“We are the antithesis of standardisation. The big mistake is trying to be everything for everybody.”

Pablo Carrington is the founder and CEO of Marugal, a hotel-management company with a deep connection to Spain that runs 14 properties across Europe. Carrington was born in the country and now lives on Mallorca – home to one of the properties that he manages, the fortress-turned-hotel Cap Rocat. While studying and working in the US and France, he realised that a traditional corporate career wasn’t for him and soon found himself running his first hotel, in his former family home in San Sebastián. Here, he tells us about staying true to your vision, the folly of trying to please everyone and why Europe is still the place to be.

How do you decide which hotels to work with?
It has to be a unique building or in a unique location. For example, Gecko in Formentera is a typical 1960s building but its location on the beach is amazing. Because we’re not a hotel brand, we don’t have to link a property’s story to the rest of the portfolio. We always tell staff that, when someone checks out, we shouldn’t tell them that we have other hotels because they’re all so different – which means that you can create false expectations.

You started in Spain and have spread across Europe. Is there anywhere that you wouldn’t go?
I could go anywhere but won’t because I value my quality of life. Europe is easy – I can always be home for the weekend. I don’t want to start spending more time on planes.

What are people looking for when they book a luxury hotel?
We’re in a generic world where you keep seeing the same brands so we’re creating places that have very strong identities. There’s a clientele for both: there are those who want to know from the moment they’re booking that a club sandwich will be on the menu. But others prefer more unique experiences. Travelling is becoming increasingly expensive and standardised. We’re trying to offer an alternative to that.

What are the key things that you want to have as part of Marugal’s identity? And in what areas do you need to have alignment with the owners to ensure that you can deliver what’s vital to you?
It’s important to be aligned with the owners in three aspects. First, we are the antithesis of standardisation. Second, we need to agree on our commitment to sustainability – we’ll take this as far as we can within economic reason. And third, there’s destination sustainability, which is very important to us. A hotel has to have a commitment to preserving the place where it is. So we will buy supplies, go to the fishmonger and pick up flowers locally. That might be more expensive but we believe in maintaining local commerce. At Cap Rocat, we ask clients to donate a small amount every night, which we then match. We use this money for restoration projects on the island.

People from different nationalities tend to have their own expectations of what ‘luxury’ entails. Do you have to accommodate these differences?
The big mistake is trying to be everything for everybody. That’s when you end up losing your concept. We have a very clear idea of what we are.

Finally, what has made Cap Rocat such a success?
Sometimes, people congratulate me on the design or architecture of the hotel and I say, “No, no, no, that’s Antonio [Obrador, architect and owner].” If you think that it’s beautiful, that’s thanks to him; if you ate or slept well, that’s down to me. And it’s a unique place. Even after 15 years, when I arrive, I think, “Wow.”

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