SPECIAL REPORT
THE
‘ WOW ’
FACTOR
IT ’ S THE CALLING OF INDEPENDENT HOTELIER OF THE WORLD PHILIPPE LEBOEUF TO LEAVE YOU FLOORED .
By CHLOE RILEY , ASSOCIATE EDITOR
It ’ s the height and the beard that first strike you the minute you ’ re expertly greeted by the French-born Philippe Leboeuf . At 6-foot-4 , he gets his height from his mother – a 5-foot-9 Swede – but the beard is all his own . It is certainly uncommon to see on a hotelier , especially for someone of his status : general manager of the 5-star Mandarin Oriental Paris and the brand ’ s area vice president of operations .
The “ beard shift ” is not a small thing . For a man who has managed some of the world ’ s most prestigious hotels – the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris , London ’ s Claridge ’ s , The Carlyle in New York – it marks a choice , the beginning of his vision of what a hotel and
18 hotelsmag . com November 2018