We visited the luxury boutique hotel Broadwick Soho and spoke to Joshua Gardener, Executive Director about his varied experience within the hospitality industry, how the family run 5 star hotel is unique within the industry, what he values about the Independent Hotel Show and more. 

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Can you tell us about yourself and your experience within the hospitality industry.  

I am the Director of the Broadwick Soho and have been involved with the hotel since the early stages. I helped develop the hotel alongside Noel, Jo and Sabine. I have been in the hospitality industry my whole career, starting at Four Seasons Hotels when I was 18, straight into a management trainee programme out of Hotel school. I have worked in Front Office, Concierge, took a diversion into security and then Communications. I was with Four Seasons for seven years and then moved on when the London Park Lane Hotel closed for refurbishment. I joined Caprice Group in an operational role but quickly moved positions to become Business Development Director. This was an all-encompassing role and an amazing opportunity to see all facets of hospitality.

After five years with them, I moved to Bulgari Hotels and Resorts and opened Bulgari Hotel London in 2012 as Hotel Manager where I was for four years. I took a very interesting job as a Hotel Auditor, where I was working for a company called LQA who do hotel audits and benchmarking travel all over the world. That was a role where I would stay anonymously at the hotels, check their brand standards, and then write a very comprehensive report. This is where I really settled in the hotel business and is where I thought I was going to stay, however COVID came along and made a huge impact.

Through a friend, I met Noel, who is the Owner of Broadwick Soho and that is how I became involved in this project. I am Executive Director, but to similarly to a lot of independent hotels I do get stuck into everything.

What made you pursue a career in Hospitality?  

My parents travelled a lot I always found hotels to be incredibly exciting and quite glamorous. It certainly seemed like an amazing world to be part of. I am Australian and never appreciated Australia when I was younger, I was that kid that wanted to get out and see the world. I always had a yearning for England due to family connections to the UK and London just felt much more exciting. Hospitality and hotels felt like a way that I could get into travel and see the world.

What really prompted my career just was a teacher at school who did Career Guidance, when I told her I was interested in hotels she really ran with it. She recommended Swiss hotel schools etc. and not only recommended them but put in the legwork and guided me during the application program.

How is hospitality viewed in Australia?  

It has changed a lot since I left 25 years ago. The hospitality was certainly in hotels, but the quality was never fully there. The Sydney Olympics was a starting point for the prestigious brands to enter the Australian market. A career in hospitality has become more prestigious now but back when I was young, although tourism was huge for Australia, Hotels careers at the time were not perceived as overly prestigious job.

What’s your favourite part of your job?  

The classic answer is that you get to meet all these amazing guests, which is true to a degree. I think it is most likely being with the team, I have never had an office job, but hotels are like a little soap opera. There is always something happening, something interesting and there’s always so many backstairs tales, whether it is involving the team or the guests. It never stops.

As a result, you build a close team dynamic and you do become a family, which is something I love about the industry. It is challenging, can be tough and it’s long hours but with a great team spirit and attitude, it makes it all worthwhile.

What piece of advice would you give someone that was looking to start a career in the hotel industry?  

I think you must be prepared and accept that you need to start at the bottom. Sometimes people think because they studied Hotel Management or Hospitality, they are able to join the industry and go straight into a senior management role.

The absolute foundations of your career are built in operations, and all of us in senior roles have done it, we’ve made beds, we’ve carried suitcases and we’ve washed plates. That level of experience is an invaluable foundation that your entire career is built on, so be prepared to accept some hard graft. Hospitality is an industry where everything can change in a second, you must be able to react and respond to that and keep your guests informed but also feel happy and like you have control.

Another bit of advice would be to not be heavily structured, be flexible and available to respond to any situations.

What do you think sets Broadwick Soho apart from other independent hotels in London?  

There are several things. We are a genuine family-owned business, with a genuine group of friends who are involved in the creation of the hotel. It is a story of love and family; Noel opened this hotel as a love letter to his parents who ran a hotel in Bournemouth in the 70s and 80s. This is a return to his family roots; we are an authentic and genuine story as we have family connection. We focus on championing family, quality and craftmanship. Nothing is mass produced, everything is considered, and everything has a story.

The art collection is phenomenal, we have pieces from iconic artists William Turnbull, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon. Original artwork or original lithographs, and that is quite extraordinary to see in a setting like this.

I think it is probably the fact that we are a truly independent family owned and operated hotel. Our owner is here every day, and we are all super involved. In the five-star market in London I think this is unique.

How important is hospitality tech to the business? And are there any investments that you think have been transformative to the hotel? 

As we focus on the guest facing point of view, we made a conscious decision not to be overly techie because the reality is this is a townhouse style hotel. We want it to feel like people are in our home and we are more traditional and not the type who love to operate the curtains by using an iPad for example.

There is a tablet in every room which has all our guest information and concierge services. But behind the scenes is where the tech really comes into play. We have programs such as ALICE Technologies, which we use for our internal Coms and communications tasks. We put huge amounts into digital marketing and SEO awareness campaigns. The whole hotel functions by computer, from lifts to water movement through the building to the room key system.

But from a guest perspective, it feels almost quite simplified, which was done intentionally. The big focus for us was always thinking from the guest’s point of view and considering what they want.

What do you value from your visits to the Independent Hotel Show and is there anything specific you found useful when you attended?  

It is a great opportunity to see what's out there in the market. There is so much to see and especially when we were in the lead up to opening it was quite extraordinary the companies, we were able to find. Being able to walk around and visit the stands all in one place helped us realise what we needed and what was of value.

If your hotel had a theme song, what would it be?  

La Dolce Vita by Nina Rota really embodies the hotel. It embodies our hotels classic twist on Italian glamour. Our cocktail list in Bar Jackie is actually named after Federico Fellini’s films, one of which was La Dolce Vita.