From Skibo Castle to the St James Club, Peter de Savary has specialised in creating unusual properties in perfect locations, whether that takes him to the remote Scottish wilderness or some idyllic stretch of Caribbean coastline. Catherine Chetwynd meets him to find out about his latest project, Bovey Castle in the Dartmoor National Park...
After 30 years in the hotel business, creating and running properties ranging from budget to 5-star luxury, Peter de Savary's enthusiasm is undiminished.
His first hotel project was to take on the unlikely task of building a 5-star property in Cairo in 1976. "I knew President Sadat quite well and he asked me to do it," he says. "My only experience of hotels was having been a guest in them but I put together a team and we built a very nice 5-star hotel, the El Salaam."
After that, he was hooked. "I found it quite a rewarding experience," he says. "The whole vision, construction, design, décor and operation of a hotel and reaction of guests was quite captivating, so I put together a group of investors and in 1979 I created the St James's Club," says de Savary. "The first one was in London and they expanded to Paris, Antigua, New York and Los Angeles. Until then, luxury properties that provided round-the-clock 5-star, pampering services only existed in large hotels and our charges were the same as establishments such as Claridges, Savoy, Plaza Athénée. We probably created the 5-star boutique hotel."
De Savary enjoyed finding unusual properties and doing exciting things to them. Although he loves the mechanics of creating a hotel, he is naturally drawn to people. "The whole, architecture, furniture, fixtures and equipment, design and operation allowed me to meet lots of interesting people. And the clientele was interesting too. St James's Club also had a club component, which created a camaraderie of like-minded people and that has led me to continue, with projects over the years in Scotland, England, North America and the Caribbean."
The club formula endures. Before Bovey, de Savary ran Skibo near Inverness on the principle that guests could stay once but if they wanted to come back, they had to become a member. Reciprocal rights apply between his properties.
De Savary sold Skibo to five members, since when he been looking for something else. "I struggled to find the right place," he says. "It took two or three years because I wanted it to be within a reasonable train journey of London, close to an international airport and have an exceptionally beautiful setting."
De Savary paid £7.5 million for Bovey Castle and spent another £24 million on it. "It was in a state of total disrepair, even the roof leaked" he says. "But for me it was a dream come true. I was thrilled to discover I could do something I was as proud of as Skibo." Bovey is currently operated as a hotel and club but will eventually move to membership after one stay.
Members have reciprocal rights at The Abaco Club on Abaco island in The Bahamas. De Savary specialises in perfect locations and spent a long time - four years - looking for his ideal Caribbean resort. "It is a tropical paradise, there are no negatives." he says. "Abaco is a big island, 130 miles long, and the people are delightful. We are on a remote part of the island, although there is a charming town 20 minutes away from the resort."
Typically, he has done something unusual with it. "We have built the world's first Scottish links course in the tropics. It is fantastic and I have no doubt it will be ranked in the hallowed few." Abaco opened in Christmas 2004. "People love it," he says enthusiastically. "It has two miles of powder white sand beach, wonderful tropical vegetation, riding in the sea, fantastic fishing, a spa, nice food, tennis, diving, snorkelling, boats - all the things you would imagine doing in the Caribbean."
When we met, our conversation was interrupted by several phone calls - Abaco was shoring up against Hurricane Wilma. "We built everything to withstand hurricanes, so all the structures should be fine," he says optimistically, half-an-hour before the hurricane hits. "Where you do suffer is your beautiful landscape, obviously. But the good thing about the tropics is it all grows back very quickly."
Abaco has a hurricane plan that comes into effect five days before the storm hits. "There are measures we take each day up to a hurricane, which hopefully minimises the effect, makes sure everybody is safe and allows us to re-open in a matters of days," he says. De Savary knows the Caribbean well and takes holidays there, although not at Abaco: "I try always to go to other people's places, rather than my own, otherwise I would not get much of a holiday.
"Recently, I stayed at The Feltrinelli on Lake Garda because I had heard the service was extremely good, impeccable. It lived up to expectation. It is fantastic, an excellent example of how to put on a good show, particularly the attention to detail.
"I am continually researching the competition and trying to make sure that what we are doing is comparable and hopefully, individualistic and different." He is also self-critical: "You have to go and experience other places to give yourself the best chance of not becoming insular," he says.
De Savary is enthused by the good ideas of others. "Years ago, I stayed in a little hotel in the American countryside and they had small torches by the bed," he says. "If you wake up in the middle of the night and want to go to the loo and you have only just checked in, you can't remember where the door is and might trip over something in the middle of the room. But you don't want to turn the light on and wake up your wife. It is a great idea to have a small torch, so that you can see your way."
Bovey is testament to the fact that De Savary is not short of an idea or two of his own. Apart from bedside torches, there is homemade Scottish tablet, a type of fudge, in each room, plus glasses and a decanter containing sloe gin, made on the premises. "People love it," says Peter de Savary. "Most people have never had it and we keep it topped up all the time.
"The great thing about it - and why I have it - is you can drink it very comfortably at any time of the day. You can enjoy it at 9.30 in the morning, it is fine at midday, lovely at teatime, very nice before you go to dinner and if you fancy something as you climb into bed, sloe gin is very appropriate," he says - clearly a man who has done the empirical research.
I suggest the only other drink that applies to is champagne. He agrees: "Champagne? Absolutely. In the entrance hall [of Bovey], there is always a bottle of champagne and some glasses, so if you fancy a glass at 10 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon, you can help yourself. But not everybody wants something fizzy, you have to be in the mood for fizziness. I have fizzy toothpaste." There's dedicated.
Staff to guest ratio at Bovey Castle is high - 170 staff to 65 rooms. "We hire people on their attitude and personalities, not on their skills," he says firmly. "You can teach them most things but not to smile, to be friendly. You have to want to be in the service business.
"We always end up with an eclectic mix of characters and I think we are well known for the sheer charm of our staff. I think most people would say there is an intangible in the atmosphere and that is down to the fact that our staff make you feel so much at home, welcome in a natural way rather than a programmed 'have a nice day' style of service."
Were it not for low unemployment in Devon, de Savary would have taken on more local people. "We are recruiting every local person we can find," he says. But his chef is from Brixham and the menu consists of largely local produce, with a mixture of "something elaborate and what we call a nursery dish - spaghetti Bolognese, Shepherd's pie, bangers and mash".
For the truly elaborate, the most extensive cocktail list in the country (de Savary claims) can be found in the Piano Bar with 170 concoctions, some going back 100 years.
De Savary's personality is also very much in evidence - he runs the place like a house party. "I'm completely hands on, I know all my staff and would feel embarrassed if anyone of my managers or heads of department knew the product better than I do. I think it needs that approach, passion, to create the spirit we have in these places.
"Attention to detail is paramount," he says. "And unless you are prepared to do that, you create only a normal hotel product." He pauses: "There is nothing wrong with that, either, by the way. Many of the world's 5-star establishments are owned by corporations and there are corporate people running them. Years ago, all the great hotels and resorts were owned and operated by families, so there was great personal input."
De Savary is a vestige of that era. "My hotels are run on that basis. I have a number of passive investors who have confidence in what I can deliver and that allows me to produce something reminiscent of an age when hospitality had individual style and character, with a comfortable and easygoing ambience. I am quite lucky to be able to do it that way.
"The house party atmosphere extends to every corner of the property. "We have a vegetable garden at Bovey," he says. "It is not huge and it is there for two purposes. All the herbs and vegetables are for the kitchen's use and the rest is for guests to wander around and pick a radish or a spring onion - to graze, for fun."
The outdoors is his great passion. "I enjoyed landscaping the forest, fields, golf course and grounds," he says. "We restored and renovated the original herbaceous borders and I most enjoyed rediscovering and redoing the rockery." He followed plans found on the property and those sent to him by people who knew he had bought Bovey.
Kathleen Fraser does all his interior designs and has done for 29 years, working with Nicole Langois. "They are both very talented and their particular strength is that they can interpret what I am looking for and are able to adapt design concepts to suit the building and the area," he says.
Away from the gardens, he enjoys being able to act a part. "I have a role to play and have no misconceptions about that," says de Savary. "I am supposed to provide a service, entertainment and give people a lot of fun and satisfaction in the way they spend their leisure time. Too many people forget we are in the service business and we are there to serve and look after our clients, who are probably spending a lot of money to come and see us. It is hard work. You have to be enthusiastic every day of the week, it is not money for old rope."
Peter de Savary has bought and sold so many properties that it might be tempting to see him as a property developer with flair but his passion and enthusiasm makes him stand apart. He has just sold a resort in Newport Rhode Island, which he ran for nine years and he has another in South Carolina, plus the Outpost, a boutique hotel in London. "I am looking at properties in Scotland in Tuscany and we hope to start both next year."
Does this suggest a fondness for Scotland? "I love Scotland," he says. "My mother's family is from there and it offers a lot of opportunities, commercially and for living - its beauty, ruggedness and rawness."
Inevitably, de Savary spends a lot of time in the hotel but his family lives in Gloucestershire. "I am married for the third time and have been very happily married for 25 years," he says. "I have five daughters ranging in age from 14 to 38 and two of them are married. I have four grandchildren."
He admits to being the proud grandfather. "I think grandchildren are wonderful. I enjoy them for short bursts of thoroughly enjoyable time and give them right back to their parents. I am probably in my hotels more than my own home and because we promote the house party atmosphere, my family comes down and participates occasionally. I get feedback from my wife and children, who mix with the guests." He grew up in the West Country and says he will move to Devon at some point.
De Savary has had two sharp reminders that life is short. He was in a near-death plane crash and had a life-threatening operation in close succession some 13 years ago. "I have learned that my family is very important, and my friends, and that there is much more to life than just focused, slightly workaholic tendencies - I do have those, I think most successful people do.
"Relationships are important - having fun, being kind and generous. Being fair is overriding," he says. "To get the most out of life, you need to put something into it, to be positive, enthusiastic and to listen to what people have to say. I now have a more balanced view of how to conduct myself for the number of years I have remaining here. You get wise as you get older - it is a shame you don't just get born wise but there is no short cut to experience."
And his concern for the human race extends beyond his family and guests. "There are many people in the world who are unfortunate for reasons beyond their control. It is very important to be aware of that and to contribute to alleviating other people's misfortunes." Peter de Savary is reluctant to talk in detail about what he does but is involved in charity work with a teenage cancer trust and refuge; and local sponsorship. De Savary is inspired by leaders, people who are decisive and who have taken risks. "You cannot get things right and make good decisions unless you make wrong or bad decisions," he says. "It takes courage and entrepreneurial spirit to have the confidence of your convictions and to admit when you are wrong and bounce back like a cork, not to feel put down by an error of judgement.
"He clearly has that resilience and his guests will no doubt be delighted at the prospect of further de Savary flair appearing in Scotland, again; and Tuscany. He may have confronted his mortality but he is certainly using his abundant creative energy to great effect, cramming an enormous amount into what will hopefully be a long and happy life.
