How Gareth Roberts is Redefining Luxury at Peninsula Hotels

Growing up, Gareth Roberts never dreamed of finding a career that united his passions for cars, luxury and hospitality. But the chief operating officer of The Peninsula Hotels is the living embodiment of exactly that.

Roberts earned a degree in hotel administration at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and began his career in 2002 managing rooms at The Peninsula Beverly Hills. He stayed for a decade, working his way up to resident manager before moving across the Pacific to manage The Peninsula Shanghai.

In 2015, he was promoted to The Peninsula’s flagship hotel in Hong Kong as general manager of operations. For nearly a century, travelers have flocked to this “Grande Dame of the Far East,” a paragon of hospitality. Then, in 2024, Roberts was named executive director and COO of The Peninsula Hotels group.

Cars, Culture, and Customer Connection

Today, he is standing on the green at The Quail in Carmel, California, observing the final moments of his annual pièce de résistance: The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, a lavish event owned by The Peninsula Hotels and held each August during Monterey Car Week in Central California.

Ticketholders pay upwards of $1,500 to stroll past more than 200 of the world’s rarest cars while wearing their garden-party finery, a swarm of parasols, pocket squares and picnic baskets on the golf course.

As the last guests trickle out and vendors begin breaking down their displays, Roberts looks relieved, as though he’s just crossed a marathon finish line albeit in a dapper linen suit.

The Peninsula Philosophy: Observation Over Protocol

“Good afternoon, Sheikh,” he greets a passerby in casual dress at the entrance to the clubhouse before sitting down with me. The event draws the global glitterati and approximately two dozen car companies, from Rolls-Royce to Bentley, which come to reveal their latest vehicles and greet customers.

Roberts is spearheading The Peninsula’s expansion of the event’s footprint, overseeing a six-day classic-car rally across Japan as well as running the hotel group’s annual Best of the Best Award in Paris for rare vehicles. He is also unveiling the Car of the Year in the ballroom of The Peninsula’s hotel in London.

Through it all, he has perfected the art of bespoke customer service, which he sees as the 12-property boutique group’s point of distinction vis-à-vis luxury hotel conglomerates that cannot provide the same personalized attention.

“Our staff will watch what you’re doing, what you’re drinking, so that the next day they can ask, ‘Can I get you another Diet Coke?’” he says. “These are very small touches that really make you feel known and seen.”

The Peninsula inspires employees to provide the best possible service, he says. “It’s not about focusing on a checklist of things that we expect our staff to do in an interaction, but to encourage them to take a step back, observe the guest, and say, Okay, what does this guest want in this particular moment and circumstance?

“For example, two different guests seated at the same restaurant at two different tables could have two completely different expectations,” he continues. “Some people may want a longer, drawn-out description of the menu, while others may be in a hurry and want to eat quickly. Since the same server is serving both tables, the solution is to observe the guest and ask the right questions.”

Designing for the Next Century

That’s woven into the fabric of the group’s newest hotels in London and Istanbul, as well as into the renovation of The Peninsula New York. Steps from Central Park, the hotel underwent a substantial refurbishment, from its 23rd-floor rooftop bar overlooking Fifth Avenue down to the lobby.

“We kept the heritage feel of the lobby with its beautiful grand staircase because it’s a very historic building,” Roberts says. “We didn’t get rid of that, but we brightened it so that you walk in and feel a fundamental difference.”

The construction of the London hotel at the corner of Hyde Park was even more extensive, with floating floors for two basement-level ballrooms and elevators designed to transport cars into the hotel. “We built these two beautiful, very large car lifts that can take the car from the ground level to be rolled into the ballroom,” Roberts says.

The construction process reflected Roberts’ belief in giving guests a reason to return over the long term. Sir Michael Kadoorie, chairman of the company that owns and operates The Peninsula Hotels, “was constantly challenging us to be the best,” Roberts says. “It was always, ‘How can we make this even better?’”

By Jaclyn Trop