Luis Pinheiro is wearing jeans and an open-necked shirt. He is clutching his Royal Portfolio branded travel coffee cup. “It was quite ambitious of founder Liz Biden to go with a no-jacket, no-tie and staff in jeans policy. Other five-star hoteliers at the time were shocked,” he says.
He is general manager of The Royal Portfolio’s Silo Hotel in Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront and this month he will have been there for seven years, making this his longest-running GM position.
With GM roles at other top hotels such as Belmond’s Reid’s Palace in Madeira, Belmond Mount Nelson, The Table Bay and Leeu Estates in Franschhoek on his CV, he knows the luxury hotel business better than most.
“The Bidens invited me to visit the construction site in 2015 and I saw the building with about 1 600 workers on the site. The hotel opened six months before the Zeitz MOCAA [Museum of Contemporary Art Africa] so you can imagine the number of people who wanted to see inside this extraordinary building.
SIX STAFF FOR EACH GUEST
“We only have 28 rooms, and each room costs us R4 000 a night whether occupied or not, and that is not including the salary for our 160 staff. In terms of staff-to-guest ratio, The Silo has more than six staff members per guest. In contrast, many other five-star hotels have only half or one staff member per guest,” says Pinheiro.
The building, designed by UK-based Heatherwick Studio, features ‘pillow’ glass windows that evoke memories of a ship’s lantern. Each room decorated by Biden is a treasure trove of African art, furniture and found objects.
Denne historien er fra 29 September 2023-utgaven av Farmer's Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra 29 September 2023-utgaven av Farmer's Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Syngenta Seedcare celebrates a decade of innovation
Syngenta's ambition is to enable their customers' investments to grow in healthy soil from treated seeds to young plants through innovation and collaboration, writes Magda du Toit.
Agri workers shine at Western Cape awards
Lindie-Alet van Staden, a garden and olive orchard manager at L’Ormarins Wine Estate in Franschhoek, was crowned as the Western Cape Prestige Agri-Worker of 2024 at a gala event recently held near Paarl.
Small and large farmers recognised at grain awards
The annual Grain SA/Syngenta awards ceremony bears testimony to the quality of farmers in the grain industry.
Growing partnerships: Fedgroup's flexible and innovative approach
Janine Ryan spoke to Warren Winchester, general manager of impact investing at Fedgroup, about why the company became involved in agriculture, and what it offers farmers and their immediate communities.
Why fish farms fail, and how to avoid becoming a statistic
The popularity of launching fish farms is not matched by their success. Leslie Ter Morshuizen, owner of Aquaculture Solutions, explores the factors that cause most of these businesses to go under.
Where history and modernity meet in a luxurious setting
Brian Berkman kept his eyes peeled for ghosts in the oldest continuously run hotel in South Africa, but all he found was a fabulous two-night stay.
THE HITCHING POST
I'm a stylish elderly lady with a radiant glow and a good sense of humour that keeps me young at heart.
Cutworms: check the weeds on your fields!
Zunel van Eeden explains why understanding the ecological interplay between cutworms and weeds is crucial for effective pest management. Producers should disrupt the life cycle of cutworms to minimise crop damage.
Does high-density grazing mimic grazing patterns of game?
In their paper on high-density grazing in Southern Africa, professors Angelinus Franke and Elmarie Kotzé from the Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences at the University of the Free State say high-density grazing systems may not accurately reflect natural ecosystems. Roelof Bezuidenhout reports.
Global grain outlook: 2024/25 marketing season
In its latest summer crops report, the Crop Estimates Committee says South African farmers intend to plant 4,47 million hectares of summer grains and oilseeds in the 2024/25 season, up 1% from the previous season. As South Africa exports maize and soya bean, Annelie Coleman reports on the latest trends in the international grain and oilseed markets, amid fluctuations in weather conditions and ongoing armed conflicts.
