The new building housing the restaurant, and its modern Swiss interior

Two of Europe’s highest restaurants have opened amid contemporary chic architecture, high above Andermatt, Switzerland

Hold onto your chopsticks. A pair of new high altitude dining outposts is open 2,300m above sea level, on top of a ski slope in the heart of Switzerland. Far from being a place for humble beer and fondue, Andermatt Swiss Alps (ASA) has brought high-level dining of another kind to the slopes by opening a pair of destination gourmet restaurants with the aim of being among the most celebrated in the Alps.

Overlooking the peaceful village of Andermatt and facing the famous Gemsstock ski mountain, they are located in a newly constructed timber building. Designed by London’s Studio Seilern Architects, the structure was pre-fabricated off-site and then lifted into place by crane, ready for its stone façade to be put in place.

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Following the success of The Chedi Andermatt’s Michelin-starred The Japanese Restaurant, a second branch has opened on the Gütsch within Studio Seilern’s building in December 2019. Complete with feature fireplaces and views of the Gotthard mountains, The Japanese by The Chedi Andermatt has 44 seats inside and 45 outside on the terrace, where diners can feast al fresco on sea scallop sashimi and Kombu-Jime mountain trout on a south-facing, high altitude sun-trap. Headed up by executive chef Dietmar Sawyere, there are high hopes that this restaurant, too, can win a Michelin star. “We don’t carry it over,” says Sawyere. “But we will certainly be the highest Japanese restaurant in Europe.”

Chef Markus Neff with the team running Gütsch (at centre wearing black) and at work (below)

The Japanese is alongside a second restaurant called Gütsch by Markus Neff, on the ground floor of the new landmark in contemporary architecture. Welcoming skiers for lunch in the day and guests for private parties in the evening, the venue seats 66 people indoors and another 145 outdoors across two terraces. Neff is running it with a team of three other people who also worked with him at the Fletschhorn in Saas-Fee near Zermatt, which was awarded 18 Gault&Millau points until 2018. So, it’s in good hands.

“We want to make a restaurant that is unlike any of the others around here – something special, something new,” Neff says. “You won’t see sausage and rosti here, for example. It is not a mountain hut where people eat in 15 or 20 minutes. We’re a high-class, fine-dining Swiss-French restaurant where we make it all from scratch, from handmade pasta to bread. People will come for three or four courses chosen from our à-la-carte menu.” Gütsch is building on the concept of mountain-top restaurant Spielboden in Saas-Fee, where Neff and his team also worked.

Gütsch offers a Swiss-French fine dining experience

Gütsch offers a Swiss-French fine dining experience

Unlike traditional Swiss lodges and cabins, Studio Seilern’s new project is something far more cutting edge and ambitious. Christina Seilern, principle of the firm, says: “Due to the extreme weather conditions in winter, there was only a short time frame that allowed for construction. For this reason, it had to be built in two summers.” Seilern says that it was also a challenge to create a design that catered for two different restaurants. Inspiration came from the idea of a Swiss hamlet, known as a hameau, “where a collection of smaller buildings creates a harmonious whole”, says Seilern. Inside, there are exposed timber beams and wood panelling, while The Japanese also has an open kitchen and sushi bar.

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What can visitors eat when they visit The Japanese? It isn’t all raw fish. Chef Sawyere explains that people forget that Japan is a mountainous country that has a lot of snow, especially in the north, so their cuisine, which is distinctly seasonal, reflects this. “They have very hearty, warm, winter dishes, too”, he says. As a multi-course kaiseki restaurant, its diners can sample four to 12 courses, but for those who don’t want to take so long eating, there are also bento boxes that hold six to eight small dishes. Sawyere says: “There might be a couple of pieces of sushi, a piece of tempura, a braised dish, a sashimi dish and a grill. I think it will be popular.”

Chef Dietmar Sawyere preparing a dish at The Japanese restaurant

The restaurant imports its seafood from suppliers in France, Spain and even Australia, while specialist ingredients such as Kobe beef (at £270 a kilo) need to be flown in from Japan, but they have also managed to locate a supplier in Basel that has started farming prawns. “Previously it was impossible to buy fresh prawns in Switzerland,” says Sawyere. He is also excited to be working with a local farmer who is rearing cattle for Japanese-style wagyu beef. “It’s been three years in the making and in February we will have our first taste,” he says.

Sake also plays a big part at The Japanese, benefitting from the fact that The Chedi Andermatt has the largest collection of Japanese rice wine in Switzerland. The mountain restaurant has 60 to 70 different labels on the menu – and there is even a sake glühwein (mulled wine), which makes a warming welcome for people when coming in out of the cold.

Read more: Luxury in the wilderness at SUJÁN Sher Bagh, Rajasthan, India

Thanks to developer ASA’s unprecedented transformation of the village, Andermatt has become a desirable place to visit the whole year round. Not only does it have incredible hotels such as the five-star The Chedi Andermatt but also an 18-hole, Scottish-style golf course, and the SkiArena, which is the largest and most up-to-date ski area in Central Switzerland, with 180km of pistes stretching as far as Sedrun and Disentis in the next canton. Just 90 minutes’ drive from Zurich and just over two hours from Milan, each of the buildings in ASA’s development has been designed by a top architect, thus creating a consistently beautiful resort that looks particularly magical under snow. And now, visitors can have a dining experience in the sky to match the very best in any Alpine valley or European resort.

Renders of new apartment blocks Enzian (here) and Arve (below, left) to be built in Andermatt

Rare new properties for sale

In 2020, the building of two new residential properties will commence for those who are looking to own in Andermatt Reuss, located between Andermatt’s Alpine golf course and the village. Apartment House Enzian has 12 high-spec apartments (from 62 to 136sq m), some featuring fireplaces and saunas, as well as private roof terraces and gardens. Apartment House Arve has 17 apartments for sale, in a building clad with horizontal wooden boards reminiscent of traditional chalets. Inside there will be common areas for skis and bikes, as well as stylish open-plan homes looking out over the mountains. All are eligible for foreign ownership.

Find out more: andermatt-swissalps.ch

Jenny Southan

This article was originally published in the Spring 2020 Issue

The White Millefeuille is chef Anne-Sophie Pic’s ‘masterdish’ at her restaurant inside the Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square London

Anne-Sophie Pic’s London restaurant La Dame de Pic has already been awarded two Michelin stars for its innovative French cuisine, but there’s one dish that everyone’s talking about – and Instagramming. LUX visits Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square to try the infamous White Millefeuille

Chef Anne-Sophie Pic

Millefeuille is one of the most classic French desserts – even if you don’t recognise the name, you’ve probably eaten, or at least seen it in the window window of a smart pastry shop. Traditionally, a millefeuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry divided by layers of crème pâtissière. French chef Anne-Sophie Pic‘s millefeuille, however, is something quite different.

The dessert arrives on our table in the shape of a perfectly seamless white cube. If you’re active on Instagram, you’ve most likely seen hundreds of pictures, but for those of you who haven’t: it looks a little bit like a giant marshmallow surrounded by foamy white puffs (see above).

We’re anxious as to how to actually eat it. Which side are you supposed to start with? Will it collapse? Will something jump out?

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Fork in and it holds its cubic form perfectly to reveal layers of thin pastry interspersed with Jasmine jelly and vanilla cream. More importantly though, it’s completely delicious: light and sweet with an unexpected hint of spice from Madagascar pepper.

‘The desire of this dessert was to make a monochrome dish, which is as elegant in its visual approach as it is in its taste,’ Anne-Sophie Pic says. ‘And for me, elegance, then and now, is white. ‘

La Dame de Pic is Anne-Sophie Pic’s two Michelin-starred restaurant at Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square

Read more: Why Hôtel de l’Etrier is the perfect alpine hotel

It’s an elegance that resonates throughout the restaurant from its glassy, bright interiors and crisp table settings to the service and inventive presentation of each dish. The bread, for example, comes as a complete miniature round loaf, served on a bed of smooth white pebbles, which we mistake for dough balls and almost eat.

‘The White Millefeuille lends itself to playfulness: deriving from its perfect shape a signature dessert for each of my restaurants is a game, both for me in creation, and for the customer taking a tour of the Dame de Pic,’ says Pic, whose culinary creations have recently earned the restaurant its second Michelin star and Pic’s seventh.

If you haven’t made it to the restaurant yet, now is the time to go.

For more information visit: fourseasons.com/tentrinity/dining/restaurants/la-dame-de-pic-london/

The Abama overlooks the volcanic island of Gomera

LUX steps into a different universe of tranquillity, colour and cuisine at The Ritz-Carlton Abama resort in Tenerife, a short hop from western Europe

Stepping out of your room into a kaleidoscope washed by warm salty air is a delicious feeling. The kaleidoscope was the lavishly planted sea of flowers in multilayered, terraced tropical gardens around the villa where we were staying. A short stroll along the path took us past even more plants, trees and flowers of every conceivable colour, which rose first past several organically shaped pools and then onto the terrace where breakfast was served.

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The Ritz-Carlton Abama is located on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean and a volcanic island opposite. During breakfast time, this island was always covered in a mysterious, horror-movie murk, almost indistinguishable from the light-blue sky around it. The sun rises slowly in equatorial zones, and even though the morning air had a hint of chill in it, due to the coldness of the sea currents, we were indeed in an equatorial zone off the coast of Africa. The Canary Islands may have become host, in part, to unglamorous mass tourism recently, but they first came into Western awareness as a hive of distinctive species and ecosystems.

The villas are set in lush gardens

The days soon took on a familiar rhythm. Adjacent to the breakfast terrace, a 50-metre pool, curvaceous and irregular, is boarded by rows of sun lounges with a view down over the gardens to the sea. As the sun became stronger, we moved down to the beach, where a seafood and grill restaurant was washed by calling breezes and salty air. There is cliff jumping from either side of the bay where the long, sandy beach is located, and in the next bay you can jump from black volcanic rock to black volcanic rock admiring great schools of crabs, blue and orange, living in the twilight zone beneath them, between land and ocean.

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Swimming in the clear sea, sheltered by a breakwater, involved being accompanied by fish – sometimes individuals, sometimes in shoals, occasionally monochrome, usually in an array of colours to match and even outdo their plant-based counterparts on land, with fluorescent blues and oranges all the vogue.

If we had not had the energy in the morning, an early-evening game at the tennis centre based around perfect clay courts next to the (celebrated) golf course was a way of adding to the exercise quotient, before either moving to one of the restaurants, or dining on room service on our own terrace overlooking treetops, banana plantations, the ocean and the volcanic island of Gomera. In the evening, this was lit up in pinks and greens, and strung by lights from its occasional roads, just visible from our vantage point 20 miles away across the water.

Abama’s main pool – one of seven at the resort

Fine dining is not often associated with the Canary Islands, something the original creators of Abama sought to change when building this resort. Unusually for an island in the Atlantic, 1,000 miles from the southern tip of Spain, it has Michelin-starred restaurants and an array of other dining spots with specialised cuisines and, often, spectacular views.

The most notable is Kabuki, a Japanese restaurant high above the resort and the 18- hole championship golf course. The whole resort is built on a steep volcanic slope, meaning the view down from Kabuki to the gardens, plantations, swimming pools and the sea is particularly captivating at dusk. Aperitifs are served on the terrace, and inside, the restaurant serves a celebrated blend of local and Japanese cuisine. The flame-seared fish nigiri is easily the most memorable thing on the menu.

At the other end of the resort, although by no means at the other end of the scale, El Mirador is an eagle’s nest atop cliffs that plunge down to the ocean. From the tables you can hear the sea crashing against the rocks far below and smell the ocean spray. Appropriately, El Mirador serves grilled fish and seafood, and is also celebrated for Spanish cuisine from a different part of the country: black rice paella. Like a number of the restaurants in the resort, it also serves a mean bowl of Canarian potatoes, which maximise on intense, nutty taste, accompanied by red and green chilli sauces.

The kitchen and terrace at El Mirado

The cascade of colours at sunset at El Mirador is a match for any oceanside location in the world, and a fitting end to a day that began with the kaleidoscope of flowers outside the villas. The villas themselves are the most secluded category of accommodation in a resort that is bigger than it may seem, so well blended is it with its natural context. We had a seaview suite, including a large living room, huge bedroom and two balconies, which should be plenty for any couple. It can be combined with an adjoining (equally large) bedroom for a family area big enough to match many people’s homes. Interior décor is all cool stone and tiles, with equally large bathrooms to match. And that fabulous morning cascade of colour as soon as you draw the curtain, or open the door.

One-bedroom suites in villas at The Ritz-Carlton Abama Tenerife start from €615, plus tax. Find out more: ritzcarlton.com/abama

This article was originally published in the Autumn 19 Issue.

The spectacular architecture of the Hôtel Chais Monnet, designed by Didier Poignant

A new kind of luxury hotel in Cognac sets new standards of comfort, cuisine and architecture for those exploring the region that’s been in the shadow of nearby Bordeaux for too long, says James Richardson

Le 1838, the hotel’s jazz and cognac bar

A short drive from the city of Bordeaux, the newly opened Chais Monnet is the swankiest hotel in southwest France and the first of a new breed of destination – the super-luxury auberge. The hotel and spa (and conference centre) are situated in and around a very expensively converted former cognac-aging warehouse by the Charente river. Lavishly designed by architect Didier Poignant, the hotel’s spectacular exterior complements the welcoming contemporary chic of the interior.

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The 92 rooms (and 15 apartments) are decorated with a sophisticated rustic charm, the spa features a 24-metre indoor-outdoor pool, and the jazz bar, in its own converted building, is hugely atmospheric. The greatest revelation is in the restaurants, in the former cognac warehouse itself, headed by Sébastien Broda, who earned a Michelin star for Le Park 45 in Cannes. There is a real Soho House vibe (not surprisingly, since owner Javad Marandi also owns the legendary Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire in the UK), with the cuisine both light and delicious – the memory of a super-umami fish pot au feu at Saturday brunch remains with us still.

Read more: The problematic stereotypes cast by the male nude in art

The hotel’s decor is casual contemporary luxe

The guest rooms have been carefully incorporated into the original structure of the buildings

The indoor/outdoor pool in the spa

While it’s tempting not to leave the hotel, the experiences on offer in the area are compelling, from cycle tours along the river to driving to picnics in the local vineyards in a vintage car supplied by the hotel. Then there’s the serious business of tastings at the celebrated local cognac houses, such as Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier, or sampling the wines of the great Bordeaux châteaux not far to the south.

For more information and to book your stay visit: chaismonnethotel.com

This article was first published in the Winter 19 Issue.

The Cognac region offers bucolic summertime relaxation and historical sites aplenty

Chef Sébastien Broda in the kitchens, and one of his dishes that use locally sourced produce and that are served in the hotel’s Les Foudres and La Distillerie restaurants

View across the lake of Bellagio dubbed ‘The Pearl of Lake Como’

Emma Love discovers a slew of fresh restaurant openings and exciting events attracting a cool new crowd to one of Italy’s favourite destinations

When the hotly anticipated Michelin Guide 2018 was launched, it came as no surprise that Ristorante Berton al Lago, part of Il Sereno hotel on the shores of Lake Como, was awarded a Michelin star within one year of opening. The restaurant, which is headed up by Milan-based restaurateur and chef Andrea Berton (he is already a heavyweight on the Milan dining scene with four Michelin stars across three restaurants) and executive chef Raffaele Lenzi,excels at Italian dishes with a modern twist, using seasonal ingredients from northern Italy. Paired with interiors by renowned architect and designer Patricia Urquiola and a terrace with a prime position right on the lake, it was always going to be a winning combination.

The lake is lined with picturesque villages

Yet this restaurant is simply the latest addition to Lake Como’s buzzing foodie scene. While once the region was mostly renowned for grand stately hotels and historic villas, now a bunch of game-changing openings are appealing to a new generation of jet-set visitors. Smartly dressed Milanese are still flocking here each weekend during the summer (it is only an hour outside the city) to nip between the pretty shoreside villages on sleek wooden boats and sip negronis at Harry’s Bar in Cernobbio, but these days they are also snapping up tables at the new wave of talked-about restaurants.

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“With the opening of Il Sereno and the new life that has been instilled in the Grand Hotel Tremezzo by owner Valentina de Santis, Lake Como feels ‘cool’ again,” says Emily Fitzroy, who founded Bellini Travel almost 20 years ago, and is a leading expert on Italy. “With Milan in easy reach – 20 minutes by helicopter – Como feels more accessible than ever, which makes it all the more attractive for younger visitors who tend to be time poor and adventure seeking. The lake has become a place of pilgrimage for hikers and cyclists, who come to experience some of the most important cycle routes in all of Italy.”

Another hot spot causing a stir since it opened in 2016 is Ristorante Materia (also in Cernobbio). At the helm is young chef Davide Caranchini (named in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list) whose radical offering goes against the meat-rich norm by featuring an inspired five-course ‘green power’ vegetarian tasting menu (think dishes such as poached egg, spring legumes and tomato tea, or goat’s cheese ravioli with black cabbage and Sarawak black pepper juice) with ingredients grown in the restaurant’s own greenhouse. His signature dessert is called Banksy: a paper-thin layer of smoked yoghurt and chamomile cream stencilled in the shape of one of the street artist’s iconic images.

Ristorante Materia is known for its vegetarian tasting menu

Equally as exciting as what’s served up on the plate are the developments in the drinks industry. While Italy might be renowned for its wines (and lagers such as Birra Moretti and Peroni), for the past few years there has also been a growing craft-beer movement. Small local brewery Birrificio Italiano produces a complex dark wheat beer called Vudù, while brew pub Il Birrificio di Como in Como’s city centre is the place to try a selection of malt beers. There are also a number of cocktail bars upping the ante and attracting the hip crowd, including street-food restaurant and bar 100 Lire and the Fresco Cocktail Shop in Como, with its 1940s-themed interiors, jazzy soundtrack and waistcoat-wearing mixologists who will shake up drinks made with citrus fruits grown nearby.

Read more: Founder of Corinthia Hotels Alfred Pisani on going global

Of course, as you might expect from such a holidaymaker’s honeypot, a packed programme of events takes place throughout the year, from the annual Lake Como International Music Festival (during the summer season) to the historic car show at Villa d’Este (every May) and a series of ‘Night at the Park’ evenings where funky live bands play in Park Teresio in Tremezzo. By far the most-anticipated happening this year was Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda couture presentation (the Italian couture line is presented via a series of special events around the world), consisting of a men’s show at Villa Carlotta Park and women’s runway at Teresio Olivelli, both in Tremezzina. “The fact that the lake played host to the Dolce & Gabbana couture show ensures that it’s now firmly on the fashionista’s Grand Tour,” says Fitzroy. “It was a big moment for Como.”

A popular aperitivo spot Harry’s Bar in Cernobbio. Above: Lecco at Sunset.

Another new happening that drew a very different crowd was the inaugural Lake Como Comic Art Festival at Villa Erba in Cernobbio (it was a huge success and takes place again in May 2019). Bestselling cult comic-book artists such as Americans Neal Adams and Greg Capullo (between them, they are best known for creating some of the imagery of the DC Comics characters Batman and Green Arrow) were among the guest appearances.

The best way to see Como is by boat

With so much on the calendar, it’s no wonder Lake Como has long proved to be a favourite destination for second home owners. “Its central position in Europe and the beauty of the mountains means it’s ideal for a quick vacation, suitable for both domestic and international buyers,” says Lodovico Pignatti Morano, managing partner of Italy Sotheby’s International Realty, a company that sells lake-front detached properties with a starting point of €4.5million. “Although jet-setters have always visited Lake Como, it is becoming increasingly popular as more people become aware of the area’s unique offering.”

Read more: New luxury hotel Chais Monnet opens near Bordeaux

Savvy shoppers come to Lake Como for the regular markets, scooping up antique finds in Como’s San Fedele Square (on the first Saturday of each month) and anything from original bespoke handmade furniture to locally made gifts and fashion accessories at Mercato dell’ Artigianato, an artisan crafts market held at the end of October in Lecco. Also top of the shopping list is the region’s most famous export – silk. Two of the best-known brands are Mantero and Ratti, suppliers to major fashion houses such as Saint Laurent, Nina Ricci and Trussardi. Beautiful scarves and neck ties can be bought at the Mantero outlet shop in Grandate, while the little-known Fondazione Antonio Ratti is a textiles museum in 18th-century Villa Sucota, which displays fabrics collected by Antonio Ratti throughout his life.

The pretty village of Menaggio on the Western side of the lake and its jetty

Other under-the-radar gems on Lake Como include the quirky La Ca di Radio Vecc museum in Bellano, where you can lust after the kind of groovy old radios and gramophones that are making a comeback, and the lido in Menaggio. A 15-minute walk from the harbour, it is surely the town’s best-kept secret and with two swimming pools, a sandy beach and a deck that stretches out over the water – the perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon in the sun. Across the water, the lido in Bellagio is another beach hangout by day and turns into a nightclub after dark (Friday dinner parties begin with aperitivo at 7.30pm and end at 4am).

The best way to explore is still by getting out on the water or up in the air. Bellagio Water Sports offers kayaking and stand-up paddle-board tours, while the AeroClub Como specialises in private seaplane flights and lessons. And despite all that’s new, Lake Como’s timeless, sophisticated charms remain – and are now being enjoyed by the next generation.

Six must-book restaurants on Lake Como

La Mistral, Bellagio
This Michelin star restaurant has a superb terrace overlooking the lake. Expect inventive, molecular cuisine.
ristorante-mistral.com

Locanda la Tirlindana, Sala Comacina
Set in a pretty waterfront square with fantastic views of Isola Comacina. The lemon ravioli is the stand-out dish.
latirlindana.it

I Tigli in Theoria, Como
A Michelin star restaurant and art gallery set in a restored 15th-century palazzo.
theoriagallery.it

Feel, Como
Farm-to-table food with a focus on local ingredients, served in a contemporary setting.
feelcomo.com

La Punta, Bellagio
Its menu features lake fish caught by the owners, the wine list has more than 300 Italian and French labels, views are stunning.
ristorantelapunta.it

Momi, Blevio
Michelin star food served in a simple, charming restaurant by the jetty. The homemade desserts are especially delicious.
ristorantemomi.it

The entrance to the Corinthia Hotel in Westminster, London

Under the leadership of Alfred Pisani, Corinthia Hotels has grown from a single family-owned banquet hall in Malta to a global luxury brand with properties in 9 destinations and forthcoming openings in Dubai and Brussels. LUX speaks to the Maltese businessman about the challenges he’s faced, his guiding principles and the importance of creating a strong employee culture

Founder & Chairman of Corinthia Hotels, Alfred Pisani

LUX: You developed one of the first deluxe hotels in Malta on your family’s estate. Can you tell us about that story?
Alfred Pisani: It’s a long story but I’ll try and abbreviate. Basically, I was not planning to become a hotelier. My interests when I was at college were mathematics and science; a very logical style of thinking, which I think is very important to our life anyway. My father had just bought a beautiful, majestic villa with some 20,000 square metres of land and wasn’t quite sure whether we were going to live in it or he was going to do business in it. Unfortunately, he passed away four months later, and suddenly, together with my brothers, I had the responsibility of deciding what to do with this property. The place had not been lived in for a number of years and obviously deterioration had taken place, so our first step was to try and put that right. I went to the bank and got a loan, which my uncle supported me with in terms of security, and we first started using this magnificent hall for receptions and weddings, parties and so on.

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Then one day someone came along and said, ‘Why don’t you provide the catering as well?’ so we brought in an outside caterer to help us with that request. After that, we organised a proper kitchen, and then we opened our own restaurant. Two years down the line, there was a big drive from the government to give incentives to entrepreneurs, as the country was changing the economy from  one totally dependent on a naval and military base (as the English were pulling out), to one where we would have industry and tourism, to create a new economy. So I applied, and I went with my own drawing of a forty-room hotel to the appropriate ministry, but we were told we wouldn’t qualify unless we had a minimum 150 rooms.

The opening of Corinthia Palace in Malta, 1968

A few weeks later, I went back with an elongated hotel with 156 rooms. And the guy said to me, ‘So you have money for 40 rooms, but do you have room for 156?’ I said, ‘Well, no, but the bank does. They’re going to give us the money.’ He was amused, but I still went through the motions. I went to one bank, and then another, and then another, and eventually I found one large enough to handle the job. The same question was asked about our equity, and I told them the equity was the building, the ground and our effort. We got 100% funding, and this is something I’m still proud of today. That was unheard of then. But I assume the timing was part of the whole success; there was a tremendous push to bring in foreign currency and to create a new industry.

Then when I came to build the hotel, I found the local contractors were very busy and too expensive, so I decided I’d be the contractor. I actually employed people from the street – literally. And I’ve never built a hotel as fast as that. Never. Today I keep saying to everybody, ‘We do so many drawings that we’d have enough paper to build a hotel out of it.’ But obviously things have become very much more complicated with all the electronics and everything. It’s quite remarkable, though, what one can do when one is determined. I remember buying a second-hand mixer to do the concrete, and we would throw in the aggregate, the sand and the cement and I’d hold a pipe and I’d look it and say, ‘Hmm, yes, the consistency looks right, let’s pour.’

Read more: New luxury hotel Chais Monnet opens near Bordeaux

You know, it’s remarkable with what you can do with nothing. We would work from 6 o’clock in the morning until about 11 o’clock at night, day in, day out, for around two years. And then we opened and it was successful. Again, there were coincidences that helped us along the road and we took the opportunities. Some decisions were very difficult to make in terms of bringing in new partners and going from one playing field to a more advanced one with new shareholders and new standards. And you have to remember that we didn’t have a home market. The banks couldn’t come aboard with us, because they just didn’t have the capital to do that. So, each time we went to an outside destination we’d have to talk to banks who didn’t know us. That didn’t make it easy. You really had to prove yourself. And you had to appoint new architects too. This was what I found most difficult. If you got your first step outside your island wrong, it would just knock you out. So you couldn’t afford to get it wrong. At that time, I didn’t think like that: I just went and went and went. I never had a doubt in my mind. I suppose that’s the beauty of youth, when you are full of enthusiasm and determination but you are limited in your expertise and experience: that combination worked well for us.

Ladies enjoying the pool at Corinthia Palace, Malta in 1968

We have always focused on trying to achieve the best. I don’t think in the early days we gave more importance to visibility as to the quality. I have a strong conviction that quality will win the day. You have to get every step right and then the results will be right. I had a natural tendency to focus on the details and trying to get everything right with the strong belief that that was ultimately what would produce the results I wanted. We don’t have a real measure. I used to say, ‘If I sow one hundred seeds, ninety-five will grow, because that’s part of nature.’ So as long as you move with the current of nature, the results are going to be further growth. There were these very strong principles from a very early stage, and I was constantly trying to share my beliefs and direction with everybody else.

LUX: What do you think sets the Corinthia apart?
Alfred Pisani: Well, today, after so many years of growing a hotel out of a very small country, we have brought another element into our consideration. Not only do we believe in ‘doing it right’ in order to generate a positive return, but we’ve gone one step further by saying we want to “uplift lives”. It will probably take a long time to appreciate what I’m trying to say; I didn’t think like this when I was younger, but it’s something people get to eventually. If you want a more productive outcome from your colleagues – I don’t like to call them employees – you must identify a sense of caring. If you share your knowledge, give a helping hand and show respect, this creates a more committed work force, where everybody is aligning the energy. It’s just like in a magnet: when you align all the atoms instead of having them in disarray, you create a magnet. Simply by infusing a sense of discipline and purpose, you can align everyone’s energies to think in the same direction. You create an energy where, like a magnet, though you can’t see it, you can sense it.

So, from being totally focused on wanting perfection, it has translated itself over the years into saying how can you make everyone within the family more successful as an individual? You must sleep well, eat well, socialise – work is just another aspect of this holistic responsibility. If you can get your engine to be firing correctly on all cylinders, you just get your efficiency a bit higher; you fine tune it. That’s what I think sets Corinthia apart. We have a very close interaction with our personnel. We call it the family. I truly say this with all sincerity: people who have come to the company, and even those who leave the company, will always remain Corinthians. They will always show respect. I say this with a lot of conviction and satisfaction.

A suite at the Corinthia Hotel in London

LUX: We’ve been discussing your properties in Malta – is that your biggest market?
Alfred Pisani: If we go back to when I opened my first hotel in 1968, at that time, with Malta still having a semi-colonial relationship with Britain, all we knew was the UK. We bought everything from the UK, right down to the smallest screw. Our tourism came from the UK, I would say 99%. There was no corporate business because there was no business. People came mainly in summer. Their stays would be long stays – one or two weeks – and it was all handled by tour operators, who distributed the brochures and displayed the hotel across the UK. They would come over in August and agree the rates for the following year. Everything was agreed a year in advance.

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Over the years the government and hoteliers realised that it was necessary to diversify for the future and effort was put into marketing it in Europe. And this has, over the years, mainly succeeded, because now we have visitors from all over. Possibly Britain is still number 1. I think it’s a healthy situation to arrive at. When we came to open in London, we knew what the story was. In the five-star business, you had the home market and the United States. So we made a big effort in the United States to win our share of the five star business coming to London, competing against all the other well-known brands, who have been there for a very long time. I think we did very well in penetrating the market in the space of two or three years.

The Pool at ESPA, Corinthia London

LUX: What’s the biggest challenge in investing in other countries?
Alfred Pisani: As I said earlier our bankers, our lawyers, our everything could not move with us. We had to look for destination  where their business had a similarity to us such as resort businesses, holiday businesses, and where it was not too expensive that we could not afford it. I couldn’t dream of coming to London or New York so to begin we built five hotels in Turkey and because I didn’t feel confident enough I looked for Turkish partner.

After 1990 when there was the dissolution of the Soviet Union, tremendous opportunities were available in Russia and all the Eastern European countries came by cheaply. Now, we were, I think, even ahead of the banks! We went into St Petersburg and Budapest and so on and they were good opportunities. We visited every single east European country that had now opened, but what I didn’t have, because I don’t think we were wise yet or we didn’t have the reputation yet, was funding and support from a consult team of banks and institutions which was somewhat of a handicap because the opportunities I met were tremendous.

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LUX: And you’ve got properties opening in Brussels and Dubai?
Alfred Pisani: We bought the property in Brussels so that belongs to us, but in Dubai we are purely in management. We will run our flag on one of the most beautiful hotels to be built in Dubai and it will be Corinthia, but we are not the owners. We have supported it in the designs – it will be stunning and it’s set to open in 2020.

In the meantime, we have been operating two other properties on behalf of the same company, the Meydan Group. They have the Meydan Hotel which has big horse racing track and all of the bedrooms overlook the track. It’s a very successful property and we have seen tremendous increase in the bottom line since we took over, together with another hotel which they own in the desert called Bab Al Shams. So, apart from investing in our own properties I think now we have a brand that is visible enough and that is providing good enough standards to also offer it to third party owners and hopefully expand our brand in many more hotels without necessarily putting in capital.

The restaurant at Corinthia London, headed by Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge

LUX: What’s the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?
Alfred Pisani: I think the lesson I learnt was a confirmation of the conviction I already had to do everything properly and that by doing everything properly, you stood a much bigger chance of success, as opposed to taking shortcuts. We kept to this principal and we would never get involved with political parties in countries. What I realise today, which I didn’t realise at the time, is that I think we were right  in the way we negotiated and I don’t think I would change it if I had to do it all over again. My advice to those who are still starting is keep on the straight.

LUX: Do you see a difference in what younger and older travellers expect from luxury?
Alfred Pisani: Yes, there has been a change of expectations from the customers in terms of the hardware, for example, bathrooms. However, the basic ingredients that they look for haven’t changed. Are you welcomed with a smile that is genuine and not plastic? Do you truly, collectively, radiate an energy of positiveness, which makes the customer feel good even though he cannot put his finger on it? Those elements haven’t really changed that much. I don’t know whether in a number of years to come whether we will be interacting with one another in a deeper way by the development of our intellect, the telepathy, the ability to feel and sense each other in a stronger way with the support of electronics… That’s the future.

LUX: And what about the future of Corinthia Hotels?
Alfred Pisani: Growth. I am sure that the principles that we have worked with will be maintained and the new phrase that was created recently in our last general managers’ meeting in Brussels: “uplifting lives”. That phrases encompasses how we want to continue helping our colleagues to grow and become better people.

Discover Corinthia hotels: corinthia.com

Chais Monnet is a luxury country and spa hotel near Bordeaux

Last week saw the official opening of the most swanky hotel in southwest France, by Anglo-Iranian entrepreneur Javad Marandi, owner of the beyond cool Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, England.

A very welcome addition to the luxury hotel scene near Bordeaux, Chais Monnet is a converted former Cognac warehouse transformed into a very lavish hotel, spa, and conference centre with some breathtaking architecture by Didier Poignant. The interior design is contemporary-luxe auberge, if you can allow yourself to imagine such a thing, and the cuisine has a lightness of touch and umami influence from Sebastien Broda, who earned a Michelin star at his former employer in Cannes.

The hotel was built out of a former Cognac warehouse by architect Didier Poignant

Chais Monnet offers riding holidays, picnics in the sun-dappled vineyards of Cognac in classic cars (guests can just jump into the hotel’s vintage Citroen and drive away), wine and cognac tastings and tours of the local Cognac houses such as Hennessy, Martell and Rémy Martin, as well as visits to the great Chateaux of Bordeaux, and a spa and full-sized indoor-outdoor pool.

A local troupe performs a fire dance at the opening of the luxury Chais Monnet hotel

Read more: An exclusive preview inside Hôtel Chais Monnet

At the launch event last week, we were content to sip Cognac cocktails (and some very refreshing local Chenin Blanc) while indulging in the festivities and a feast inside the old chais, or cellar, surrounded by ancient ageing vats. Oh, and then we partied away to a jazz band in the extremely cool converted barn-bar. A new reference for this part of France.

From left to right: Cognac Mayor Michel Gourinchas, architect Didier Poignant, Daniel Theron of ACPH, Xavier Arm from Vinci construction, and hotel General Manager Arnaud Bamvens

Owner Javad Marandi, Cognac Mayor Michel Gourinchas and hotel manager Arnaud Bamvens

The making of an oak barrique, part of the display at the opening of Chais Monnet in southwest France

Book your stay: chaismonnethotel.com