Rocco Forte Hotels is a British hotel group that was established in 1996 by hotelier Sir

Rocco Forte Sir Rocco Giovanni Forte (born 18 January 1945) is an English hotelier and the chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels. Early life Born in Bournemouth, the son of Charles Forte, Baron Forte, and his wife Irene, he was educated at St Peter's Catho ...

and his sister,

Olga Polizzi Olga Polizzi (born February 1946) is a British hotelier and interior designer. She is a former Westminster City Council councillor, representing Lancaster Gate ward for the Conservative Party. Family She is the mother of the broadcaster and ''T ...

. Their 14 hotels are located in European cities, as well as beach resorts in Sicily and Apulia. Sir Rocco Forte is Chairman and Chief Executive, while Olga Polizzi is Deputy Chairman and Director of Design.

History

Following the takeover of the

Forte Group Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden. ...

Granada plc Granada plc (previously called Granada Ltd, Granada Group plc, and Granada Media plc) was a British conglomerate best known as the parent from 1954 to 2004 of the Manchester-based Granada Television. The company merged with Carlton Communicatio ...

in 1996, Sir Rocco Forte and Olga Polizzi (the children of hotel magnate Lord Forte) formed RF Hotels. The rights to the Forte name were initially lost in 1996, when Granada plc bought the Forte Group. The first hotel purchased by the newly formed company in 1997 was a former Forte Group hotel, The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, which had been put up for sale by new owners Granada plc. In 2001, following the de-merger of

Compass Group Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in locations including o ...

from Granada's media interests, the use of the Forte trademark was returned to Sir Rocco Forte in a gesture intended to dispel the bitter legacy of the takeover. In 2003, the company changed its name to Rocco Forte Hotels, and The Rocco Forte Collection on 29 July 2007. The group name then reverted to Rocco Forte Hotels in 2011. The group's sales offices are located in London, Rome, Frankfurt, Moscow, Madrid, New York City and Los Angeles. As a brand of ''Rocco Forte Hotels Limited'', the group owns and manages luxury five-star hotels. Brown's Hotel, Hotel de Rome and Hotel Amigo are members of

The Leading Hotels of the World The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. (LHW) is a marketing organization, representing more than 400 hotels in over 80 countries. Established in 1928 by European hoteliers, LHW is headquartered in New York City. History The company was establ ...

List of hotels

The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh - 1997 Hotel Savoy, Florence - 1997 Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg - 1999 Hotel Amigo, Brussels - 2000 Hotel de Russie, Rome - 2000 Brown’s Hotel, London - 2003 Hotel de Rome, Berlin - 2006 The Charles Hotel, Munich - 2007 Verdura Resort, Sicily - 2009 Masseria Torre Maizza, Apulia - 2019 Hotel de la Ville, Rome - 2019 Villa Igiea, Palermo - 2020

Next openings

The Carlton, Milan

Related hotels

* Angleterre Hotel in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia, is also owned by Rocco Forte & Family PLC but is not part of Rocco Forte Hotels. * Hotel Endsleigh in the Tamar Valley, England and Hotel Tresanton in St. Mawes, England, are privately owned by Sir Rocco Forte's sister, Olga Polizzi. * Chateau de Bagnols in

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which mak ...

, France, was sold in 2007 to

Von Essen Hotels Andrew Davis (born 12 February 1964) is a British businessman who founded the von Essen Group, which included Von Essen Hotels, PremiAir and the London Heliport. Early life and career Davis went to St Bede's Comprehensive School. Reigate Gramm ...

. * St David's Hotel & Spa in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

was sold in 2007 to Principal Hayley Group. *In 2013, management of The Augustine Hotel in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

reverted to the owner, Waldeck Capital. It is now managed by Marriott International under the Luxury Collection brand. *Rocco Forte's hotel in Abu Dhabi also changed management in 2013, initially to become the independent Al Maqta Hotel but later the Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi.

References

{{UK Hotels Hotel and leisure companies of the United Kingdom Hotel chains Hotel and leisure companies based in London Forte family