“Lots of good ideas start from hotels”: Olga Polizzi's latest project

Polizzi was arguably one of the original pioneers of the design hotel when she formed Rocco Forte Hotels with her brother Rocco in 1996, beginning with The Balmoral on Edinburgh’s Princes Street.

Back then interiors weren’t given much kudos. As she says, “once upon a time, if you told people their house looked like a hotel they would punch you. Now lots of good ideas start from hotels”.

“Obviously for me the look of a hotel is very important, but luxury also means service. You want to be looked after,” she says, citing other essentials which must also all fall into place. “The food has to be good but not fiddly; good wine and room service if you want it; fresh sheets; clean towels; a very comfortable bed with good lighting so you can read; a space in the bathroom to put your beauty bag down – you have to get the basics right.”

For The Star with its 21 rooms and nine suites, Polizzi has put a huge emphasis on local suppliers and craftspeople. She says she doesn’t buy from catalogues and goes out personally to discover one-off pieces and art that she would gladly have in her own home.

“If you have good local, then to me, this equals luxury,” she says. And luckily for her, Alfriston is full of talented small businesses to work with. “Richard Smith is a very good local designer so it was nice using him for wallpapers. I’ve used a lot of Martin Johnson, a local antique dealer, and shop-fitter Scott King Cabinet Makers, for example. The hotel library was compiled by local bookshop, Much Ado Books. This means something a bit different comes in – not everyone can do it or can buy it, which makes it more interesting for people when they come to stay.”

Polizzi recognises the continuing demand for staycations due to the ongoing situation with Covid-19, and thinks it’s going to be a boom year.

She says so far, forward bookings are for four days or even up to seven nights. And there’s a lot to do nearby for those who can secure a room at The Star. Guests can walk to Seven Sisters and the South Downs, while Glyndebourne, Charleston, Lewes and Brighton are all close by, along with a growing number of vineyards.

Polizzi grew up ensconced in hospitality. Her father, Lord Forte founded the leisure and hotel conglomerate that became the Forte Group, which coincidentally owned The Star way back. But was it always Polizzi’s plan to follow in her father’s footsteps?

“I never really wanted to make a career out of hotels, but somehow I fell into it. With my father there was always talk of hotels and restaurants around the table with us six children,” she says. “I went to Rome Art School. I painted for a bit. I put on some art exhibitions. I worked in dad’s places every holiday from the age of 16, in the kitchen at the Café Royal, making sandwiches behind the counter at the airport and waitressing at the Friar Tuck in Piccadilly.”

Rocco Forte Hotels now has 16 properties, with Polizzi as deputy chairman and director of design. She divulges that brother Rocco would settle on 20 hotels in the collection, so there’s still work to be done.

One of Polizzi’s favourite hotels in the portfolio opened in 2019 in Puglia. “The Masseria Torre Maizza is a charming little hotel,” she says. “It was 30 bedrooms and we added another 10. I sourced 200 huge plates from local potteries for the rooms. It’s totally different from anything else and people have loved it.”

Hotel de la Ville opened last year at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome, Polizzi’s favourite city, and Villa Igiea opened in Palmero in Sicily earlier this June. As Polizzi says: “This famous old hotel is the jewel in the crown of Palermo but had seen better times. Despite its immense size, we completely refurbished all 78 rooms and 22 suites in collaboration with Paolo Moschino of Nicholas Haslam Studios. We’re now working on the Carlton Hotel in Milan with 70 rooms right in the city centre. We plan to open in 2022.”

The Westbund Shanghai is also a work in progress – kind of. “It’s been difficult to progress as I’ve been unable to get there. It’s sort of endless actually. Every time I hear of a new hotel coming on, I think oh god no!” says Polizzi, now 75. “I’d love to stay in bed and read a book or do a Sudoku; or just lie in the sun at our hotel Verdura in Sicily!”