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Corinthia Hotels chief executive Simon Casson discusses the brand’s recent openings and ‘active’ pipeline

“The company’s 10-year growth plan envisions around 30 hotels by 2035”

InterviewsDec 9, 2025by Erica Rich

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Q. Tell us about your background prior to joining Corinthia Hotels in April 2024.

I’m a proud hotelier. I’ve been doing this for 40 years. I started at the age of 16, washing dishes, then waiting tables, then cheffing. I joined Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in the late 1980s and rose through the ranks. I ended up, 10 years ago, becoming president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, overseeing a group of around 40 hotels in 26 countries. And then I retired. I had achieved most of my career goals and had a little farm in northern Croatia. But the tug came from several important companies, one of them being Corinthia. It may have seemed like an unexpected choice, because Corinthia is a very small multispace company, really only known for its Corinthia London hotel. But I thought, if I’m choosing to work again, I can set my own stance on what it should look like. I decided I wanted to be back based in London, I wanted to work for a family-founded company and I wanted a company that was small enough for me to shape – small enough that I could become a hotelier again.

Q. What were your key focuses coming in?

I knew we had a pretty active pipeline and that we needed to move the needle quickly. I knew bringing a hotel like The Surrey, A Corinthia Hotel, to market in New York in October 2024 would be a big message and a big indicator of intent. The desire to grow the Corinthia brand predated me, but the bringing in of a new chief executive by any company allows the consolidation and execution of that vision. It’s all about delivering on that mandate I was given – to elevate and grow this company to be a player in global luxury – and I think we’ve done a lot in a year. I was responsible for bringing in a new chief financial officer, new chief people and culture officer, and new chief development officer, changing the way we lead as a group of people and the way we communicate. Because certainly there was, and remains, some market confusion around what Corinthia is. A new era of growth and market positioning is well underway.

Q. How has trading been in 2025?

It’s been a jackpot year in New York City. To enter a hotel there, and for Vogue to label it the standout star of this year’s Met Gala – you couldn’t wish for a better opening year for a property. Other important markets for us, like London, are going through a transition. London came out of Covid-19 and had exponential growth. I’m no economist, but there is never a curve that year on year keeps going like that. It stabilises, and it has stabilised due to a changing demographic through the exit of non-doms, a tightening economic environment and post-Brexit realities. London is one of the world’s great hotel markets, but when you add in new entrants like The Peninsula and Raffles Hotels & Resorts, they have an impact. So London is not growing much, and trading is pretty much on par year on year. Brussels has never had a hotel like Corinthia Brussels [opened December 2024] and it has also never charged rates like we’re charging, but that’s a long-term strategy which means you have lower volume as you set your marker there. So overall, some highs and lows, but generally, as a brand, very positive momentum.

Q. As well as new properties in New York and Brussels, you opened Corinthia Bucharest in March 2025. What other launches can you tell us about?

Rome will open early next year, followed by Doha in late 2026, Riyadh in 2027, the Maldives in 2028 and Dubai in 2030. And then in terms of what’s over and beyond that, it’s everywhere you would imagine. Would we like to be in Paris, Madrid, Athens, Tuscany, Lake Como and Shanghai? Yes, and we’re working on them all. I wasn’t brought in to babysit or maintain the status quo, I was brought in to elevate and grow. But it’s not growth for the sake of growth. We don’t have aspirations to be 100 hotels. Our 10-year growth plan takes us to around 30 hotels by 2035.

Q. How do you keep a heritage hotel such as Corinthia London fresh for returning guests?

You’ve got to keep investing. We’re at the start of a rooms renovation and refurbished 18 suites last year. This month, the former Northall Restaurant will reopen as Italian venue Mezzogiorno by Francesco Mazzei. We have one of the most successful spas in London and are also looking at investment there. But to keep a hotel truly cutting-edge, you have to invest in the people ultimately responsible for creating those guest experiences.

Q. How important are trade sales?

Brand-wise, 73% is direct – through the hotel or through the website – which is remarkable. At the same time, I’m a lifelong supporter and partner of great travel advisors. I have a travel advisory board within Corinthia and it’s really important to hear what they are looking for and what their customers are telling them. It’s a really virtuous circle: the travel advisor and operator are both there to serve the guest. It’s a partnership and a trust, so we’re really happy to support, pay commissions and be in a very engaged partnership with travel advisors.