"If it were easy, everyone would do it," said Gordon Campbell Gray. Do what? Climb Everest? Speak flawless French? Run a four-minute mile? None of the above. He was referring to building a breakthrough resort hotel in the Caribbean. And he wasn't being flip. Opening Carlisle Bay on the south coast of Antigua, in the West Indies, just before Christmas, turned out to be a lot more than he bargained for. What he thought would be a piece of cake was his version of building the Pyramids, except that everything had to be hauled in from some faraway place.
Campbell Gray is no novice. His first hotel venture was as proprietor of the Feathers, in Oxfordshire, practically next door to stately Blenheim Palace. The Feathers was not stately; it didn't even try to be. It was, rather, a small, cozy country inn and restaurant, with a rickety staircase and loads of personality, the latter owing to Campbell Gray's quirky Scottish charm. At that point in his life, he was very much the young country gentleman, ensconced in a comfortable home with huge fireplaces, two Labrador retrievers and a well-tended 100-acre garden. But even then his eyes were on the prize, which to him meant opening a small London hotel called the Draycott, right by Sloane Square. Eventually he sold both properties.
A stint in the States running the Maidstone Arms Inn, in East Hampton, followed. Then it was back to England in 1998 to open (and co-own) what was to become his finest achievement yet: One Aldwych, a modern luxury hotel in London that was — and is — extremely well managed, strikingly attractive in a minimalist way and a magnet for the young and hip. It is located in the theater district, between the City of London and the West End, and, under Campbell Gray's direction, has remained hugely popular while similar London hotels, including the mainstays, have had their troubles during tough economic times.
You might think that this would be a perfect time for Campbell Gray to put his feet up, reach for a wee dram of single-malt whisky and smile. After all, during his journey from the Feathers to One Aldwych, he became one of the world's most acclaimed hoteliers, with every reason to sit back and savor his success.
But no. What does the man do but fly down to the island of Antigua in 2002, look at a partially built hotel on a pristine crescent-shaped beach and fall in love with the idea of taking it over and turning it into the kind of resort where he himself would like to stay. And that, roughly, is how Carlisle Bay came into being, Gordon Campbell Gray-style.
It would have been easier, of course, if he had bought himself a little Caribbean cottage and used it as a sometime retreat — and he's asked himself countless times, since embarking on this adventure two years ago, why he didn't do just that. But Gordon Campbell Gray is not only a visionary; he is also a bit of an evangelist. If he likes something, he wants to spread the word, and what better way to do this than to build it so they will come (so to speak)?
Perhaps it is a hangover from the years he spent as a volunteer for Save the Children, a British organization that is similar to UNICEF and joining which is not unlike signing on with the Peace Corps. He was in his twenties and just starting his career as a hotel professional, and he decided to take time off before getting too serious about it and to do some good in the process. He served in Bangladesh, Morocco, Brazil and Nicaragua and saw poverty at its worst. Since then, his desire to make the world a better place has not diminished. He has simply applied it to hotels — aiming to please not only the guests but also his staff. In fact, Campbell Gray is known to be outspoken on the subject. He stated in a recent speech to fellow hoteliers that "decent and honest relationships with staff are not just nice ideas, but our responsibility to them and to the business. Beyond simple integrity, there's a colossal risk that an employee treated insincerely will in turn be insincere to a guest." Good point.
He also believes in hiring the best people available. Obviously, this philosophy is more difficult to implement on an isolated Caribbean island than in a city as sophisticated as London. Antigua is fairly large, but it is also poor. The pool from which Campbell Gray draws is shallow, the most experienced help having already been hired by the two luxury resorts nearby, Jumby Bay and Curtain Bluff. Training and development will take time and patience, both of which Campbell Gray seems to have plenty of, although he is the first to admit that there have been moments when he has despaired.
