Special RepoRt
Red CaRnation Hotel ColleCtion PResident Beatrice tollman , devoted to HeR family and to HeR CaReeR , neveR stoPs loving HeR life .
By Jeff Weinstein , editor in chief
Beatrice Tollman is dedicated to her craft and has an unwavering determination to deliver the best of everything . For the founder and president of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection , hotelkeeping is a 24 / 7 love affair .
Across the many years Tollman and her husband , Stanley , have been running hotels , first in South Africa and , since 1984 , from their London headquarters , “ Bea ” has always run the family home , brought up four children and worked day and night to build the family business . She talks about working on the evening she delivered her fourth child , Vicki , and how she had to ask a friend to drive her to the hospital because Stanley was working elsewhere . She delivered the baby and was back working in her sanctuary , the kitchen , no more than a few days later wearing her white overalls , hair tied up , standing behind the long counter to taste everything on the menu .
Hard work and dedication to service excellence has been the couple ’ s calling since they leased their first hotel in 1954 , The Nugget in Johannesburg , using wedding present money to furnish the property . At age 22 , Tollman , who initially intended to become a nursery school teacher , was a novice running her own kitchen and learning the ins and outs of luxury hotelkeeping .
During the early years , the couple added a few properties in South Africa , including The Hyde Park Hotel in Johannesburg , which became famous for its cabaret and was home to their Colony supper club , often playing host to celebrities such as Marlene Dietrich , Petula Clark , George Peppard , Michael Caine and many more .
By 1975 , however , the pair decided to leave everything behind during South Africa ’ s contentious apartheid and moved to London to start over with their four
AffAir
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