Rocco Forte Hotels is a British hotel group that was established in 1996 by hotelier

Sir Rocco Forte Sir Rocco Giovanni Forte (born 18 January 1945) is an English hotelier and the chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels. Early life Born in Bournemouth, the son of Charles Forte, Baron Forte, and his wife Irene, he was educated at St Peter's Catholi ...

and

Olga Polizzi Olga Polizzi, Lady Shawcross (; born February 1946) is a British hotelier and interior designer. She is a former Westminster City Council councillor, representing Lancaster Gate ward for the Conservative Party. Family Polizzi is the mother of ...

. The group owns and operates 14 hotels across Europe. Sir Rocco Forte is Executive Chairman, while Olga Polizzi is Deputy Chairman and Director of Design. As of April 2024, the group employs 2,470 people.

History

Following the takeover of the

Forte Group Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, F ...

Granada plc Granada plc (previously called Granada Ltd., Granada Group plc, and Granada Media plc) was a British conglomerate best known as the parent from 1954 to 2004 of the Manchester-based Granada Television. The company agreed a corporate takeover of ...

in 1996, Sir Rocco Forte and Olga Polizzi (the children of hotel magnate

Lord Forte Charles Carmine Forte, Baron Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was an Italian-born Scottish hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became the Forte Group. Early life Charles Forte was born as Ca ...

) formed RF Hotels. The rights to the Forte name were initially lost in 1996, when Granada plc bought the Forte Group. The first hotel purchased by the newly formed company in 1997 was a former Forte Group hotel, The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, which had been put up for sale by new owners Granada plc. In 2001, following the de-merger of

Compass Group Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in Europe, ahead of Sodexo, employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in location ...

from Granada's media interests, the use of the Forte trademark was returned to Sir Rocco Forte in a gesture intended to dispel the bitter legacy of the takeover. In 2003, the company changed its name to Rocco Forte Hotels, and The Rocco Forte Collection on 29 July 2007. The group name then reverted to Rocco Forte Hotels in 2011. The group's sales offices are located in London, Rome, Frankfurt, Moscow, Madrid, New York City and Los Angeles. As a brand of ''Rocco Forte Hotels Limited'', the group owns and manages luxury five-star hotels. Brown's Hotel, Hotel de Rome and Hotel Amigo are members of

The Leading Hotels of the World The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. is an international marketing organization that was established in 1928. It represents more than 400 independent luxury hotels in over 80 countries, and its headquarters are in New York City. History The or ...

. In December 2023, the company announced the sale of a minority stake of 49% to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Public Investment Fund The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of billion. It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on be ...

. The deal valued the business at £1.4 billion. In August 2024, the hotel group announced the expansion of five new hotel across Europe.

Properties

Current hotels

Balmoral Hotel The Balmoral Hotel is a hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath the Edinburgh Castle rock, and the southern edge of the New Town. It ...

, Edinburgh – 1997 * Hotel Savoy, Florence – 1997 * Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg – 1999 * Hotel Amigo, Brussels – 2000 * Hotel de Russie, Rome – 2000 *

Brown’s Hotel Brown's Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Mayfair, London, established in 1832 and owned by Rocco Forte Hotels since July 2003. It is London's oldest luxury hotel, never having been renamed, rebuilt or relocated. Famous visitors include US President ...

, London – 2003 * Hotel de Rome, Berlin – 2006 * The Charles Hotel, Munich – 2007 * Verdura Resort, Sicily – 2009 * Masseria Torre Maizza, Apulia – 2019 * Hotel de la Ville, Rome – 2019 * Villa Igiea, Palermo – 2020

Affiliated properties

Angleterre Hotel The Angleterre Hotel () is a modern, luxury business-class hotel on Voznesensky Prospekt at Saint Isaac's Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The hotel opened in 1991, replicating a historic hotel originally opened in 1840 and reconstructed in ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, Russia, is also owned by Rocco Forte & Family PLC but is not part of Rocco Forte Hotels. * Hotel Endsleigh in the Tamar Valley, England and Hotel Tresanton in

St. Mawes St Mawes () is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the Carrick Roads, a large ...

, England, are privately owned by Sir Rocco Forte's sister,

Former locations

*Chateau de Bagnols (

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine in the Burgundy wine, Burgundy region. Beaujolais wines are generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in grape tannins, tannin, but like most ...

, France) - sold in 2007 to

Von Essen Hotels Andrew Davis (born 12 February 1964) is a British businessman who founded the von Essen Group, which included Von Essen Hotels, PremiAir and the London Heliport. Early life and career Davis went to St Bede's Comprehensive School. Reigate Gram ...

St David's Hotel & Spa The voco St David's Cardiff Hotel is a five-star hotel situated in Cardiff, Wales, just off the A4232 road, and close to Cardiff Bay railway station. Opened originally in 1999 by Rocco Forte Hotels, since 2018 it has been operating under the Voc ...

(

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales) - sold in 2007 to

Principal Hayley Group Principal Hotel Company is a British hotel and conference venue operator headquartered in Harrogate, England. History A predecessor company was founded in 1984. In 1992, when the chain had 18 properties, it went bankrupt during a recession. Two y ...

*The Augustine Hotel (

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Czech Republic) - management reverted to the owner in 2013, currently managed by

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 37 ho ...

under its ''Luxury Collection'' brand. *Rocco Forte's hotel in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

also changed management in 2013, initially to become the independent Al Maqta Hotel but later the Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi. *Villa Kennedy in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany * Lowry Hotel in

Salford, Manchester Salford ( ) is a city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former town hall, Salford Cathedral, Salford Lads' Club and St Philip's ...

. First 5-star hotel in Manchester. Sold in 2016.

References

External links

{{UK Hotels Forte family Hotel and leisure companies based in London Hospitality companies of the United Kingdom Hotel chains Public Investment Fund