5 Minutes with Mary Gostelow
We spent a wonderful moment with Mary Gostelow during Private Luxury Boutique in the Algarve!
Needless to say it was pure quality time, as chatting with Mary apart from inspirational reminds you that it is great when people have the mindset and freedom to share their insightful perspectives without being fenced to pre-conceived ideas or commercial potential gains, but believe that’s a trademark of the great journalists.
Known for her insightful perspectives on luxury travel and hospitality, Mary brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our sector. Surrounded by the serene beauty of southern Portugal at Pine Cliffs Resort, we have delved into her journey, her views on the evolving landscape of luxury travel, and her favourite destinations.
Join us as we explore the world of high-end travel through the eyes of one of its most esteemed voices.
Dear Mary, presently what’s your favourite holiday destination?
Every day is a holiday for me, I’m moving house at the moment to a beautiful apartment in Poundbury, a development that our King started 15years ago and it’s a benchmark for sustainable living for the 21st century and my landlord is in fact the Prince of Wales, can’t wait to go back.
An upcoming destination you would like to visit.
Rwanda, I have not yet visited it, obviously I want to see the gorillas, I’ve seen gorillas in Uganda, I’m also keen to see the new resort camps that are in Rwanda, and I want to look at how Rwanda is doing such a brilliant job on the tourist front.
Mary, what would be your favourite standalone hotel in the world?
I have never had one favourite, let’s think about a night sky experience, my favourite would be Rangá Lodge in the middle of Iceland which has a professional laboratory with two professional telescopes that people come to use from all over the world to look at the night sky.
If we’re talking about the beauty of the gardens, Villa d’Este would be a favourite.
If we’re talking about cuisine for a standalone hotel, I actually like simple food therefore a favourite would very definitely be Chewton Glen in Hampshire they have the best triple-cooked French fries I know.
Tell us about a Suite that lived up to the hype, a Suite you can’t forget.
Oh, Atlantis Royal in Dubai where the all glass windows were very impressive, and I looked out across the water and I had a glass sided big swimming pool out on my terrace, but I will also say I cannot forget my suite at the The Maybourne Beverly Hills, why? Because of the carpets, the carpets are nyloned, and we walk over them in bare feet, and you feel you’ve being massaged by sand.
A hotelier/hotel company that has impressed you by service consistency throughout the years?
We’ll use a single hotelier, and that is Francois Delahaye, who’s the COO of Dorchester Collection, I’ve known him now for well over a couple of decades, he is so thoughtful, he is so efficient, he’s got a sense of humour, and he is totally reliable in every detail.
Your definition of true luxury, how do you see the industry shaping up and reinventing itself?
The industry is already beginning to turn away from hype and superlatives, but we need even more, panning the words like reinventing luxury, the people who say they are reinventing luxury don’t understand what real luxury is.
Let’s take room-service breakfast, the perfect room-service breakfast arrives on time brought by a waiter who doesn’t stay around, who brings it and then leaves quickly. It will have everything that you want, everything that you’ve ordered an it will have a little extra, perhaps a couple of perfect strawberries, or perhaps a single perfect rose and your chair is the right size for the table, and the coffee is really flavourful, and of course you got a glass of water even you didn’t have to mentioned it, and you lookout at a beautiful greenery outside your suite, that’s luxury, very simple…
With so many copycats around, how can a hotelier/hotel differentiate from the rest of the bunch?
Good thing, this is a good question, differentiation comes around people, we look at Raffles, at the moment really pushing the butler tradition which actually started at Raffles Hotels & Resorts Singapore in the 19th century, a hotel can distinguish itself by having just the best croissant, again at breakfast, it can distinguish itself by having an amazing multifaceted 1.5 metered diameter glass artwork in the lobby as at Pendry Hotels & Resorts West Hollywood, it can distinguish itself by having the best view of Sidney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from Park Hyatt Sidney, it can distinguish itself by having somebody on front desk who’s been there forever and smiles with a really authentic smile when seeing a returning guest as at the Raffles Hotels & Resorts Royal Monceau Paris.
How do you see the role and value that a Travel Agent can bring to the table nowadays?
Increasingly going to be key to the whole success, owners and developers and all those finance companies don’t know anything about the role of the travel agent until they want to do their own holiday.
The travel agent, the travel advisor needs to be propelled more to the front of the whole industry because they are the communication link that makes the product work.
A recommendation you would like to share with both hoteliers and travel trade professionals.
Keep smiling and go for the ageless youth market, anybody who has open eyes.
Are you a cocktail or a wine soul?
Generally, wine.
A trip you cannot forget and what can’t you travel without?
Trips, going up Mount Kenya on the top of a safari basket, going through the Khyber Pass, I think we had an armed guard, those two stand out.
What can’t I travel without? My memories of traveling with the greatest traveller I’ve ever come across… my husband.
Mary would like to thank you so much for the candid conversation we had, and cheerful moments spent during your visit to the Algarve.
Will not forget it!
Can’t wait for our next rendezvous at ILTM Cannes.