Dancing with Guest Expectations and Integrity of Place with Stephanie Bonham-Carter (Ecuador)

When it comes to this conversation with Stephanie, she does a beautiful job of introducing herself, her background being born in Ecuador of an English father & an Ecuadorian mother, raised in Quito. Educated in England, she returned to Ecuador in her early 30’s on holiday with her husband Michael, at a time when they were both sort of at a crossroads in their life where they both had an appetite for change, for risk, for something different that their life in England wasn’t providing. The timing was impeccable. As the timing always is. They fell in love with the Galapagos Islands during that trip, a particular piece of land. They didn’t come from a hospitality background. They didn’t have preconceived notions of what a hotel or a place where travelers lay their heads, what that ‘should’ look like. They loved Africa, the romanticism of the tented camps. Neither of them liked the experience of being in a hotel. They dreamed of the creation of something that was romantic, comfortable, immersed in nature, and special. A redefinition of luxury.When they opened their doors, they were the first tented camp in Latin America.I hope you all enjoy this conversation, and if this topic is something you’d like to hear more about from another hotelier with a similar ethos, go back and listen to my conversation earlier this year with Hall Cannon who owns Otahuna Lodge in New Zealand. Same same. And as always, thank you for being here.