Biz.Travel Q&A with Sandro Fabris

Sandro Fabris: “The Mount Nelson has always welcomed families.” (Image: JP Fluckiger)

It seems The Mount Nelson Hotel is focusing more on families travelling together than ever before, even offering children under 18 their own room and breakfast on the house. Does this signal an end to the hotel's formal, stiff upper-lip children-to-be-seen-and-not-heard past?

The Mount Nelson has always welcomed families. We have two pools - one for families and the other just for adults - big gardens, a number of inter-leading suites and we're about to convert our gym into the new kid's club, making it closer to the spa and the restaurants.

On the subject of children, is it true that even non-residents can have their children looked after at no charge when having a spa treatment?

Yes, absolutely.

The R6.3 million revamp of The Planet Restaurant is probably the biggest thing you've done since arriving in South Africa. What made it such a priority for you?

As someone passionate about Food and Beverage the fact that the restaurants required refashioning was a carrot for me. We're about to begin work on The Oasis restaurant which will be a brand new concept. I can't say much more about that now other than that we're thinking bistro.

Over the years, The Mount Nelson Hotel has expanded available rooms by incorporating nearby properties. Do guests have the choice in which building they are booked or do they simply purchase a room category - Standard, Deluxe, Junior Suite etc?

There are some guests who prefer to stay in the main building and ask to do so when they book and at The Helmsley building, for example, all rooms are suites.

There is sometimes a vast difference between Best Available rates and Published Rates. For the last-minute visitor who wants the very best rate, do you suggest they book on-line or call the hotel directly?

The best rate is obtained when booking long in advance for a longer stay. We reward guests who plan ahead. Hotels that do the opposite are training their guests to wait until the last moment to book.

Most hotels report guests staying for three days and longer. Have you noticed a change in the duration of stays?

As an average, 60% of guests of our guests are leisure guests and they tend to stay for four days or longer while those on business tend to stay for one or two nights. We are still lucky enough to have several clients who stay with us for three months during the summer months.

You once told me that even as the managing director you still have to call Rudi Liebenberg "chef". Is this out of respect for the formal structures or as a foodie yourself do you hold Rudi in such high esteem?

Rudi is an excellent chef and I hold him in high esteem but I call him and all executive chefs of my hotels "chef" in recognition of their office.

You and Doris came to The Mount Nelson from Reid's Palace in Madeira and from the Cipriani in Venice. Both are iconic Orient-Express properties. How do you think The Mount Nelson is melding its colonial roots with South Africa 2011?

There will always be uproar when you change an icon. As the premier Cape Town hotel for over 100 years, everybody has strong feelings and memories associated with The Mount Nelson. We have made significant changes to The Planet Restaurant yet we have retained and highlighted the classic silver-leaf mouldings on the ceilings. The Lounge is a formal area and will remain as such but if the Mount Nelson Hotel didn't change since its inception nobody would come now.

The hotel is rightly world famous for its Afternoon Tea buffet but it does mean many day-trippers are around the property. Don't guests paying a premium room rate object to non-residents coming and going?

We serve between 120 and 140 couvers a day for Afternoon Tea and it is something for which we are known and loved. I don't think this is an issue for guests at all. There are internal corridors and lifts to bring guests from their rooms to the pool or gardens so they don't have to walk through the lounge in their swimwear, if they don't want to.

When I stayed here last there were Penhaligon's bathroom amenities in the rooms. Why the move to L'Occitane now? Do you object to guests that pack their luggage with the remaining bathroom amenities?

We have just introduced a new range from London called Plantation that comes in a Lotus and Darjeeling range. It is paraben-free and made by the founder of Molton Brown and we're thrilled to have a range that other hotels don't yet have. The cost I'm interested in is the cost of an empty room - the cost of the bathroom amenities doesn't come into it. If you enjoy the product, I'm delighted you take it home with you. Soon we will also have Plantation ranges for sale in our Signature boutique.

The hotel made a lot of noise about your worm farm and environmental efforts some years ago. How's it working?

The worm farm continues to grow and convert organic waste. The hotel gardens are also irrigated by water from the Hof Spring, which was the original watersource when the hotel opened 111 years ago. We have also replaced our hotel Mercedes with two Toyota Prius Hybrid cars, which we call Eco-Limos.

For more go to www.MountNelson.co.za.