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Hôtel de Crillon , A Rosewood Hotel in Paris , is a Palace-grade hotel and a property that Arora once lived in as a boy .
Arora said , adding that , at one point , dentistry was in the cards . Unlike a film or novel , there was no paternal pushback . “ He said to me , ‘ You ’ ve lived in hotels , you love hotels , you love the smell of a hotel , it is all you talk about .’ That was it . I went with hospitality .”
ON THE WAY UP Arora studied hospitality in school , but his career journey didn ’ t start until the 1980s , with his first hotel job in London , as a night receptionist at the Inn on the Park London , which later became a Four Seasons hotel after its owners took the advice of a littleknown Canadian hotelier named Isadore Sharp . ( Arora refers to him as the god of hospitality .) It was a pivotal moment for Four Seasons
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because it was its first hotel outside Canada .
Four Seasons had a profound impact on Arora . The company now has more than 120 hotels worldwide , but back then , there were only a handful , and most were in Canada . “ London was a hallmark of their success ,” Arora said , as transatlantic travel boomed , spurred by the likes of the Concorde , which allowed the affluent to be on Broadway one night and the West End the next . For two years he was at the hotel , doing the income audit , checking in guests and “ I loved it ,” he said .
There is no shortage of luxury hotels in London and there is no more effective way to learn the ropes than by immersing oneself in the culture . That ’ s what Arora did . He worked at small luxury
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hotels , like DUKES London in St . James ’ s ; he worked at large luxury hotels , such as the InterContinental London Park Lane ; and along the way , he picked up experience in all the varied disciplines — from front-of-the-house guest-facing interactions to back-of-thehouse accounting , Arora was front and center on his career arc , soaking it all in . “ I just wanted to work in great hotels ,” Arora said .
He eventually became hotel manager of the famed Ritz London , where he remained for seven years , a stint that included many chance meetings with the likes of Princess Diana , who had a friend living in the hotel . Arora called the Princess one of the most disarming people he ’ d ever encountered . “ Everybody felt connected to her ,” he said .
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And while Princess Diana was swarmed wherever she went in public , Arora says that the biggest luxury anyone can have of her ilk , within a luxury hotel , is anonymity .
Arora ’ s connection to London ended when the siren call of Four Seasons beckoned him back . He returned to the company in 1994 and was with them for the next 17 years . He felt “ at home ” with Four Seasons and wanted out of London .
Arora took posts from Toronto to Hawaii and even for a time back in his home country , working in Goa , India . His last position with Four Seasons was one of the most coveted jobs in hospitality : regional vice president and GM of the Beverly Wilshire , A Four Seasons Hotel , where he stayed for seven years . He calls Los Angeles home today .
It was that post with Four Seasons that directly led to what is now a 13-year-and-stillcounting career with Rosewood Hotels & Resorts . The Beverly Wilshire might have been managed by Four Seasons , but it was owned by the Cheng family of Hong Kong , which , in 2011 , acquired a portfolio of Rosewood-managed properties from Maritz , Wolff & Co ., five total , including The Carlyle , a Rosewood Hotel , in New York , and Rosewood Little Dix Bay Resort in the British Virgin Islands . At the time of the transaction , the Cheng family stated that “ Rosewood will be positioned for substantially accelerated global growth .”
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22 hotelsmag . com Mar / Apr 2024 |