David Monson, Broadwick Soho

0:13Hello and welcome to the special episode of the Monaco Weekly. I'm Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and for today's show I speak with David Monsoon, General Manager of London Soho's brand new hotel, Broadway Soho.

0:33Well, first of all, David, it's so exciting. You just had a lovely tour. Thank you for the tour, by the way. What an opening in Soho. First of all, let's talk about the location. I think Soho is one of the most iconic neighborhoods here in London. I feel that it was missing a hotel like this with this kind of certain luxury lifestyle. Tell us a bit more about the location and what Broadway might represent to Soho in a way. Well, the owner, Noel, if I may start just to give a little brief history, why we're here. Noel actually grew up in a hotel in Bournemouth with his mum and dad, Jackie and Noel Sr.

1:10And they had a hotel on the south coast in Bournemouth called Monomy and through the 70s and 80s. And his Jackie ran the hotel and his father, who was a magician, was a real true showman. And so back in the 70s and 80s, a lot of people used to go to the south coast for their holidays. And it was a great success from that perspective. But during that time, during going into the late 80s, the package holiday took off and fortunately the hotel had to close. So Noel then sort of continued in his own career. But that's where Noel certainly grew up. But Soho has been a place where Noel has always enjoyed being and always felt that one day he would like to own his own hotel as a sort of love letter to his mum and dad, Jackie and Noel.

2:07And so this project started about seven years ago now when Noel decided to look for a place. And it actually came up, the building, the location, sorry, came up quite quickly, actually. They thought it would take about 12 or 18 months, but it actually only took, I think it was six to eight weeks, as I was told. So then they realized, wow, what are we going to do now? And then, you know, build this sort of amazing, amazing hotel. But at the beginning, after, you know, obviously the design of the initial building, they went through quite a few different interior designers, obviously looking at different schemes and different options.

2:45But it was really Martin Brunitsky when they met with him. He was the one who really, truly understood the brief from Noel and his group of close friends, as we refer to them, who have helped Noel on this journey to conceive this amazing hotel as we have today. He has four of those, Joe Ringerstedt, Josh Gardner, Andrea Galladin, the creative director, and a very close friend, Jamie Poulton, who's lived in Soho for over 25 years. So a great wealth of different experience amongst them all to really bring this hotel alive. But like I said, Martin's sort of understanding of what I think the hotel should be in terms of the fabric of Soho, it very much really speaks to the true essence and the nostalgia and the history of Soho and all the communities and everyone that sort of lives and works here.

3:46So it was always going to be part of the fabric of Soho, and it wanted to be certainly part of the community, to be able to offer something to everyone that lives in Soho, works in Soho, and those that want to come passers-by, but also people who wanted to come and stay here as well. You mentioned Martin, I have to say. I mean, he did an incredible job because he does have this feel of a townhouse. But let's talk about the artwork as well. That's incredible. I mean, it surprises you. I visited a few rooms. Every room, I mean, of course they have the same essence, but there's a difference there.

4:23There's a little touch, a little portrait. How important was that selection of the artwork, which is quite impressive? I think it was, as an overall, very important to have the artwork in the hotel. It really sort of goes back to sort of the true essence of what the hotel is about. I mean, it really is a timeless interior design. And it really does feel like your eccentric godmother's grand townhouse in Soho, something that's been here for many, many years. And it sort of envisions this amazing lady who's very well socialed, very well traveled, and has collected artwork, art pieces throughout all of her travels, throughout all of the decades she's been alive.

5:09And all of those touches have been added to the guest rooms and the public areas. And it's been amazingly curated throughout the hotel. Some of the artwork has been bought at sort of auction or flea markets, or some has been curated for us as well. And some of it is our owner's artwork as well from his own collection. So it's been amazingly curated throughout the hotel. And it really serves as part of the overall design of the hotel, which is really this sort of, I think, as you come, As you may have experienced today, as you walk through the amazing sort of pink front door, you get that sense of walking into someone's home rather than in a hotel.

5:54And that's where sort of really, I think, the journey of discovery happens, you know, from the amazing hallway where you come in and you just think you've, well, just been welcomed into someone's home. and then really the rest of the hotel unfolds with bar jackie on the ground floor which has this sort of very sort of fun and vibrant you know Italian cafe very much very inaccessible place on the ground level and then you walk down this amazing staircase that reveals this amazing Italian restaurant with our sort of modern twist with an amazing show kitchen as well to accompany that that it's all sort of front of house designed as if it was really the house kitchen as it were.

6:41But that just takes you into a completely different space. And then as you walk back up the staircase, you go through to the seventh floor, which has an amazing rooftop bar, rooftop dining bar, overlooking the roofline of Soho and the rest of London, including the London Eye. And then you have this amazing private dining room on the eighth floor, the top of the hotel again with wraparound views of London and again this would be the dining room you would expect you know in a house such as this big and then finally we've got as where we are today we've got this amazing resident only lounge called the Nook and where you can relax and wind read the newspaper catch up on your day's activities which is just a very special place and Every room is completely different to the other.

7:32So it really does help guests go on that journey throughout the hotel from room to room. And David, you mentioned the skyline of Soho. For perhaps our international listeners, London is not very high when it comes to buildings. So it's really quite special. It's something that I haven't seen that many places here in Soho with a rooftop where you can have a drink and look at the Londonite. In some ways, it's quite unique in that sense as well, right? yes it is i mean in this particular area to have a rooftop dining bar that has the views that it does overlooking the london eye all the way through to the city and then the soho roof line so we're delighted that we'll be able to offer that for our for our guests and you know anyone else that will come and visit us as well so it is going to be a stunning location especially during some of our better warmer months throughout the year but uh yeah it is again a real part of the fabric of the hotel and it also you know has earlier today you saw a little stage where we can have acts and you know a dj maybe magicians maybe magicians exactly yes like noel senior and and again that's the nod and that's you know the connection with the love letter back to his mom and dad and it's all very special with the restaurant you know named after his dear mom Jackie you know we have Bar Jackie and Dear Jackie so and it's amazing that they've been able to you know see the hotel as well and just think it's you know just one really wonderful what they the design and Noel and the friends have been able to do and David I just want to ask you as well because at Monaco we talk a lot about hospitality and you mentioned when we arrive at the hotel that we feel a bit like home what makes a good general manager in your opinion in a way because I mean we do care a lot about quality of service, but especially in a hotel like this, what can you say to us?

9:27Perhaps some tips as well. Thank you. Well, this particular, you know, property, I think for us, you know, the internal fabric is, has been really well designed and, but all of the guest touch points are very, very special. They've been, you know, curated and made with either British or European craftsmen, usually family operated, and everything has been sort of very carefully considered for its place and its location to really inspire this home away from home, this beautiful townhouse that we have in Soho. So, you know, our sort of philosophy is very much, you know, we're welcoming guests to our home.

10:11And I said to many of the team that we've hired, you know how would you treat someone that came to your home you know what do you do when you open the front door you know you welcome them and with a big smile you bring them through into your hallway you take their coat and you take them through to the kitchen or the lounge and you sit them down and you engage you give them something to drink you give them something to eat and it's very much you know on that level that we want to make sure that every guest that walks through the door feels as if they're the only guest actually walking into this amazing amazing home so every time you walk through that amazing pink door you're not walking into a lobby of a hotel you're walking into a hallway of a grand townhouse in Soho so that's the start of the journey where we really take care of people and then ensure that their journey then from there on in to their guest room or to wherever they're going, to one of the great food and beverage outlets that we have in the hotel, that it's very much a dedicated personal service and very much one-to-one as much as we can do.

11:23That was David Monsoon, General Manager of Broadweek Soho. The Monaco Weekly was edited by Callan McLean and I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco.

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