The hilTon Guy Guy Hilton has more than just the perfect name to be General Manager of the Hilton London Gatwick Airport hotel Sometimes it is best to get the blindingly obvious question out of the way. When you are the GM of one of the flagship Hilton hotels and your name is Guy Hilton, the obvious question must be fairly tiresome. But I will ask it anyway. Are you part of the Hilton dynasty? Is Paris your sister / cousin / daughter? At this point, Guy could have made up some outlandish stories, but thankfully he had the decency to tell it as it really is: “No! It’s pure coincidence. But I guess with a name like this you have got to work for the leading hotel group in the world at some point in your career!” How did you get into the hospitality industry? It’s strange because at the school’s careers fair I wanted to be a fireman, estate agent or chartered surveyor. A friend of my mum found me a summer job in an Irish bar in Italy and I soon gained enthusiasm for the industry. Another friend of my mother’s also helped me on my way. She introduced me to Brian Ball who was running Calcot Manor in the Cotswolds, where I was offered the chance of work experience over Christmas and New Year. It gave me the bug and I was hooked. I liked it 40│ Issue 3 � 2014
and so worked in Italy for two more summers. I then took a BSc Honours degree in Catering Systems - which was a more systematic approach to hospitality including management. I graduated with a 2:1. I got my first job with Crown and Raven Hotels (owned by Wolverhampton and Dudley Brewers) I moved on to open the first ever Howard Johnson hotel in the UK and followed this by opening the The Park Plaza in Nottingham. Then a friend advised me of an opening in Hilton Hotels where there were greater opportunities. My first position with Hilton was Director of Operations at Hilton Leeds on maternity cover, but the lady I was covering decided to not come back. This was eleven years ago.
“With a name like this you have got to work for the leading hotel group in the world at some point in your career!”
areas as my children were young but when I moved to Hilton Brighton, the children had reached important ages for school and so we decided that we would stay in the area.They are at the age where they don’t want to break up friendship groups. What’s the main difference between Hilton Brighton and Hilton London Gatwick Airport? Brighton is very much driven by seasonality, with peaks and troughs which means you can be flexible on rates during the quieter winter months, but it also had extensive conference space, which means you can get out and drive more business into the hotel.
I was promoted to hotel manager followed by a move to the Edinburgh Grosvenor as General Manager, where I oversaw a £3.5m upgrade. Since then I have moved three times: first to Newcastle, then Brighton and finally to Gatwick.
With an airport hotel, I think there is a view, especially from the outside, that it is totally transient. However, an airport also generates a lot of activity on its periphery and attracts industry to the locality, so there is a good chunk of corporate business out there. We have 21 conference and meeting rooms and a large ballroom, so corporate business is vital.
How has working in the hospitality industry impacted on your family? I was able to move around various Hilton hotels in various
What about the size of the hotel and how does it compare to Brighton? With transport links as excellent as they are here , it is a
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