Brian Englehart, GM of MAISON DE LA LUZ in New Orleans, believes in doing things differently, and he trades on Louisiana’s reputation for hospitality. This strikes a cord with Girlahead, who is actually an Honorary Colonel of the SState, an honour conferred by then-Governor Edwin Edwards, who subsequently went to jail. Anyway, this story is on GMs who do not fit the usual template. When Englehart opened the 67-room hotel in 2019 he and his 18-year old son cooked a total of 40kg of crawfish for friends and neighbours. Get’em all aware of the hotel.
In Vienna, Alex Lahmer soft-opens ROSEWOOD VIENNA this coming Monday. He’s been integrating himself into the community for months, with great style and to great effect – see him driving someone around town, above. In New York, Anton Moore, GM of GANSEVOORT MEATPACKING relies on fashion for moral support – a turquoise Tom Ford jacket helps his calm, compassion and communication (three important attributes that are required when opening a hotel, he says. In Sonoma County, Teach Mayer, GM of 1905-vintage DAWN RANCH, also goes for calm. Every day he meditates, feeling the hotel as it was, as it is, and its future possibilities.
Armando Kraenzlin, boss of Four Seasons in The Maldives – all-island resorts, and a small cruise ship – is another ultimate meditator. By complete opposite, Susanne Hatje, getting ready to open MANDARIN ORIENTAL MAYFAIR, LONDON, is all action-man. Her re-charge is to head to her home in Hawaii for surfing, sunrise to sunset.
Gosh we have so many characterful leader in this worthwhile lifestyle. From his Singapore base, RITZ-CARLTON MILLENIA’s Peter Mainguy and, from Delhi, Oberoi’s Vikram Oberoi take their designer – motor – bikes beyond their respective sunsets. When it comes to push bikes, long-distance champions must surely be, in the US, Philip Meyer at ROSEWOOD PALO ALTO and, in UK, Andrew Harrison, FOUR SEASONS HAMPSHIRE (he who just made it to lunch with Girlahead after a 70-km not-unusual jaunt). And what about Red Carnation’s London-based MD Jonathan Raggett, currently retracing every kilometre of the 2022 Tour de France, for charity? Listen to him, off his pedals, here;
