3 Lessons From the Women Who Won at the World's 50 Best Hotels
It was an incredible few days for hoteliers in London with the celebrations around the inaugural World's 50 Best Hotels. Held in the grand historic Guildhall with over 800 people in attendance, the mood was high with everyone in black-tie sipping champagne and honorees adorned in red scarves and women in red dresses.
While there were many more red scarves than red dresses at the event, it was thrilling to see the top award––Best Hotel in the WORLD––go to Valentina De Santis, the owner of Passalacqua, a 44-room luxury boutique hotel on the shores of Lake Como in Italy – which only opened in June 2022! Valentina, conceived and masterfully curated every aspect of the award-winning villa.
Coming in at No. 4 on the list, the 117-room The Upper House in Hong Kong, with Kristina Snaith-Lense running the show. (Though she was not present at the London event, we interviewed Kristina in November, 2021.) And at No. 12, The Calile Hotel a 175-room property in Brisbane, Catherine Malouf, a first time hotelier, whose family has been in the real estate business for more than a century in Australia.
With a chance to learn from these inspiring women, here are the top three threads that unite these visionary hoteliers:
