Stephen Alden tells me he thinks we are at a “transformational” moment – for the brand Raffles, which he took over the running of in May; as a sector; and not to mention as a population, following the ravages of the pandemic.

It’s a philosophical talk for a morning Zoom, but then this is a hotel leader who always thinks big. Although now working from Accor’s Paris head office, he still lives with his family in Milan and tends to be a regular on the 8:25pm flight from the city’s Linate airport to Paris on Sunday nights: maybe those commuter flights give him even more time for contemplation.

And there is a lot to reflect on: meetings with interior designers and owners on the planned first Orient Express project – a hotel in Rome – and more to come; huge growth plans and evolution at Raffles; plus wider issues for the sector, around general recovery, a recruitment crisis and the drive towards sustainable operations. NHe is definitely “staying quite busy”.

“I started on May 3 [2021] and it’s been a whirlwind. There’s a lot to take on board, a lot to understand as I try to put my arms around Accor, where I am blessed with two extraordinary brands,” he says. “That was what seduced me to really make this move. I couldn’t have hoped for a better stable of brands to be able to do what we’re going to do.”

He aptly says Raffles – a brand that started in Singapore more than 130 years ago and became a part of Accor in 2015 – is now at “an inflection point”. “We are experiencing a lot of a lot of opportunity for growth. We have 17 properties in operation right now – two which have already opened during my time, in Udaipur and Dubai – so we have a lot of activity, and I’ve got 15 more hotels in the pipeline,” he says.

Imminent opening locations include Al Areen Palace Manama, Bahrain and Macau, China while 2022 will see the arrival of hotels in Jeddah, Boston, Moscow and Lusail, Qatar, not to mention Raffles London at The OWO, an incredible restoration of one of the capital’s most historic buildings, the Old War Office, opening towards the end of 2022.

The hotel will have 11 destination restaurants and bars, and have an exclusive partnership with acclaimed chef Mauro Colagreco, who will now create two restaurants and an “avant-garde chef’s table”.

Expansion plans

Raffles will expand in 2023 with hotels in Mykonos, Sentosa in Singapore, Jaipur, St Petersburg, both Sharm El Sheikh and Cairo in Egypt, Riyadh and Sao Paulo. With the brand doubling in size over the next three years, Alden says he and Accor are taking “a very uncompromising view with regards to development”.

“It’s an exciting time, but I don’t think it’s just about growth: it’s got to be about the right growth and a global presence so that the hotels can support each other. This is the right time to be thinking about Raffles in a more forward-looking way,” he adds.

I ask him what the brand means in today’s busy universe of luxury travel brands. It’s clearly a question being posed to him very often.

“When people say, ‘how do you see Raffles and what do you want it to become’, I basically say it is an influential and progressive brand leading from the future: we’re very conscious of an illustrious heritage, but it’s all about fusing that with what I call modern hotel craft.”

“Hotel craft” is a term Alden says he coined inspired by “race craft” in the world of Formula One, where it’s often summarized as “the ability to take all circumstances and liabilities and turn them to your advantage”.

“It takes many things to win races, between the speed of a pit stop to the ability of a driver to overtake: a hotel is a universe upon itself, right? You’ve got everything from plant and machinery to staff training; restaurant environments through to laundry; and of course guest interactions – everything,” he poses.

“So ensuring great hotel craft is how I think we going to make a difference in making sure we remain relevant with our guests’ contemporary lifestyles, along with our approach towards food and beverage, and to sustainability and talent, the latter two being the really key issues facing our industry right now.”

Diverse approach

Unsurprisingly, as he builds his vision for the brand, Alden is “very involved” in hiring key talent, and says he is keen to ensure a “well-balanced diversified team”.

“You need someone who has got the flare to be able to make a difference with the programming, the person who has the empathy to be able to interact with the teams, but also try to read into what the market needs. And I am being totally transparent and honest with everybody: that’s my agenda,” he says. “And we have to ensure we inspire the next generation of hoteliers too.”

He says the industry has changed so much and is a much wider, more diverse prospect to come into, whether from the operational side, or the dynamism of what a hotel is now made up of along with the breadth of hotels and mixed-use projects that exist today.

“I’m a hotelier at heart, I am very passionate about this business I love; it is what I’ve done for the last 35 years,” he says. “And I want other people to understand how wonderful it can be too – if you persist at the right moments and you are patient at others. But the reputation of the business, in terms of the hours and the conditions and all of that, has to change, you know, part of which we have brought upon ourselves.”

He cites how Accor has signed up to the new Glasgow Declaration, a commitment to cut global tourism emissions by at least a half over the next decade, and to deliver a concrete – or updated – climate action plan within 12 months of signing. Overall, this is not the time to companies to be single-minded either, he says.

“This is about the travel industry taking on its own responsibilities,” he says, citing how Accor has signed the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, a global organisation that brings together hospitality companies to try and tackle challenges affecting the planet and its people, and appointed Brune Poirson as chief sustainability officer in July. 

Changing times

Previously well known for leading the St Regis and Luxury Collection brands globally and for his custodianship of three of the world’s most prestigious hotels at Maybourne Hotel Group – Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley – more recently he was also CEO of The Set Collection (London’s Hotel Cafe Royal, The Conservatorium in Amsterdam, the Lutetia in Paris), before moving on to consolidate another European collection and relaunch it as the Dedica Anthology.

And now – he has the joy of bringing back to life Orient Express, something that dates back to 1883, around the same time as Raffles’ own infancy, a continent away in Singapore. The tale of the train, the name, the routes, the various lives it has been through is far too complex for this story: but one fact is clear, its essence remains one of the most treasured in travel. During my Zoom with Alden, his office shows a room behind him devoted to Orient Express archive material.

“I have to say, the amount of research that has gone into the brand from our side is incredible – I have spent days in the archives myself and we have somebody on the team with us for the culture and research elements; we’ve even got samples of the train fabrics used in the early 1900s, everything – it’s amazing. It is the rebirth of a legend – what stronger name or brand could you have?”

The first hotel earmarked to hold the brand’s name is in Rome, where a major refurbishment of the Grand Hotel de la Minerve has been embarked upon, ready for its reveal in Rome late 2023/2024. It will become The Orient Express Hotel, Minerva and it’s thought there could be 10 properties under the brand by 2030 – four are “under negotiation” in London, Paris, Milan and Florence.

Back to life 

And now, the legacy of the train is coming back to life, with Orient Express La Dolce Vita set to welcome its first passengers in 2023, from a new hub in Rome.

Designed by Dimorestudio, the Orient Express La Dolce Vita train will have 12 Deluxe cabins, 18 suites, and one honour suite as well as a restaurant, all celebrating the craftsmanship, design and creativity of the 1960s and 1970s.

It’s part of a venture between owners of the train Gruppo Arsenale; Accor, which owns 50% of the Orient Express trademark; and SNCF Group, owner of the other half. Trains will traverse Italy thanks to a partnership with Trenitalia and Fondazione FS Italiane, possibly making their way through more than 16,000km of workable railway lines. They will also embark on journeys from Rome to Paris, Istanbul and Split.

“Orient Express conjures up dreams in people’s minds, about the romance, the mystique, and the almost nomadic element of traveling from city to city – it was the idea of a luxurious train uniting territories and cultures and now a new era begins,” he says. “I see the hotels as being on a more intimate scale than Raffles and we have an opportunity to bring to life an immersive experience, a multi-layered journey of discovery for people. I think curious-minded travellers will gravitate towards all our hotels.”