Cover Rosewood Hotels & Resorts president, Radha Arora
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts president, Radha Arora
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President of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts Radha Arora shares the key to expanding while remaining authentic, and which new property he considers to be “a beauty and a beast all in one”
Radha Arora and I meet in Tokyo during his first trip to the city in two years. There’s a spark in his eyes as he tells me about the places he had visited over the previous few days: bakeries, artisanal fragrance stores,
and local neighbourhoods for leisurely walks. “In Japan, everything is art,” he says in a semi-hushed tone. “Just walking down the street, you see so many cool people, cool concepts ... Japan is one of those countries that really allows you the freedom to master your craft.”
Arora is in Tokyo to host an event celebrating Rosewood’s entry to Japan, ahead of the opening of Rosewood Miyakojima—a resort located on a tropical island one hour’s flight from Okinawa Main Island.
Above Rosewood Miyakojima
Rosewood Miyakojima
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The intimate gathering was hosted under the orange glow of the iconic Tokyo Tower, with celebrities like fashion designer and founder of Ambush, Yoon Ahn in attendance.
The event put Rosewood’s knack for excellent taste and experiences on full display—dinner was prepared by Natsuko Shoji, chef-owner of one of Tokyo’s most celebrated restaurants, Été, and there was a pop-up bar by Twelv, Tokyo’s first sake bar to focus on biodynamic and organic expressions. “It’s brilliant,” says Arora of the invite-only bar, which, as its name suggests, seats just a dozen guests at a time.
“Creating a sense of place is our mantra—from Hotel de Crillon in Paris to Hong Kong, to St Barths ... we always talk about creating a sense of place, and how we can cultivate local artists,” says Arora.
Despite being a relatively young hotel brand, Rosewood is often placed in the same league as legacy brands such as Mandarin Oriental, The Peninsula and Four Seasons—which is where Arora’s journey in the hotel industry began. In the 1980s, he worked as a night receptionist at the Inn on the Park London, which later became the first Four Seasons hotel outside of Canada. He went on to work at several hotels, eventually becoming hotel manager of the prestigious Ritz London.
In 1994, he returned to the Four Seasons, working posts in Toronto, Hawaii and Goa, before landing a role as regional vice-president and general manager of the Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles.
Above Rosewood Amsterdam
Rosewood Amsterdam
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Though managed by Four Seasons, the Beverly Wilshire is owned by the Chengs, the well-established Hong Kong family that owns jewellery and property company Chow Tai Fook and property company New World Development.
It acquired a portfolio of Rosewood-managed properties in 2011 with plans for global expansion, naming Sonia Cheng as CEO of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. She knew she wanted Arora at the helm and immediately appointed him president. Since then, industry veteran Arora and relative newcomer Cheng have been working side-by- side. “You’d think it’s an odd partnership, but actually it’s been a revelation,” says Arora. “It keeps me youthful.”
This is a good reflection of the Rosewood brand too. It has legacy properties like The Carlyle in New York and Hotel de Crillon in Paris but also the new hotels that have translated that old-world elegance to a language that speaks to a new generation of travellers.
Somehow, they stand perfectly toe to toe. Arora says Rosewood hotels are “the sort of place people like to convene, they feel safe knowing that there’s an elegance, a patina. You have one hand on tradition and the other on the future. In this journey, it’s morphed into something quite unique.”
Last year saw the opening of seven new properties. Rosewood Miyakojima, Rosewood Mandarina in Riviera Nayarit on Mexico’s Pacific coast, Rosewood Amsterdam, Rosewood Doha and a The Chancery Rosewood in London.
“We love the original Rosewood London [in Covent Garden], and the revived energy it brought to the Rosewood brand—but we felt that we needed [a property] in Mayfair for our clients,” says Arora, referring to the prestigious London district that is one of the most expensive in the world. “However, we said we’re only going to do Mayfair if it’s the right property.”
The Chancery Rosewood is set within the brutalist, Portland stone façade of the former US Embassy, originally built in 1960 and complete with a gilded eagle perched over the building. “It’s a beauty and a beast all in one,” says Arora.
Above The Chancery Rosewood
The Chancery Rosewood
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It’s the latest Rosewood property to reimagine a historically and architecturally significant building. In Munich, for example, the Rosewood is housed in what used to be the Royal Bavarian Bank; meanwhile, the recently opened Rosewood Amsterdam is housed in the Dutch capital’s former Palace of Justice.
“What we like to do is find buildings that reek of their destinations,” says Arora. “Like in Vienna ... we said, ‘We don’t just want to do a hotel, we’d like to do this because we want to create a bit of Viennese magic.’”
There, they selected a 19th-century neoclassic building that at various times housed a bank and an apartment inhabited by the city’s most famous resident, Mozart.
Today, Rosewood has 35 properties around the world; including a few that have been featured on Tatler Asia inaugural Best 100 Hotels lists in 2024 and 2025: Rosewood Luang Prabang, Rosewood Beijing, Rosewood Phuket and Rosewood Hong Kong, which took home the award for Hotel of the Year in 2024.
But how does a brand maintain its lustre when expanding at such a rate? Arora says it all comes down to the details. “We like to tick all the boxes—architecture, design accessories, amenities, staff uniforms ... [he and Cheng] get personally involved in every single detail,” he says. “We like to create destinations for discovery— where you can immerse yourself. It’s not a franchise. We are always in search of the right places that are true to the values of Rosewood.”
Coco Marett is a writer and editor who grew up between Hong Kong and Melbourne. She currently heads the travel section for Tatler Asia, and manages the Tatler Travel account on Instagram. She is known for her features on unique, under-the-radar properties and destinations. She's also known for her in-depth interviews that paint a refreshingly candid portrait of influential figures across various industries —from artists to political figures, CEOs to celebrity chefs. Follow her on Instagram @cocomarett
