There’s a tradition in the Forte family of starting on the lowest rungs of the hospitality ladder and working their way up.
In 1911, Rocco Forte emigrated from Italy to Scotland to open a cafe that would mark the first hospitality establishment in the namesake family business. He would go on to open several more restaurants in the U.K., which his son would continue to grow.
Although the hotel group has ebbed and flowed through the decades, it finds itself in a new era with all three adult members of the current generation working for the company.
Charles Forte, 32, is one of those three and followed in the steps of his grandfather by starting in hospitality service. At age 15, he was a waiter at London’s Brown’s Hotel—owned by Rocco Forte Hotels since 2003—and has worked in almost every area of the hotel and restaurant industry since.
Today, he is the group’s director of development, responsible for steering external partnerships and capital investments.
“My role is to find new opportunities and develop ourselves on a much smaller scale,” he says.
In January, Saudi Arabia’s PIF sovereign wealth fund took a 49% investment stake in Rocco Forte Hotels—a deal Charles helped complete. He says that the investment will help guide the group’s next growth phase, which includes a target of three hotels per year and expansion in the Middle East, among other regions. Through 2027, the group is opening four new properties in Italy and working on a project in Marrakesh, Morocco.
The family’s roots are Italian and that’s where many of the group’s most notable properties reside, although according to Charles, more than 40% of the company’s business is within the U.S.
Alongside his two sisters Lydia and Irene, Charles is connecting the Forte name to a new generation of luxury travellers through partnership deals with brands like the Macallan and smaller, longer-term property builds in Italy and elsewhere.
Penta caught up with Forte by phone from his office in London.
PENTA: Do you think working in a family business brings more challenges or opportunities?
Charles Forte: Being in a family business like this affords opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise. My sisters and I worked in all the different departments of the hotels, and I realistically always wanted to join the business. At other times, I did want to be a filmmaker, but I wanted to be a part of the family legacy. My dad is a good mentor and I’ve never really looked back.
How do you differentiate yourself in an extremely competitive luxury hotel market?
It’s very challenging to differentiate ourselves. Sometimes I struggle to differentiate between us and other luxury brands because a lot of the products are very similar. There’s an international luxury aesthetic that’s very copy and paste, and a lot of the bigger guys are trying to create new brands within their own stable of brands. Our hotels are very design-oriented and not so traditional, for example.
What differentiates us is the family aspect. There’s a real family behind this, and it creates value in our brand. We have this “quiet luxury” aesthetic.
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What is your philosophy on hotel partnerships? Do you find yourself chasing partnerships with big-name brands to stay on par with your competitors?
Partnerships have value if they have relevance and the partner is relevant to the destination. We don’t chase partnerships because if we did, it would mean that something is missing from the hotel. These partnerships should be organic. I’m excited because we recently brought in a new director of marketing who worked at Six Senses, and that will help us do more meaningful and special collaborations and partnerships.
Do you think that’s creating more appeal for Rocco Forte Hotels among the younger generation of luxury travellers?
There’s a broad range of pace in this space, considering how competitive the operator landscape has become. We’re finding that younger travellers aren’t geared towards any specific trend. I think we’re slightly more classic in appeal. We’re not ostentatious. There’s no substitute for beautiful design and great service—we’re not looking to reinvent the world. Depending on which hotel they visit, some people know us as a brand, others as a specific independent hotel, and we’d like consumers to know which brand is behind the property.
In August, we opened Rocco Forte House Milan, which features more longer-stay keys, where stays can be two weeks, a month or a year. We’re finding that’s something more travellers want and we can build a nice client base for those who want longer stays.
This article has been edited for length and clarity.
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Tech investor was one of the most outspoken supporters of Trump in Silicon Valley
President-elect Donald Trump named a Silicon Valley investor close to Elon Musk as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency policy chief, signaling the growing influence of tech leaders and loyalists in the new administration .
David Sacks , a former PayPal executive, will serve as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” Trump said on his social-media platform Truth Social.
“In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness,” he posted.
Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance chimed in with congratulatory messages on X.
Sacks was one of the first vocal supporters of Trump in Silicon Valley, a region that typically leans Democratic. He hosted a fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco in June that raised more than $12 million for Trump’s campaign. Sacks often used his “All-In” podcast to broadcast his support for the Republican’s cause.
The fundraiser drew several cryptocurrency executives and tech investors. Some attendees were concerned that America could lose its competitiveness in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence because of overregulation.
Many tech leaders had hoped the next president would have a friendlier stance on cryptocurrencies, which had come under scrutiny during the Biden administration.
“What the crypto industry has been asking for more than anything else is a clear legal framework to operate under. If Trump wins, the industry will get this, and more innovation will happen in the U.S.,” Sacks posted on X in July.
The tech industry has also pressed for friendlier federal policies around AI and successfully lobbied to quash a California AI bill industry leaders said would kill innovation.
Sacks’ venture-capital firm, Craft Ventures, has invested in crypto and AI startups. Sacks himself has led investment rounds in many. He has previously invested in companies such as Slack, SpaceX, Uber and Facebook.
Sacks was the former chief operating officer of PayPal, whose founders included Musk and Peter Thiel . The group, called the “PayPal mafia,” has been front and center this election because of its financial muscle and influence in drumming up support for Trump.
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.