Scottish-born international hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray
serves as Chairman and Director of Campbell Gray Hotels
Ltd. He is also Vice President of "Save the Children".
In 2016, “The Caterer” described him as “…a man of contra-
dictions: the luxury hotelier with a passionate green agenda;
an art-lover and taste-maker who abhors needless excess.”
And we found out that in London he still drives a 43 year old
immaculately kept pea green Fiat 127!
we’ve had. So by ‘market leader’ we
mean that we see ourselves being
the best that we can be,” he said.
“You have to believe in the 100%.
If it feels good – go for it. Or vice
versa, if it doesn’t feel good don’t
do it.”
He continued that they wanted The
Phoenicia to be seen as more than
a great hotel in Malta. “We want
to be seen as a great hotel in the
Mediterranean. A great hotel of
the world.”
A key question Gordon always
asks his hotels when he visits them
is whether everybody is happy.
“A positive response makes me
happy too, irrespective of what a
bottom line figure for that par-
ticular time might suggest.” He
understands too that there is, of
course, an element of needing to
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SEPTEMBER | 2017
be flexible in one’s rates such that
they reflect the present moment…
“world crises can do that for you
and you should also think of the
consequences of being overpriced
by being in a particular situation”
he adds, continuing that “One
needs controlled flexibility. The
hotel has been built to last – not to
be sold in ten years - and that’s a
long, future process.”
The ‘Phoenicia Experience’
Charles Azzopardi then added
that “now that we nestle under the
wings of Campbell Gray manage-
ment, we have also been named as
one of The Leading Hotels of the World,
which is quite an achievement in-
deed; something which is benefi-
cial to the whole image of tourism
in Malta.”
One of the major pluses The Phoenicia
has always owned is what is known in
the business as “the Phoenicia Ex-
perience”. “A lot of effort has gone
into creating that. And the kitch-
en plays an important part here
indeed,” Charles enthuses. In the
renovation, the management has
now also overhauled this important
area to contribute to the charac-
ter which sets the hotel apart, and
hence to the overall experience.
HOSPITALITY MALTA