Rosewood Hong Kong's Secret? Hugo Montanari's People-First Approach

It's just past 2 PM in Hong Kong when Hugo Montanari, Managing Director at Rosewood Hong Kong joins the call, standing, as he prefers to. Behind him, his space resists every cliché of the modern executive office - no white-walled minimalism, no skyline stretching for miles purely for effect, no brutalist furniture arranged to intimidate. It's warm, homely, even, in a way that feels almost domestic for a man who runs one of the world’s most celebrated hotels. On the main door hangs a sign only he can see from where he stands, which says ‘Positive Mental Attitude’. Directly opposite it, on a shelf, sits something important - the World's Best Hotel trophy, heavy enough that he mentions its weight unprompted, but which is set in such a manner that it's almost camouflaged, like something he doesn’t want to dwell on.

“When we received this award, it was truly such an incredible honour. Just talking about it sends shivers down my back. Don't take me the wrong way but I want us to put this award to one side. Yes, let's appreciate it and get recognition for it but at the same time, we need to put it to work every day. That's the best way, I think, for us to really enjoy it. I don't want it to be unnecessary pressure on our back. This year, the awards are going to be coming out on September 15 and someone else may be number one but that's okay. Let it go. What is essential to me is that every guest that comes here feels the value of what they're paying for. If you feel the value because we created the right emotional connection, then I think that we have won your heart,” he says.

It is this very instinct - to soften a title rather than harp on it - that shapes how Rosewood Hong Kong has chosen to carry its new status. The luxury industry has traditionally run on a particular model: the more a door stays shut, the more desirable what’s behind it supposedly becomes. Montanari appears to have little interest in this exclusivity-as-currency arithmetic. When the World’s Best Hotel title brought in a wave of people wanting to see the property (and its gorgeous sculptures and paintings) but who couldn’t necessarily afford to stay there, Rosewood Hong Kong did not isolate itself behind a velvet rope.

“We created a hotel tour every day at 5 PM. Rather than people coming to the concierge, asking to see the hotel and being told they are not a hotel guest, we said ‘why don’t you come back at 5 PM today?’ You don’t need to enroll or even tell us - just come at 5 PM and someone will be waiting for you in the lobby to show you around the hotel. With that, I think our goal is to leave a positive impression for the community of Hong Kong and those visiting the city to say, yes, it's not for the elite. It's for everybody to come and enjoy this hotel in one way or another because it's so special.”

In a nutshell, the key message that Montanari and his team believe in is that a hotel this decorated should feel less like a fortress and more like, as he puts it earlier, somebody’s home.

Much of this flair for hospitality and intuitive understanding of people, one senses, comes from a life that has never fully revolved around his professional commitments. Montanari grew up across Asia - years in Bangladesh and Delhi, as a youth, before he returned to work in Bengaluru where his son was born. As an Indian, fully aware of my bias, I can say that it is not hard to draw connections between his upbringing in Asia and the warmth he now insists on professionally - there are few places in the world where hospitality is so instinctive and culturally ingrained. This upbringing also shows in the way Montanari speaks about his guests and his team, as extensions of family and not mere cogs in the workforce.

The 45-year-old’s full personal life - cycling, a passion for photography, the ultra-endurance races he participates in - also helps him show up for work properly. 

“Sports has been my therapy, it’s been my underlining way of being able to keep my head clear, and to come up with fresh ideas and the right energy levels every day. And my passion to do something outside of work, I hope brings other people along the way. We do the Dragon Boat Race and the Moon Trekker, which is an overnight run where we encourage the teams to sign up. We do a Mahjong competition for those that don't necessarily like sports but want to do something else,” he shares.

However, perhaps, the clearest expression of this philosophy, though, is that once a month, a psychologist visits the hotel, and any of Montanari’s 1,200 associates can walk in for a private conversation - one that never makes its way back to HR or to a manager. It ties in to old-fashioned wisdom that is so very relevant to our world today: one cannot pour from an empty cup.

“This November - the team doesn't know yet - but I'm doing another hundred kilometre trail run. Doing these events  . . . it gets me out of bed every morning. I have to partake in some sports before I come to work. I have a fascination with pushing the mind and it’s a bit dangerous because I can push very, very far. My wife doesn’t like it because she thinks that I go too far, sometimes. The way I see it, the mind is extremely powerful . . . and my aim is to set the right example, which is that it’s not about working 12 or 14 or 16 hours every day. It’s about finding a balance. A mentor of mine once said to me, ‘Hugo, working in your role is not a sprint - it’s a marathon. So take care of your body because you need it to last, you cannot wear yourself out’.”

That advice, given years ago, has clearly stayed with him - instilled not only in his personal routine, but in the way the hotel runs. It is there, thoroughly evident, in the air of positivity and peace that lingers long after you’ve checked out. That, more than any trophy on a shelf, is truly the biggest marker of the hotel's - and Montanari’s - success.