels and all sorts of things like that. The only other career that opened up to me was acting, I still don’t know how it happened, but a friend of my father who was a producer asked me to take part in a series of plays for ITV, for their fifth anniversary - which would have been in 1958.

One of the plays required a young boy who could speak Italian; the part was as a waiter in an Italian restaurant. The other boy who auditioned had red hair and freckles and even though he was a professional Italian actor they didn’t think he was suitable for the part. There was a week of morning rehearsals then two days of dress rehearsals with a final recording – it was not a live broadcast.



I got paid quite a lot for that, something like fifty or sixty pounds. Today’s equivalent to that would be around a thousand pounds! I got a whole string of offers to do other parts as a result of that, and I fancied it a bit… Of course my father was not very keen, so the whole thing stopped there!


So if you were to branch out into another industry, what would it be?

It’s too late to branch out now! Besides, I wouldn’t want to. I chose this industry because I know a lot about it and I wouldn’t want to take that steep learning curve.

I also really enjoy what I do and that motivates me. I enjoy every aspect of it, from the site selection through to design and staffing of hotels. Deciding the hotel’s philosophies, what food we will serve, getting involved in the sales and promotions… I find it all very interesting.

I think it’s the thrill of creating and being part of something – every hotel I go to I think, “This wasn’t here before, I made it happen”, it’s a nice feeling.

Also, at the same time knowing you can never relax and that in this industry you have to keep pushing and going forward. For me, that is also part of the fun.


So where would you like to see Rocco Forte hotels in ten years?

I think I would like to see it two and a half times bigger than it currently is, with properties in the countries and cities we are not already in.

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