"Learning from the Best: Franck Arnold - The Savoy's Mastermind"

Step into the world of luxury hospitality with our groundbreaking interview featuring Franck Arnold, the visionary Managing Director of London's iconic Savoy Hotel. In this exclusive sit-down, the hosts of the Podcast "Over Here Over There", Claudia Koestler and Dan Harris, uncover the secrets behind The Savoy and Arnold's exceptional leadership that keeps The Savoy at the pinnacle of the hospitality industry worldwide, from cultivating a stellar team to embracing innovation in a centuries-old institution.

Learn about:
- Cutting-edge hiring strategies that build an award-winning staff
- Sustainable practices that set new industry standards
- Harnessing AI to enhance guest experiences
- Stress management techniques for high-pressure environments
- Overcoming Global Challenges
- How Mr. Arnold steers The Savoy through turbulent times
- Brexit's impact on luxury hospitality
- Adapting to post-pandemic travel trends
- AI versus the Human Touch
- Balancing tradition with modern guest expectations
- The secret to discretion
- Bringing music back to the Savoy
- What's next for The Savoy and Franck Arnold

This captivating interview is the first in our new "Learning from the Best" series, where "Over Here, Over There", your Podcast Across Borders, tap into the minds of industry titans to bring you actionable wisdom and inspiration.

For the full YouTube video interview, see here. Please don't forget to subscribe and like the podcast on all socials! Thank you!

Chapters

• 0:00 Theme Music
• 0:01 Intro - Dan Harris
• 0:30 Where Do You Go on Holiday? - Claudia Koestler
• 2:45 What Surprised You at The Savoy?
• 5:14 Trials and Errors
• 6:55 What Makes The Savoy The Savoy?
• 13:09 Discretion, Then and Now
• 17:32 Savoy Babies
• 20:38 Franck's Inverted Pyramid
• 27:36 Jacket Not Required
• 29:18 A Supportive Philosophy: Coping with Stress
• 33:11 Did Someone Say Brexit?
• 39:06 Green Luxury: Sustainability on the Highest Level
• 46:44 AI versus the Human Touch
• 53:34 What's Next for The Savoy
• 55:24 What's Next for Franck Arnold?
• 56:32 Outro and Credits

Transcript

 Introduction with OHOT Theme Music (00:00)

Dan Harris 

Hello and welcome to Over Here Over There, your podcast across borders. We are bringing this episode to you in partnership with Evenlode Films and Productions. From the legendary Savoy in central London, one of the most iconic hotels in the world, we are delighted to be speaking with Mr. Frank Arnold, the Savoy's managing director, about his career and the esteemed institution of luxury and customer service that is the Savoy. 

Where Do You Go on Holiday? (00:29)

Claudia Koestler 

Welcome to Over Here, Over There. I hope you don't mind me asking, but we are sitting here at the Savoy, one of the most iconic hotels in the world, one of the most luxurious and wonderful places. But I was wondering, where would you actually go on a holiday? Sometimes as a professional, I at least like to do something totally different. 

Franck Arnold 

Well, then we are similar. I spend my life in hotels. Even when I travel and I represent a hotel, etc. I am staying in hotels, and I love it. And I love to discover other hotels, etc. However, on holiday, I prefer to not having to dress up, not having to say hello to every employee around. And when I am staying on holiday in a hotel, I'm still not completely disconnected. So, I like to disconnect and stay generally in a sunny place, renting, because I love cooking. So, I love going to the market, choose the food that I'm going to cook, choose the wines that I'm going to be drinking. And I love to entertain. So, I love to have my own family, of course, staying. there but also friends and then do my things, do my cycling, my golfing, my running without having to think about how am I going to be seen or perceived by others. 

Claudia Koestler

But you're not roughing it, you're not taking a tent and going out in the woods or something like that. 

Franck Arnold

No, not to that extent. No, I think my wife would not necessarily love that. I would probably and I'm not saying I will never but generally I would still, no I would not stay outside. However, I would take long rides on my bicycle or run and discover the place and do my things on my own terms and time. 

What Surprised You? (02:46)

Dan Harris 

What surprised you when you took over the role here at the Savoy? Anything in particular?

Franck Arnold

 Wow. It's... You know, I was running another hotel before, Stuart's Carlton in Toronto. A wonderful property, a wonderful company. And I had a great relationship with the team, with the staff, with the guests, with the owners, with the only company, the board. And I was not intending to leave because we had bought a house in Toronto one year prior. My two eldest sons had started university, one in Toronto, and the other one in Kingston, in Ontario. And it was COVID. And it was COVID. So when I received the call from a recruiter in, I think, May of 2020, I was not looking for a new job. I was just trying to do everything possible to prepare for, to reopening of the Ritz Carlton after the first lockdown. And I get this message from a recruited head-hunter that I had not spoken to in a long time. And basically saying, Frank, we tempt you back to Europe? Can we speak tomorrow? So, well, I responded, well, I'm not looking. If you want to call me, I'll be on my way to the hotel at that time because I always, I still went to the hotel on a daily basis because I really am not a person who likes to work from home. And so I was driving and I received a call from this head-hunter and she said, well, can we take you back to London, Europe? I said, well, London is exciting, but you know what, for these circumstances, and by the way, it's COVID, everything is closed. Why would I leave a job that I have for something that, you know, in an industry that is currently totally shut down? Why should I leave? And she said, well, it's a game changer. It's a regional role plus a managing director's job. And it's for the Savoy in London. I put, literally, put my foot on the brake and I say, all right, let me park. Pulled over. I stopped and say, okay, let's talk. And as soon as she said that, was just, I knew it was the right job for me. You know, it's like I had prepared myself to get this job. 

Trials and Errors (05:12)

Claudia Koestler 

You seem to have embraced it entirely, but when you first started in a five-star hotel, was that in any way intimidating? At least the first day, was there something that you had to overcome? 

Franck Arnold

So, you see, my first experiences were in restaurants, and it was either in service, so you get used to people, you get used to serving others and you get used to quality. And the quality aspect is you get used to the environment very quickly, but you learn how to behave, how to respond, how to speak in a manner which is different than the one that you use with your family or friends. So you learn to interact. it was a gradual apprenticeship of what luxury is. Again, you know, I've realized that in my life it's trial and errors. I've known the errors probably were much more enriching than the successes. The errors really actually showed me that I was not perfect. It showed me that I was making mistakes. And I had a lot of good people on the way to tell me off and to correct me and to help me becoming a better person and a better leader. 

What Makes The Savoy, The Savoy? (06:54)

Claudia Koestler 

Here at the Savoy, I do feel like it is quintessentially British or maybe even English, but also it has a global allure to it and a global standard, of course. How do you keep it, you know, bridged between those two things? 

Franck Arnold 

And again, I don't think you have to be English or British to lead the Savoy, but you have to be totally passionate about it and you need to feel totally accountable for it. So, for me, my responsibility is to be the caretaker. I need to be the custodian of this legacy. This is a British, English, and London legacy that I'm in charge of. And so, I need to respect that. So, we can't do anything too wild and drastically transform things. I compare what we're doing at the Savoy probably with a Porsche 911, which evolves gradually. The car is totally different from what it was in the 50s. Totally different, but you still know it's the Porsche 911. And the Savoy needs to convey the same message. We are quintessentially British. We need to keep and maintain the luxury codes and some of the British codes. 

But another British character in my view is eccentricity. So, within that conservatism, we need to bring a dash of eccentricity. You see, look at those wonderful little shoes. I will say this is the dash of eccentricity. And I would say that in order for us to be quintessentially British, we need to always add a little bit of a twist. And that twist, you know, that twist can come with the tartan, can come with the programming, can come with, you know, who are partners. So we partnered here. When I was reopening the Savoy, we needed to renovate some spaces, but, you know, it was a difficult time. The ownership companies, you know, had been bleeding cash for a while, so I needed to find new ways of bringing excitement, and novelty, but in a different way. And we already had an association with Gordon Ramsay at the Savoy Grill for 20 years, a successful partnership. And I knew that he was interested in extending that relationship. to make, you know, we, so we discussed the possibility for Gordon, Ramsey, and the team to take over a restaurant called Casper. And, that came with a bit of risk for them because it was operating with other restaurants in the hotel and one that is historically the Savoy restaurant, but we decided that within this agreement that we set, we would work very closely with Gordon Ramsay's team to respect what the Savoy is and therefore have conversation and words and ability to discuss the quality output, the people that are hired, etc. to really form a kind of a joint venture, which has been very successful since we did that, and it brought novelty with a restaurant that was renovated, re-conceptualized and is being run by one of the most well-known chefs in the world. 

And in addition to the grill, which was renovated last year as well as Savoy Grill, which is a fantastic restaurant, still a successful, very successful place. In addition to that, the place that used to be a meeting space on top of the grill reopened and was reconceptualized as a fine-dining French restaurant called 1890 to pay homage to Auguste Escoffier when Auguste Escoffier started here. And Gordon Ramsay felt that he needed to pay homage to Escoffier's legacy and named this restaurant 1890. And we obtained, we achieved our first Michelin star earlier this year for 1890. 

So, and we will continue doing that. whenever we have the ability to invest, we look at what is it that stays true to what the Savoy is, but with a little bit of a twist that brings us to really, really the 21st century. So, we make it evolve without shocking too many people's systems, but we bring novelty. So, we are going to be reconceptualizing the Thames Foyer and we are going to create a very unique space that will still cater for breakfast. We'll still cater for afternoon tea because that's one of the staples of one of our service offerings this afternoon here at the Savoy. And in addition to that, we will have the ability to bring the space to life in the evening. And this is the heart of the Savoy. And at the moment, you come at eight o'clock, it's night down, you still have access to the Beaufort bar, you have access to the River Restaurant, but the place is too quiet. It drains the energy out of the place. So we are reconceptualizing that to bring the same, the right level of energy throughout the day and night. 

Discretion, Then and Now (13:08)

Dan Harris 

Can I ask you about discretion? The Savoy is like the hallmark, is known for the hallmark of discretion. And you have such an international clientele, and a lot of famous, notable people have come over the centuries here. 

Franck Arnold

Who are currently staying as we speak. 

Dan Harris

Yeah, okay. We'll keep our eyes peeled. 

Franck Arnold

You can try. 

Dan Harris

And you don't have to tell us anything juicy, but if you want to tell us something juicy, please go ahead. As far as just how do you manage that, you know, those challenges of being discreet with such as you know, such an international clientele? 

Franck Arnold (13:40.728)

I think being discreet in the past was very easy, much easier than nowadays. Now information travels at the speed of light, literally, and everyone who sees something will share it with the world. 

And so we have to be extremely careful because people trust us with this information. And you know, we are not a church. We are not a temple. We are not a synagogue. We are not the mosque, we are not the museum. We are a hotel. People meet in hotels. People stay in hotels. But what happens in hotels is only is unless it is illegal, then it becomes our problem, and responsibility to do something about it. But for the rest, it is a private space and we have to respect that. The difficulty lies with the fact that nowadays, you you have a camera with you, you can post it on the internet, on any social media channel and the world will know about it. So, we have to be very careful with that as to how to curate this. 

We will at times speak about some people who have stayed with us because they have agreed to it and they are actually welcoming it. And therefore, if you look online, you will find a lot of people who have stayed with us. During the coronation, we had President Macron and his wife, and his small entourage staying with us for the coronation. But that was a public thing, although people knew he was staying because he had gone for a walk outside and therefore people were aware of it and we were the no that was not for the coronation. That was actually for the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth, and it was public because they had walked around the hotel and because they love to walk, and they and they took the main entrance. as soon as you enter, you know, and he volunteered to take a picture with the staff and therefore you tacitly agree that this, you know, will be published and communicated. But nowadays, I would say that celebrities prefer to remain incognito. Because of the fact that it's not like before social media, you still could be seen in public but without the world knowing it the next day. Nowadays it's different and therefore the vast majority prefer to stay incognito and confidential. And so we have to pay extra attention. We need to train our staff accordingly. And it's sacrosanct. It's something that we need to live by and we need to abide by because that's our reputation. This is a trust that people have, not only celebrities, but everyone staying. It is their absolute right to, you know, once die behind those doors, unless there is a criminal activity happening, which almost never happens. Thank you. It is not our business. It is our business to make them feel comfortable, to create experiences and memories, but it's not for us to talk about it. 

Savoy Babies (17.32)

Claudia Koestler 

Let me tell you a little story you might want to cut that out one day. Actually, about that very first radio broadcast. It was written about by a travel writer, a British travel writer called Henry Morton, traveling across England. And he was in Cornwall when people actually turned on the wireless and heard that dinner dance at the Savoy. And my mom loved that book. And when she met my dad, my dad took her to the Savoy, and I might have been conceived here. 

Franck Arnold

You’re a Savoy baby then. 

Claudia Koestler 

I've come full circle. 

Franck Arnold

I know what, it's a no, no, I think it's a story that you should keep. Don't cut it out. 

Dan Harris

Actually, when she gets off the plane, she just migrates right to this spot. It's like it's something innate.

Claudia Koestler

It's something I have to do because first of all, it's my sanctuary. It's my safe place. And when I'm out and about in the world and I need something to remind me of the good of the world, I think of the Beaufort Bar and the Savoy. And when I'm here, just to feel arrived, I go to the Savoy and just enjoy sitting in the lobby or taking a drink at the American bar. And when I can, I'm happy again. 

Franck Arnold

You’re safe place.

Dan Harris

There’s something in that.

Franck Arnold

But I think there is something to it and I will not say that this is where you were conceived or et cetera, but possibly it is. Possibly it is. And you're not the first person to tell me a similar story actually. I was recruiting for a leisure sales manager, and I was attending a... We have a travel show called IATM in Cannes every year in December. And I was recruiting, and I see this very tall, very charismatic Italian lady, you know, talking to customers, et cetera. say, wow, she's got a good character, great presence. And so, I go and say, I'm Frank Arnold, the Savoy. You're from the Savoy? I say, yes, you know, the Savoy. So, she says something. First, yeah. First, let me tell you a little story. My parents conceived me at Savoy. They went on honeymoon at the Savoy, and I'm a Savoy baby. So, do I know the Savoy? Yes, I do. I know, personally, intimately. 

Claudia Koestler

We should form a little club. 

Franck Arnold

Savoy babies, please raise your hand. And I ended up hiring this young lady who did a fantastic job. And now she's moving back to Italy to live with her fiancée and she's going to have a baby. She was, you know, she was a Savoy baby too. 

Franck’s Inverted Pyramid (20:37)

Dan Harris 

What do you look for when you're recruiting specifically that says, yeah, that's the one? 

Franck Arnold

So first people need to have the skills that are determined, you have done this or that, and you have acquired the skills, whether it is service, culinary, or hotels. But these are the hardcore skills, know computer skills, et cetera. That's the experience. You can look at the CV, but you don't hire only from a CV. And especially when there are less skills available, you're to spend more time in training and developing in-house. But what is absolutely crucial is that the person you're going to hire is going to be embracing the culture and is going to become an agent of that culture and it's going to be able to replicate that culture. And this culture is about loving to serve others, to be of service to others. And we ask people to tell us, give us examples. And it's not because you are a server that you're necessarily good at it or very service-oriented. You can do the job without creating. So we ask people, how do they do that? How do they go about that? When is the last time they had done something special for someone? So we hear about that. We need to determine whether they'd like to be surrounded by people. They'd like to be surrounded by people. And there are lots of clues that tell us whether that person is there. A smile. Is the person smiling or is people just frowning and being very reserved? Which could work for certain functions, for certain support functions in accounting. But we still need to have people who are, we can't have all extroverted people working. We need a mix of characters and talent. But we need to see genuine quality to want to serve, to help, to assist, and to engage with people. So we can see the eyes. How you look at me in the eyes. Am I seeing? See? You're smiling with your eyes. 

Claudia Koestler

Likewise. 

Franck Arnold

When you start to smile with your eyes, you know, that tells me that there is something else happening. A smile, just a regular smile. Smile is the cheapest thing that you can do. It's quick, it takes not even a fraction of a second to do. It's quick, it's cheap, and it makes you feel good. Now you don't use a smile if the person is upset because the room service took two hours to come and the bed and the and bathroom smelled bad and your cocktail was spilled on your dress when you had the cocktail. No, you're not going to smile and say, yes, of course, I like you. You don't do that. However, I would say 98 % of the time you can use it. So when you recruit people, do you feel that there's something happening? Are the people engaged in addition to the skills they have? Does the Savoy make them tick? Why are you here? And I would say 95 % of the time, well, it's the Savoy. So people, know, when you say the name, you people have a certain understanding and it's strange because since I arrived here, the Savoy is owned by everybody. Everybody has a stake in this. And when we do something that is not right for that person, I can tell you, we hear about it. People write people, call people. I still receive letters, letters, you know, and it's rare these days. Of course, we receive letters of compliments and to thank us for the extraordinary experiences. And this goes from generation to generation, but I've never worked in a place where people own the place. And this is where we're just a custodian, you know, let me just be the custodian. That's what I want to do. Let me try to make it not as good, but just a little bit better than when I inherited it. And then I'll have done my job. So we look for these soft skills. We look for these traits of character to select the right people. And then we educate them, we indoctrinate them in a way to be able to, again, if we do that well, it is self-perpetrating. And then I can go on holiday, enjoy my little barbecue, my little glass of wine and cycling and golfing, because everybody is carrying the culture. I'm not. 

We have a philosophy, and this is important, how we translate that is we have a philosophy. We are not in a traditional pyramid structure where everything is top down and I'm the boss and I'm giving the order et cetera. Because if you do that, everybody will be waiting for the next, the next one, the next one, the next one to actually do something about it. So we prefer to take that pyramid, you invert it and I'm at the bottom. Okay. Yes. The responsibility still lies on my shoulders, but I'm the one to guide, orientate this pyramid, guide, inspire, and share. But the people who are delivering the experience are the people at the top. These are my line employees engaging with our customers, with our guests. They are the ones who are delivering the experience. And they need to be empowered to do so. But empowering meaning they need to be able to as well to make a mistake. You know, when the young lady entered the room here, you know, she'd made a mistake. But it's important that we sit down and say, by the way, why did you enter? Were you not aware? Were you not told that this room was occupied? Were you not told? So how can we make it better in the future? And then we engage with the leaders, you know, and we say, so what can we do to make it better? We learn by trial and error as well, but we need to let mistakes happen and correct those mistakes so that we ferment and we create this culture of excellence where we are open to criticism, are open to feedback, but we do something about it. 

Jacket Not Required (27:37)

Yeah, and you know things have changed. You if you probably took the Savoy in the year 2000, it was a different hotel, but the cultural environment was also very different. I think that people were still asked to wear a jacket and a tie. And you know, you would be asked to do that. And but the world has changed. The expectations have changed. People with, you know, with culture and money do not necessarily wear a jacket and a tie. Actually, quite the contrary when they are on leisure. 

And, you know, they are not wearing, sometimes they wear a jacket. So, what we do is that we really recommend for people to wear something where they're going to feel comfortable, surrounded by people who are going to be quiet, but we don't impose a jacket or a tie. You've got designer jeans that cost more than a suit, you know, and if, you know, and again, if we want to ensure that the survey is still relevant in the future, we need to evolve. And this is where we need to judge what's the acceptable evolution for the Savoy without breaking away from what we are supposed to represent. But we need to take a certain level of risk. I know for sure that, you know, with the new rooms, which I believe are the right level of, you know, legacy and modernity. But people are all, what did you do with our hotel? There will be an element of that and there have been elements of that in the past. Otherwise, the hotel wouldn't be where it is today. 

Supportive Philosophy (29.17)

Claudia Koestler 

There must be also times when it gets stressful for the staff and heated maybe even. I probably think that the guests shall never notice and probably won't ever notice. But how do you deal with that when behind the scenes things are stressful and you have to cater for that? Do you feel like the leadership philosophy changes or can you maintain that? 

Franck Arnold

You see, we are there in a very supportive philosophy. We're not top-down and do as I say. We are there to guide, we're there to communicate, and try to share the philosophy. We're there to support, to coach and to be there. Especially, it is very stressful at times. When you have a lot of people queuing, things are not going well, when the kitchen is late, when there are things missing and you still have to produce this. 

So we need to accompany our staff with trainings and modules that helps them to deal with stress. We have created a wellness room at the hotel. We have a multi-faith room at the hotel. We invested 300,000 pounds in renovating our cafeteria. You go to our cafeteria, it's a restaurant. You're not being served, it's a self-service, but we cook, we have a team. 

I don't know how many chefs we have who produce fresh food every day. You have choices, have kosher, have halal, you have vegetarian, you have vegan, you have a soup, you have a salad bar, and we recreated that in an environment that helps people to relax because yes, it can be stressful at times. And we need to be attentive because if it's too stressful, people will leave. And this is one of the biggest threats in our industry, is turnover and the biggest challenge is retention. Retention because when you have worked at the Savoy six months, you become the target of other hotels for higher position, better paid positions, et cetera. So it is very, it's strategically critical that our staff does not turn over too much. it's very, it's very, and it's, and it's changed. COVID has changed things in the way people approach work and life. We have a younger generation that was suddenly confronted to death. You're not supposed to be confronted to death in your families or what you hear on TV. And today so many people have died, et cetera. So, this younger generation has been, you know, this immortal generation. When you're 20, you are immortal, right? I was. 

Claudia Koestler

I still am. (laughs).

Franck Arnold

So, confronting all those facts have changed their approach to work. They don't live to work, they work to live. And if something happens, they have a tendency of changing more often than in the past. Or if they are disenchanted or demotivated, they can disappear and not come back. So, it is very, very challenging because our service performance depends on the ability of our staff to deliver those experiences. And if we change and if we rotate too much, it gives us a lot of pressure to make sure that people are sufficiently trained and be able to cope as well with the stress. So, it's a strategic concern. 

Did Someone Say Brexit?

Claudia Koestler (33:10)

So of course with the pandemic that was a very unprecedented times, but you also experienced Brexit. Let me put that unspeakable term on the table here. Sorry for that. 

Franck Arnold

Absolutely.

Claudia Koestler

How did that or how does that affect your line of work in terms of recruitment or getting goods into or your work in general? 

Franck Arnold (33:38.574)

Well, it was a double whammy basically because with the pandemic, lot of our staff had left and gone back to a lot of them from Western Europe or Europe in general. And we're not planning on coming back. And those people had quite the right to stay and in the UK. The opportunity to continue recruiting from Europe stopped at the end of 2020. If you had not stayed at least one night, the circumstances, let's say that was the end, we could not recruit unless people had the qualification and the sponsorship and the money to fund and finance. And these visas are very expensive and are only applicable to people with the right level of qualifications. So, you can't do that for, you know, we employ a lot of people. A hotel like this, if you take into consideration our partners at Gordon Ramsay, we employ over 600 people. So, and we need qualified people. So, from a professional standpoint, I think that we have lost the ability to bring a lot of people who had the qualifications to help us doing an even better job here. Because it's not a profession that traditionally the British public embraces as a career, except if you go into management. But the jobs of cooking, serving, housekeeping, et cetera, is not traditionally a typical job that people embrace. So for decades, and since the hotel opened, we've had a lot of people coming from Europe to work here. Some go back, some stay, and it makes London the most exciting city in the world. 

Claudia Koestler

Including yourself, of course. 

Franck Arnold

Including myself, of course. And I've got my own opinion, personal opinion, and I'm not afraid to share it. But from a professional standpoint, it made our job much more difficult because we could not find the same level of qualification. And it's not only the qualification, it's, know, we want to have a little bit of the twist of having foreigners with a different accent because this is what makes the Savoy what it is. When César Ritz arrived here, he had kind of a Franco Swiss German accent and he was running the Savoy. And Auguste Escoffier didn't speak a word of English when he came here. Not a word. People who came here in the kitchen had to speak French because it was the language, it was the lingua franca of the kitchen. Now it's changed, obviously. But for the longest time, and probably we've had the majority of the managing directors at the Savoy, which is a British institution, has been run by foreigners. 

The fact that we lost this opportunity has been very difficult, not only for me, for the sector, but not only our sector and our industry. It's all industries, you know, have lost the ability to recruit now. So, does it mean that we've met the political ambition which was to reduce immigration? No. Immigration has continuously increased. 

The nature of the immigration has changed. Now, I'm not here to judge whether it is better or not. In my case, it's not as... the quality is different. The immigration has continued to increase and before, I think... and you know, I think that before Brexit, I think 65 % of the immigration was European. Now it's 15%. So, it's a different type of immigration. So, if that was the purpose, the sole purpose of reducing immigration, this is a country of immigrants. And London thrives because it's got a constant flow of immigration, same as in the US. The US is a country of immigrants, such as Canada. And a lot of countries have brought talent and, you know, initiative, innovation, strengths, through melting pots of cultures. London still has incredible energy. London is London because of that. Because you walk the street and you have, yes, you have a great attachment to the British culture, but the British culture is extremely diverse and rich. It goes from royalty to rock and roll and all that mingles in the streets of London. 

Green Luxury (39:05)

Franck Arnold

As a matter of fact, last year all the hotels became single-use plastic free. There is no... If there is single-use plastic, then I'm a liar, but there is no single-use plastic in this hotel. There's a bag, but it's not mine. So, we eliminated that. That's taken cost, time, effort, innovation, and risk to do it. And Fairmont Hotels did it. And we were at the forefront of that. The Savoy was in the, was at the, actually, my assistant, I call her my assistant, she's actually the director of sustainability and quality at the hotel. And she's been with us for 28 years. And she's been driving sustainability for 15 or 18 years. So, it's not new. When the hotel was renovated, a lot of structural decisions were made to bring boilers to a standard that would be much more sustainable or environmentally friendly. We have eliminated all plastics. We have embarked now on a program to be compliant with BREEAM and CRAM, which are European standards of sustainability, which should enable us to avoid becoming a stranded asset. There is a business reason to be sustainable and to have a neutral carbon footprint. There are business reasons because I think society demands that customers will demand it, especially the younger generation, but also the authorities and the governments are all going toward now with different speeds at different, depending on who gets to power, but the commitment is there. And I think that it is a must, it's an obligation. It's not just a cool thing to do. It is about contributing at our level to reduce the carbon footprint. 

Travel is a heavy consumer of energy. And we have to develop forms of luxury travel, which I'm much more responsible. One of those items that you touched upon is food. Food wastage is terrible. I don't know if it was the same with you, but when I was growing up, we were four siblings at the table and we could not leave the table without having finished our plates. And whatever we were helping ourselves with, we had to finish. It's a very different environment. I've got three and it's a battle. It's a constant battle for a number of reasons. But food wastage, imagine, so now what we do, we are implementing, we have just actually received those, those pieces of equipment, which will measure how much waste, how much food wastage, what kind of food waste are we producing in various kitchens, but also in the staff canteen, which we call backstage where we, so there's a system that identifies the quantity and the nature of the food and it's done with artificial intelligence and will give us report as to where we start, where we finish, which will give us the ability to actually on a live basis know what kind of wastage we have and where, and we're gonna compare and we're gonna establish plans to reduce, to reduce wastage by being more clever about the quantities of food served in various places, the nature of the food served. It will also help us being more clever about the menus because we can target things that are more easily consumed and less thrown away.

And gradually, we're going to become much more intelligent when it comes to presenting food choices, but also in terms of quantity, quality, and waste management. I think we go and so the waste management and then the next one is energy. And energy when I spoke speak about our boilers then we to think about the next generation. So, we're looking at all kinds of most sustainable techniques and technologies to help us reduce our energy consumption. Because energy consumption especially in a grand old dame like this one, I will say just grand dam it's not that old it's only 135 years of age. 

It is, you know, it was not built to modern standards. So we continuously need to invest and now we're talking millions. We're not talking about a piece of equipment that costs you a few tens of thousands. We're talking about millions. And so, these are very, very important strategic decisions that we need to be conscious about and we need to work with our investors

to make sure that we are aligned as far as environment and sustainability strategy is concerned and that we get their support and demonstrate that if it's not an operating loss or profit, it is a question of valuation and asset valuation. If our property remains sustainable and is given a very good or excellent grade with the BREEAM and CREAM classification, it guarantees the value and the future value of the property. So it's also economical. 

Dan Harris

It sounds like leading-edge thinking, leading-edge policies that you're implementing into the future, which sounds like you're at the forefront of things here. 

Franck Arnold

We try as much as we can because it's always a fine balance because luxury is about choice and choice is about opulence. And opulence is about quantity. So, we need to operate that shift again gradually without shocking the systems but bringing this to life. I remember possibly 10, 12 years ago when we started to offer the guests the possibility to keep their sheets at night not to change them the next day. And that was a shock to certain operators and to certain guests. Now it is extremely natural that even luxury companies, and also there's a cost associated to it. Of course, hoteliers are saving money, but we are also contributing on reducing the carbon footprint of the hotel operation. And nowadays people have totally embraced it. If you wish you still can get your sheets changed every day, or if something happens and the sheet is not in good, or clean anymore, we are going to change it automatically. But people have accepted the fact that you know, no, it's not good for the environment. Even though I'm paying a thousand pounds, I don't expect that to be changed. has, so I think that by doing this, are constantly educating our guests as well as to what is what is better for the environment and for the planet. 

AI and the Human Touch (46:43)

Claudia Koestler 

You have mentioned that you use AI actually to reduce food waste. Are there any other areas which you use AI? 

Franck Arnold

There will be more use of AI to support and help us become more efficient and be able to offer products or services that are more personalised because we'll be more clever about how we approach that. But it's not going to replace humans. In luxury hospitality, there will be gradually certain functions, which are going to be handled. I think certain support functions. There will be functions of purchasing, perhaps accounting, perhaps marketing or these companies or these departments will use the assistance of AI to be more productive. We may need to reduce staff because we will be able to have more support from artificial intelligence, especially with its generative artificial intelligence, which learns and adapts. So, we're going to use that to remain competitive. That said, it goes only so far. And I will say that the biggest shortfall of artificial intelligence is that it's perfect. It's perfect. They don't make mistake. They write the text. The text is perfectly written, perfectly. But what it needs is humanity.

Claudia Koestler

The human touch to it.

Franck Arnold

It needs and the humanity is best expressed through its default and errors and imperfections. Whilst we strive to be perfect, we never are. And I think this is what differentiates humanity from to... And when you come to a luxury hotel, you're looking for experience, you're looking for memories. And those memories are created by humans. 

Those memories are created by imperfections that we turn around and then suddenly we become, you know, the guest's biggest friends because we have established that connection. Or we create something unique. This something unique is something that we have identified and this is not necessarily something which is material, it's an emotion. And curating those emotions is something that remains for now at least possibly until I'm long gone, you know. We will still need people to serve. We can avoid, you know, you can check in nowadays without going through the reception, you know, you can be sent your key, you pay by distance. You can enter and leave. This is your choice as a customer. But in places like this, you stay because yes, it's got a great location, good reputation, great design, but you stay because of the people you stay and you come back because of the people. 

And you will see gradually robots producing food. You can already see that if you ask certain application software can actually you say, I would like to have a reiteration of a shrimp cocktail, but put in the 21st century with the current trends in food and you would be gobsmacked by what these programs can do. They come up with photos, et cetera. Now, you have to produce it, and you have to taste it, you to smell it. You almost have to listen to it when you crunch it. You know, it's got sounds, it's got smells, it's got taste, it's got touches and feelings that is still done by humans. And in our industry, especially at luxury level, you know, imagine you have, yes, you can replace a doorman by having a robot opening the door. Well, but you're not going to have a bit of attitude, a bit of a smile, or of…

Claudia Koestler

Character

Franck Arnold

A bit of imperfection and character. I'm sorry. Didn't see you. 

Claudia Koestler

Having a northern accent. 

Franck Arnold

I think for now we have for now we are safe. You know, there will be more and more, I think, technology to support us and to become more efficient in the future. But we're still very essentially a very human-based enterprise. Therefore, I'm not overly concerned of losing, knowing, or not finding a job tomorrow. 

Dan Harris

Well, we've had lots of conversations with your staff, you know, in the hallways and all that. So, I find that really difficult to be replaced. And that's what really is the essence of the visit. 

Claudia Koestler

It feels like... they are so wonderful and unique and they make the experience, really. 

Franck Arnold

But you know, the task can be replaced. Nowadays, you see robots are now making up rooms. So that happens. You don't need people to check you in or out. You could, you know, we have, actually, we tried out a robot in our back of the house a month ago to actually bring things, soil items from the kitchen to the stewarding area back and forth. And the robot is there. You feel it. Then when the robot is full, it stops when there is something and then moves and goes to the thing until there is somebody, you know, so it's there. I was attending a conference the other day where there was a robot, you know, going around and you would drop your glass or your plate. 

And then the robot, when it was full, know, go to the back of the house and came back. So, it is there. But is that luxury? Is that is that creating memories? Yes. Because of the novelty now. I was served by a robot. But what if two years, five years’ time, then it's just going to be there, will be more and more. I think in other sectors, especially in the more economical side of hospitality, there will be more and more. And we will see that more and more in our lives. You know, go to the airport and you got this Robocop, know, it's there. But at the Savoy, we are quite a long way away from it, I think. 

What’s Next for the Savoy? (53:33)

Franck Arnold

We are reconceptualizing rooms as well, which we will start a renovation program in the foreseeable future. We have devised rooms, but we are respecting the decoration schemes that are historically attached to Savoy. You have an Edwardian style and you have an Art Deco style. And the new guest rooms will follow the same. There will be the traditionally Edwardian style and the traditionally Art Deco style. And we're going to respect the markers of these eras, with a choice of fabric and colours that are going to bring this to life and to be able to compete with all the existing competitors and colleagues in the city and all the new ones who are wanting to take a little piece of the cake as well. So, we need to bring about the product. And then it is about the staff culture. So, we spend a long time, we spend a lot of time speaking about what the hotel stands for, what is the service philosophy. And we repeat that, we speak about the stories that have taken place here. We continuously educate and train and develop our staff to be able to be ambassadors of the Savoy to be able to tell stories and to be truly ambassadors of the place. And this is how we hope by continuously adapting the product and being at the top of service, We're going to continue making the Savoy a successful hotel in the future. 

What’s Next for Franck?

Claudia Koestler (55:23)

Where do you see yourself in the next 10 to 20 years? And where do you see the Savoy? 

Franck Arnold

I'll be through 77. So I don't know. Hopefully, I'll still be here. I mean alive, 77. Where will I be? You know, I can't think of retirement as such. It's not something that I...because I like what I do, you know, so my body is still pretty able. I still, you know, I still love coming to work and I don't imagine myself in 10 years’ time being retired. Maybe in 20, yeah, 77, yeah. Maybe people have seen my face enough and you know, time to be retired and away from all that. But again, you know, I really, you know, I have a family, I've got friends, I love these jobs. So, in 10 years’ time, who knows, maybe I'll still be at the Savoy.