GORDON GRAY ON TRAVELLING

By Crash redaction

GORDON CAMPBELL GRAY IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL HOTELIER. NO CAMPBELL GRAY HOTELS GRACE THE STREETS OF NEW YORK OR PARIS. INSTEAD, THEY SPRING UP IN PLACES LIKE BEIRUT, AMMAN AND SOON THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. ADVENTURE IS CRUCIAL TO THE COMPANY’S FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN. WITH EVERY DETAIL, HE SEEKS TO SURPRISE, WHICH IS WHY ART PLAYS SUCH A VITAL ROLE IN HIS ENDEAVORS. GRAY BELIEVES DEEPLY IN QUALITY SERVICE AND HUMAN CONTACT: VALUES THAT HAVE TURNED HIS BRAND INTO ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST SOUGHT-AFTER NAMES IN THE INDUSTRY. AT LE GRAY IN BEIRUT, GORDON CAMPBELL GRAY MET WITH US TO SHARE HIS UNIQUE TAKE ON TRAVEL…

In your industry, a sense of detail is essential. what are your thoughts on finding new and unique details? How do you maintain good taste and keep things interesting for your clients?

First of all, it’s all about the details. I never believed that big is beautiful. On the contrary, i think small is beautiful. I think it’s important not to let something through if you don’t believe in it. I want my hotels to be original, and i want each hotel to be the cousin of the other, not a brother or sister. I think i have about 283 art pieces in my hotels. I always buy artworks because i love them – i don’t need much more of a reason than that. But at first, i had no clue where i was going to put them, and i still agonize over details and try to be original without being too shocking. We were one of the first hotels to decide to use art as an element in our decoration. You could go to a very expensive hotel in paris and find two black and white photographs of the seine beside the bed. The hotel would have spent millions and never thought about art, just putting pieces here and there – i find that shocking. I also didn’t want any vip treatment because i don’t want to have to say to someone “i’m terribly sorry, but you’re not vip”. I always say to the staff – and i really mean it: “we are all equal human beings, we merely have different responsibilities”. Actually, i become the least important person in the daily operation of the hotel!

People are traveling more and more. but anywhere you go, the expectations for a hotel are always the same, which means you can miss out on the experience. hotels are not just services; they have a responsibility to keep the world from becoming flat. Being yourself is the best message you can communicate. And traveling should always be about discovery.

I completely agree with you. It’s interesting to say the word “responsibility” because it actually is a responsibility. There was recently a new hotel opening in amsterdam – canal house hotel which combines three canal houses. You can’t imagine how, with all their money and expertise, it still looks like it could be anywhere in the world. Today, you need to try a little harder to find interesting pieces for your hotels. You go to amsterdam to find something quirky and different. It’s easier to stand out when you are an individual. The fact that we are one of the busiest hotels gives me hope that there are enough people who are looking for that individuality. Giving people a surprise is what i want to achieve.

Your destinations are all very original. it’s not new york and paris, it’s beirut and antigua. why this choice?

I do like the idea of adventure and i’ve never been driven by money. I was approached by someone who asked me if i would be interested to open a hotel in beirut. My first reaction was to say no because i stayed there once a few years ago after the civil war and i had a horrible time. But he convinced me to come back. The downtown was all restored; there were a lot of busy restaurants, lots of very attractive people. So i thought, “this is a sexy city! Why not?” At first, i believed it would be a moderate success. But we were very lucky: the hotel has been very successful. And from one adventure comes another: we’re now opening a hotel in jordan. Antigua was a beautiful bay, but the number one destination in the caribbean was barbados. I thought antigua was a great island, so we decided to build something there and suddenly it became even more sought-after than Barbados! The hotel we created is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the other caribbean hotels, with their fabrics, tropical birds, rattan furniture and terrible food. We made the caribbean more interesting and modern. My great pride is the team of the antigua hotel; they are real people. I would never do a hotel in new york because i can’t stand the people who own all the property there. They would swallow me up. However, we are opening in palm beach, florida in march. We’re also doing two hotels in the galapagos islands, which is so exciting because it’s a hellishly faraway place to get to. The galapagos islands are so interesting because they are so ecologically rich. We’re working with foundations and everything has to be approved, every piece of timber… it’s quite a challenge but it’s going to turn out beautifully. I’m one of the only people allowed to build there. To me, it’s very exciting because it’s also an opportunity to create jobs for the people there and to make tourism a little bit more comfortable. It’s more than just business.

As we speak, beirut is hosting an international art fair and many from the art world gathered in your hotel last night. most of these people have come specifically to discover beirut. isn’t that exciting?

It is! It’s an adventure. I’m always sad when people say they’re frightened to come to beirut, because i love this city! Being scottish, it’s very different from what i have known because people here are very extravagant and good-looking. I think it’s my getting-away-from-the-world place. The views on the landscapes and the mountains are breathtaking. Even to this day, knowing that i spend most of my time here, people look at me as if i were in danger whenever i go. But it’s fine! I made some of my friends come along and they had the best time. But they never would have come on their own. Nobody leaves beirut disappointed. I don’t think people quite know what to expect. We’re all battling against the perception of beirut that is broadcast in the media. I thought the art was an interesting way to bring people to beirut.

The city has such a wonderful message to offer humanity. People here are survivors. they are always positive and there is such a great mix of cultures.

Absolutely! And the new generation is not stuck like the one before. I love the lebanese for their spirit and attitude. It’s true, too, that the city provides a message to humanity. Sadly, i think many people have lost that art of living. People here master this balance of superficiality and seriousness because they have this sense of humor. Speaking of art, there was a period when i wasn’t too excited about it here because i thought the reaction to the civil war dominated everything. I think it’s much more refined and sophisticated now. I’m about to embark on a huge art buying campaign. We’ve got 68 apartments in amman, 180 bedrooms, three pools and five restaurants. It’s the biggest hotel we’ve ever done and i want the art to be an important part of it. Actually, we never had a budget for art before; we just used to buy everything we wanted on our own. Right now there is a lot of great iranian art and it ’s quite exciting.