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The Luxury Item is the leading podcast on the business of luxury, and an important resource for global industry decision makers who want to stay one step ahead. Listen to insightful conversations with leaders of the world's most influential luxury brands as they share the latest trends, insights, and strategies that are helping them forge a strong path forward.
Want to get in touch? Email us, scott@silvertoneconsulting.com
Narrator
[music]
You're listening to the Luxury Item, the podcast on the business of luxury and the people and companies that are shaping the future of the luxury industry. Here's your host, Scott Kerr.
Scott Kerr
My guest on the Luxury Item is Ons Gherib, Senior Vice President Design and Construction at Belmond, the luxury hospitality subsidiary of LVMH.
With a legacy spanning over 45 years, since the acquisition of Hotel Cipriani in Venice in 1976, Belmond operates a diverse global portfolio of 43 properties, which spans hotels, trains, safari lodges and boats, all guided by the ethos of slow luxury, where guests are invited to discover a new pace of travel and to foster deep connections with nature, local culture, and people.
Ons Gherib joined Belmond in January 2025 as Senior Vice President of Design and Construction and has played an instrumental role in Belmond's journey to elevate its offerings to new heights of luxury and guest experience.
He is responsible for refining Belmond's design and construction process to ensure efficiency and excellence in project execution and for identifying and collaborating with some of the world's most talented designers and architects who further enrich Belmond's creative vision and commitment to crafting experiences.
Ons has a wealth of global experience in luxury design and architecture, having held leadership positions at prestigious brands including Chanel, Montblanc, and most recently Saint Laurent, where he was Global Director of Architecture and Real Estate.
Welcome to the Luxury Item, Ons.
Ons Gherib
Hi Scott.
Scott Kerr
Thank you so much for joining me. I feel special last month was your one-year anniversary at Belmond and you have a long background in architecture, retail design and luxury store planning for major global fashion houses before joining Belmond, holding leadership positions for world class luxury brands like Chanel, Montblanc, Saint Laurent.
What is your take—this is sort of a general question—what is your take on the current state of the luxury industry?
Ons Gherib
First of all, let me say that I was extremely enthusiastic about the idea of joining Belmond, and as you said, it's been one year now and a little bit over one year and I had the chance to travel the world and see almost all our properties and it was an extremely exciting year.
What I've seen and what I've discovered is this idea of what we call slow luxury. I think that's more than just a trend.
It's something that sets us apart from competition and makes us so special as a brand, where we invite our guests to slow down, to connect with the environment, with the place they spend their vacation, with their families.
So for me, that's probably the most important aspect that we are looking at right now in luxury in general.
Scott Kerr
Yeah, and Belmond has been explicitly framing its strategy around slow luxury since the last few years and has actually doubled down on it as a formal strategic pillar from 2024 right up until its current plans, and Belmond CEO Dan Ruff described slow luxury as really being at the heart, as you were talking about, of the Belmond experience and as the concept through which you shape new trains, villas, cultural collaborations and wellness offerings.
What is Belmond's slow luxury approach and how does that approach show up in design and construction decisions?
Ons Gherib
It is, I would say, in every aspect, in the architecture that we create for our properties.
First of all, I would say that we are extremely lucky that our properties are all landmarks and historical monuments in a sense.
So whenever we start working on these properties, on these projects, we think about our guests. We think about how can we invite our guests to pause, to relax, to spend a moment for themselves or be in connection with themselves, with the people they are surrounded with.
We try to create places where you can slow down, where you can sit in the shade, watch a garden, the ocean—all these things that invite you to really slow down and to enjoy the moment.
It's all about this particular moment that you can live.
Scott Kerr
What materials best convey slow luxury in hotel interiors?
Ons Gherib
It's a very good question because when we work with the team and with the architects, we ask ourselves that question as well.
So beyond that very practical approach to materiality in hospitality, I think what is really important is the warmth that you feel, something that gives you this feeling of being enveloped.
We work a lot with lots of fabrics that we layer. We love this word of layering, like we're adding layers of materials to our rooms, to our spaces, to our lobbies.
And then I think almost more important than a material is probably how you work with daylight and how you get daylight into your property and into your rooms and how you invite your guests to also connect to the exterior.
So we work a lot with viewpoints, with vistas, with what do I see when I sit in that specific place in the garden, what's the view over this landscape.
So it's difficult to reduce it to a material; it's more about conveying a feeling of being in the moment and being well in that specific moment, and many materials can convey it.
Scott Kerr
Does the idea of slow luxury also resonate with younger guests?
Ons Gherib
Absolutely. I mean, I think nowadays that's a universal need just to have that moment for yourself and I'm convinced that it's not only reduced to the older generation.
I think everybody needs that and looks for that.
Scott Kerr
You know, your background—you were, like I said before, at some of the top luxury brands, Chanel, etc. What are some of the biggest differences in creating unique luxury retail environments for luxury fashion houses and creating design and construction stories for luxury hospitality?
Ons Gherib
A great question, because when I joined Belmond, it was one of my first learnings.
I would say that retail design, or luxury retail design, is extremely efficient in a sense. At the end you stage a product—it is a beautiful, mostly handcrafted product—where you really work on the scene.
So it's extremely focused, it's efficient, it's straight to the point. There is probably also in the retail industry nowadays more experimental retail design, but at the end it's a lot about the product. The lighting has to be perfect on the product, there are a lot of technical aspects that help in putting forward the product.
Hospitality is all about the person, the guest. It's about how you feel in this property, how you move in this property, how you rest in the property.
So when we work on our spaces, it's a lot about proportions, about daylight, about beautiful materials, about touching, about feeling. At the end we want to convey a feeling to the space.
So that's the huge difference, and then of course in terms of scale there's a big difference. A hotel is much more complex in its design, in its approach, and also in the strategic approach to a project. There is less of this straightforward, efficient product staging.
Scott Kerr
Now Belmond has been executing a multi-year group-wide renovation and what I call an asset rejuvenation plan across many of its hotels, trains, boats and experiences. Were you surprised about the design culture of Belmond when you joined?
Ons Gherib
Absolutely. And it is absolutely unique.
I think what we do in Belmond, no other brand in general is working that way.
We start every project with a blank page. We write a story within our company with our colleagues in the marketing department; we call this the brand positioning.
We anchor all the stories in our three principles, which are slow luxury, contemporary heritage and discerning innovation. And from that point on, I would say everything is possible.
There is no such thing as a design guideline or a Bible or a book which we refer to. At Belmond you will never find two times the same armchair.
If you go to Rio de Janeiro or Florence, the approach to design and to the concept is completely different.
We create a relationship with the project in a sense where we try to understand the location, the history of the building, the craftsmanship that we have at that specific place.
We talk to local craftsmen, local architects, local designers, local artists, and that creates a unique and different story for every project. I think nobody else does that in this creative industry; we are absolutely unique.
Scott Kerr
Is that the first time they've had your position, someone in that role?
Ons Gherib
No, it's not the first time. But I think it's the first time where we have this multi-year strategic approach to renovating our properties.
As you know, all our properties are amazing landmarks and most of them historic buildings. So there was a really structured approach to the renovation of our network, and that's a multi-year plan which we are now executing.
Scott Kerr
So what was your role when they brought you on? What were you tasked to do?
Ons Gherib
We are quite a big team of designers, interior designers, engineers, architects.
The idea was to structure this group of creative people and to start working on the renovation of our properties.
As I said, it's a very structured approach. We have a very clear plan of what we are doing in the next years, also in the next five years. All that is now taking a very structured approach in working on our projects.
Scott Kerr
Belmond has been around for about 50 years beginning with the founder James Sherwood's acquisition of the iconic Hotel Cipriani in Venice back in 1976.
Then he immediately began acquiring and restoring original 1920s and 30s Orient Express carriages with the goal of running luxury trains from Paris, London directly to his hotel.
This was followed by focusing on more unique assets like legendary hotels, trains, safari camps, etc. What was James Sherwood's strategic idea behind the brand in the first place?
Ons Gherib
I would say that there are two aspects to that.
First, I think it's about a collection of iconic, almost landmark properties from an architecture point of view, which is what we today are lucky to have within the Belmond group.
And then there is an idea of experience of the journey, not only the property, which is covered by our trains and cruises. So I think there were these two ideas which were layered and which are still very relevant today.
Scott Kerr
And LVMH acquired Belmond in 2019 and framed Belmond as its strategic experiential luxury house.
LVMH generally amplified Belmond rather than just rewriting it, pushing more investment, visibility and Maison-level polish into what was already a strong experiential luxury brand.
Under LVMH's ownership, Belmond is now part of a larger luxury ecosystem. How has that investment played out in Belmond's expansion and product development?
Ons Gherib
I think what both LVMH and Belmond have in common is this sense of excellence and I would say that the acquisition of Belmond pushed us even further into this focus on excellence, working on the properties and the network that we have.
It allows us to go very deep into our projects, into our renovations, and to push the boundaries when it comes to a perfect execution of a project.
Scott Kerr
While major hotel groups race to sign management deals and expand their global footprints, Belmond has taken a different approach, spending capital to renovate its existing properties rather than pursuing growth.
The strategy really marks a sharp departure from industry norms where scale through asset-light expansion has become the dominant path to higher fee revenue.
What's the advantage of renovating existing assets versus pursuing growth?
Ons Gherib
First of all, from an architecture point of view, I would say it is much more exciting when you work on a historic building and your job is to preserve the beauty of a historic building.
I think that's the most beautiful thing that you can do as an architect, and we are very lucky to have these iconic properties all around the world.
As an example, we are currently working on a project in Copacabana Palace in what you call the pool wing, an amazing building from the 40s in a very particular style which in Brazil was in between Art Deco and modernist.
When you work on this kind of project, it pushes you to go deep into the history of that building, to understand what were the thoughts of the architect who created it and what makes it relevant for the next 20 years.
We work with the local historic building department to understand what was there, what we need to preserve, what is beautiful in that facade, and we found all this incredible little detailing on the balustrade which we are keeping and enhancing, and which helped us to write a new story in the interior as well.
That became a kind of script which helped us then develop something in the interior which is contemporary but also respects the heritage of the building.
And then we work with amazing craftsmen when you work on these landmarks because there is a pride to work for Copacabana Palace.
We found this gentleman, for example, who works with local materials, who goes into the Amazon forest and finds little pieces of wood and creates this marquetry with it, and we worked with him and he was so proud to create something for Copacabana Palace, which is obviously the most historical building in Rio de Janeiro.
You could never create this when you build something from scratch.
So I think we are extremely lucky to have this connection of historical buildings and to prepare them for the next 20, 30 years.
Scott Kerr
Belmond has established a series of high-profile collaborations with renowned interior design firms, architects and artists to restore and reimagine these historic icons—grand hotels, trains, river boats, things like that.
How does the slow luxury philosophy shape the way you brief these architects, interior designers and artists?
Ons Gherib
As I said earlier, when we start the project we write almost a book about our property—the history of our property, how we position the property.
Then my question to the architects or designers or artists is: what is your take on Belmond? How do you see Belmond?
We are curious to see their point of view of our company and we work with them in developing our values, like slow luxury, within the design.
At the end, very naturally, it develops into something which we see they immediately understand.
To give you an example, the JR car in the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express which he did recently—this whole car is just a collection of amazing little detailing and is the example of slow luxury par excellence.
The whole car is filled with beautiful little spaces, benches, seating, cushions, the bed with a view and a glass ceiling to observe the sky. That whole story is slow luxury.
When we worked with JR, there was almost naturally this evolution towards these kinds of ideas, and then we come into this moment where we co-create and there is a dialogue happening.
All of our examples are beautiful examples of slow luxury which are a bit everywhere around the globe now.
Scott Kerr
And your rail business has really become a brand amplifier that complements Belmond's hotel and river cruise assets. Belmond is one of the major players in ultra luxury train travel.
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is arguably the most famous train in the world and an Art Deco icon. It's comprised of meticulously restored carriages from the 1920s.
Luxury train travel is entering this new golden age, if you will. What do you think is driving the resurgence of luxury train travel?
Ons Gherib
I was lucky enough to travel on a Belmond train several times now and what makes it so special is that you enter almost into a time capsule.
When you enter the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, you enter the world of Art Deco. You are surrounded by all these beautiful little details, by the materials, by the marquetry.
You have this absolutely amazing, perfect service around you, and once the door closes and you sit by the window and you just look outside and you travel, it's like being in this beautiful little bubble.
When we work on the details and the design, we enhance this feeling. We restored the details; we work even harder with the craftsmen to make it absolutely perfect so that it looks as the carriage looked when it was created.
I mentioned earlier the project we did with JR where we added this contemporary side to the heritage, which we think makes it even more interesting.
It should not feel old and dusty; it's a contemporary take on the heritage and there's a very interesting side of innovation—discerning innovation—which we like very much.
All that creates something which is an absolutely amazing environment and which almost transports you, transforms you into a different time.
Scott Kerr
Craftsmanship, local sourcing and culture are really central to Belmond's identity. How early in a project do you bring local artisans or makers into the conversation and how do you avoid falling into those clichés of local flavor?
Ons Gherib
It's a very good question, Scott, because it's very easy to fall into this kind of pastiche design—"let's copy that 1920s chair," in a sense.
That is not Belmond. Belmond is all about being authentic.
Your question is at what stage do we involve local craftsmen; it's basically from the beginning. They are part of the project.
I want to talk about two examples. One is Villa Bertice, which is this beautiful villa in the gardens in Portofino just next to the Splendido Hotel, which we completed last year.
It is a 1930s very particular Ligurian Neo-Gothic style, something absolutely particular to this region, built by a very famous local architect at that time for a family as a vacation home.
The whole facade was covered with amazing paintings, frescos telling stories about the sea and history.
The first thing we did was go there with the local craftsman and the building department and ask: what can we do with this facade? It's so beautiful; we have to restore this, but we had to restore it in a very authentic way.
So let's find the colors, let's take the time to really recreate this facade so that if you see it in real life, it is one-to-one the facade that was created initially.
Inside the villa, we took away layers added in the 60s and 70s—plasterboard ceilings, etc.—and we discovered amazing wooden ceilings in all the rooms.
All the rooms had beautiful hand-painted wooden ceilings with a lot of allegory, telling similar stories.
We took the same approach and worked with this local person who knew exactly how to find and recreate the original colors.
Now the ceilings are incredible features in the villa; it gained back its initial splendor.
When you talk about slow luxury, our take as architects is also to take the time to make things right. It took us over a year to restore that facade, but it was absolutely worth it because we thought we owed this to the building.
So never fake, never pastiche, never copy—always go back to the original. That's what drives us and helps prepare these properties for the next generation.
Scott Kerr
Belmond has been collaborating with several sister LVMH Maisons, especially in the beauty sector, with hotels hosting Dior and Guerlain branded wellness spas.
Do you work with their brand teams on design and integration of these experiences?
Ons Gherib
Yes, we do. We are currently working on a beautiful project in Villa San Michele, one of our projects for this year and one of our big openings for this year, where we will open the first spa.
It's a very smooth and efficient collaboration that we have with the technical and architectural teams of our sister companies.
We exchange best practices and it is a very smooth process at the end and the results are amazing because it's for Belmond, so you see this beautiful architecture of this monastery and then they adapt with their architect and interior design to the architecture of the place.
The results are always stunning. There are more to come this year: a spa in Cipriani and another one in Copacabana Palace later this year.
Scott Kerr
So let's look forward. Let's telescope over the next year or so. What does the Belmond slow luxury road map look like? What major hotel projects, reopenings or redesigns are you particularly excited about?
Ons Gherib
Yes, there's a lot to come. It's a big and very exciting year for us.
I mentioned earlier Villa San Michele, our big opening for this spring. We decided to close the property for almost a year and a half and to fully renovate and restore that building.
I think it's one of the most beautiful buildings you can imagine. It is a monastery from the 15th century and it has this Renaissance facade which is absolutely stunning when you see it.
You walk into the lobby and there's a chapel in the lobby, which is like "what?"
We took our time to restore all the interior paintings, the chapel. We found another chapel walking up a hill, a mini chapel in the woods, which we are restoring right now.
When you work on projects like this, it's about how far we should go with interior design, what's the level of decoration that we should add on a building like this.
It has thick walls, beautiful red floors typical of Tuscany, beautiful paintings in the corridors.
Our take was: let's enhance what's there, let's just refresh it, give it a layer of freshness.
We worked with a local architect from Florence, Luigi Fragola, and we added little touches of greens and reds without overwhelming it with our interior design. The hero is the building, the views, the gardens.
It has an amazing Italian Renaissance garden that goes up into the woods behind the hotel. It was almost little touches here and there so the property gets a very fresh look, but you still feel the monastery when you come in.
I think it's opening end of April, so everybody will have the chance to discover it, and it's an amazing project.
We have more: another phase in the Cipriani Hotel where we will deliver a beautiful restaurant in collaboration with Peter Marino; the Grand Hotel Timeo in a city coming up; and then an absolutely exciting train project which we did with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin—a dining carriage which is one of the most exciting projects we've ever done.
It is super "Baz Luhrmannesque." It's so disruptive that it pushed all our engineers and designers to the next level.
In the detailing, in the color schemes, in the story behind it, it's the next level of interior design for a train, and I was joking that only Belmond can do this kind of project.
The collaboration with Baz Luhrmann and the team is absolutely amazing.
Scott Kerr
I was going to say, do you ever get involved in the scouting process, even before the property is purchased, where you see if it's even worth investing in?
Ons Gherib
Oh yes, absolutely. Obviously, we have a big team—it's not only the architecture company—but we have very long and thorough discussions with the whole leadership team about whether it is a Belmond property.
Because not every historical building could be a Belmond property. We are very much interested in the history and the story of the building as well.
And finishing the year with Copacabana Palace, as I mentioned earlier, will come in November: a full renovation of the pool wing with an amazing pool bar, a new renovated restaurant, and we will also renovate the iconic pool of Copacabana.
All that comes by end of year, so yes, we are busy; it's very exciting.
Scott Kerr
Yes. Ons, my final question is the luxury item question, which I ask all my guests.
So if you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only have one single luxury item with you, what would that luxury item be? It can't be any form of air or water transportation to get you off that island or anything that requires mobile service so you can call somebody on your team to get you off that island.
You're just on this lonely island all by yourself, nobody around, but you do have one single luxury item with you. What would that be?
Ons Gherib
Interesting. Wow. It's more difficult than designing a Baz Luhrmann carriage—that's a difficult question.
I think of something which comes to my mind: I just came back from Peru from a quite long trip and I discovered these amazing vicuña cashmeres, which are, I think, the most amazing material I've ever touched and had on my skin.
I think this is something that I would probably take with me, because it keeps you warm at night and is a kind of shelter during the day, so probably something like this—something soft and nice.
Scott Kerr
Ons Gherib, Senior Vice President Design and Construction at Belmond, thank you so much for joining me on the Luxury Item.
Ons Gherib
Thank you, Scott.
Narrator
[music]
That's it for this episode of the Luxury Item podcast. Thank you so much for listening.
If you found this useful and entertaining, I would be really grateful if you can share it with a friend or colleague.
I would love it if you subscribe so you never miss an episode. And while you're there, be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts; it really helps other listeners find us.
The Luxury Item podcast is a production of Silvertone Consulting. I'm your host, Scott Kerr. Until next time.
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