The story of four generations of luxury hoteliers

Hotel Dynasty is the inside story of the lives and careers of four generations of Gelardi hoteliers – Giuseppe, Gustave and Giulio, Bertie and Geoffrey.

It is a story of a remarkable dynasty, one that has not just witnessed, but has been an integral part of the transformation of the hotel industry over almost 200 years.

Interweaved into this fascinating history we encounter royalty, celebrities, politicians and film stars – Mussolini, King Edward VII, Lily Langtry, Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra, Margaret Thatcher, Arnold Swartzenegger, Tom Cruise, Sophia Loren, Madonna, Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, HRH Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana and many, many more.

This story outlines the generations of knowledge, vision, understanding and instinct that are needed to be a hotelier at the very pinnacle of the luxury market: vital attributes that had been gleaned and learned from the experiences of previous generations of Gelardi's. Giuseppe managed hotels in his native Italy in the nineteenth century but his sons Gustave and Giulio were more ambitious and came to London, where Gustave worked at Walsingham House – which was later to become the Ritz – and then opened the high-society Grand Hotel in Folkestone. He found his younger brother Giulio work at Walsingham House too – the perfect springboard for a career that involved managing the Savoy and Claridge's in London and the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

Giulio's son Bertie worked alongside Lord Forte to build the Forte hotels empire and acquiring, among others, the George V and Plaza Athenée in Paris, Sandy Lane in Barbados and the Pierre in New York. Geoffrey, Bertie's son and the fourth generation Gelardi to make his mark in the luxury hotel business, spent years in the USA at the Bel Air in Los Angeles and the Sorrento in Seattle before returning to the UK to open The Lanesborough in 1991 – then, and still, one of London's leading luxury hotels.

The Gelardi Family

Gustave Gelardi

Gustave Gelardi left his native Italy to open the luxurious Walsingham House hotel, on the site that is now the Ritz on London's Piccadilly.

Giulio Gelardi

Gustave's younger brother Giulio was General Manager of the Savoy and later General Manager of both Claridge's in London and the Waldorf Astoria in New York, juggling his responsibilities via daily intercontinental phone calls.

Bertie Gelardi

After war service in India, Bertie Gelardi ran South Africa's leading luxury hotel group before being persuaded by Charles Forte to move to London and help him develop the luxury hotel business that became Trust Houses Forte.

Geoffrey Gelardi

After training in London and the USA, Geoffrey Gelardi was appointed Managing Director of first the Bel Air in Los Angeles and then the Sorrento Hotel in Seattle. He returned to London to open the Lanesborough in 1991 – the hotel that redefined the concept of top-end luxury – and maintained it as the Capital's leading hotel for nearly 30 years.