Walpole: How do you create unique experiences for today’s international luxury visitor?
We never stop learning, and we never stop doing. Creative expression is a duty in luxury hospitality. We work with amazing talent and incredible partners and consciously root everything we do in both the Maybourne brand’s values and each hotel’s distinct positioning. Then we design experiences and activations around each of our hotels’ brand pillars. We are mindful of seasonality, what’s going on and plan to a quarterly and annual cycle, leaving some room for irresistible one-offs.
For Claridge’s, we have created a platform built around art deco, with a nod to the Jazz Age and the Bright Young Things. It coincides with 100 years of art deco and the opening of The Great Gatsby musical at the London Coliseum. Our marvellous in-house archivist Kate Hudson gives guided tours of the hotel through her lens.
This year, The Berkeley was all about alfresco living, which worked perfectly for the opening of La Môme London and its gorgeous terrace and Capri in the City at the hotel Rooftop Pool. For Engage, we even combined The Emory and The Berkeley rooftops to create a skyline theatre playground.
At The Connaught, we pay homage to the sense of Mount Street and Mayfair history, the long-held associations with the English gentry, and a sense of rarefied belonging. For example, we have brought back the John Lobb shoeshine. However, I think it’s important to quote my learned colleague, Paula Fitzherbert: “At Maybourne, we live with our history – we don’t live in it.”
At The Emory, we celebrate the hotel’s modern interpretation of bespoke luxury through the activation of the idea of ‘horology – celebrating the art of time well spent’, which runs through the brand’s proposition. For instance, we are offering podcasts and videos on watches and watch craft with well-known entrepreneurs and craftspeople in the space.
What do you offer international visitors in the wellness space?
Working with global leaders in the field, we have built a new brand, Surrenne, with proof of concept at Surrenne Belgravia, a private members’ club, located over four floors below The Emory. Surrenne, the union of serenity and energy, is built on principles and protocols that define longevity and wellbeing. Opened in spring 2024, Surrenne offers a personalised, holistic approach to emotional wellbeing and physical health, rooted in science.
We now have many members from North America and Europe who are not residents of the UK. These are not just club members – they are a social community of curious, solution-oriented individuals who desire to learn.
We have an advisory board with world-class scientists and include treatments such as hyperbaric oxygen chambers and personalised microbiome treatments. Surrenne is expanding across Maybourne and opened at The Maybourne Riviera this summer.
How do you look outside London to create additional value for your customers?
Most luxury brands have been collaborating outside their immediate field for years with some brilliant examples in hospitality, especially in retail and resorts. For summer 2025, we organised a pop-up residency at Claridge’s Restaurant with award-winning restaurant Dante from New York’s West Village, which also happens to be our partner at The Maybourne Beverly Hills. Like Claridge’s, Dante was born in the Art Deco period. It brings 1915 Manhattan to Mayfair. It resonates with international customers but also, of course, Londoners, who can’t get to Greenwich Village. I think it’s a good example of cross-pollination and thinking outside our London context.
Why do you think London remains so resilient as a global luxury hub?
London’s attraction is centred around its culture, its diversity, its innovation and its ever-changing skyline. The restaurant and bar scene are phenomenal, as are the art, events, sporting and cultural landscapes. There are the auction houses, too, before we even get to places like Savile Row. It’s bookended by wonderful greenery, from Greenwich to Kew and Richmond to Hampstead Heath. We have all those fantastic garden squares, too, that are unique to this city. What could be better than a picnic from The Connaught in Mount Street Gardens?
London is a dreamscape that is actually a reality. What makes it special is it’s not Hollywood – it’s real. And the hidden gems you can find and odd conversations you can have, even if you’ve been here 50 times, make it very arresting. New York, Paris, Tokyo and the new emerging megacities all have something incredible to offer, but there’s a Dickensian timelessness about London. For me, there’s also a sort of surly steadfastness about it that offers a comfort blanket in a perpetually changing world.
