Q&A: Belmond’s senior vice-president of design and construction Ons Gherib

Belmond is known for its historic and iconic properties, which the brand preserves while adding its own flair. Ongoing renovations across the portfolio include the landmark Villa San Michele in Florence, which reopens on April 28, and the new 21-room Villa Timeo opening adjacent to Italian grande dame Grand Hotel Timeo in May.

Also new for the brand is an unprecedented private dining and entertainment train carriage co-designed by film director Baz Luhrmann and costume designer Catherine Martin, which will debut on board the British Pullman this summer.

With a wealth of experience at high-end firms including Chanel, Montblanc and Saint Laurent, Ons Gherib – who joined Belmond as vice-president of design and construction in 2025 – tells Aspire how the brand aims to manifest luxury through design.

Q. Fill us in on the hotel renovations beginning and reaching completion soon.

We have some very exciting projects nearly complete in Italy. Our biggest opening this year will be the refurbished Villa San Michele which we’ve been renovating for the past 18 months. It’s a beautiful 15th-century monastery with a lot of history and connection to Florence, and I think it’ll be a really impressive reopening this April.

Also in Italy we’re debuting the 21-room Villa Timeo next to Grand Hotel Timeo in Sicily [available for individual bookings and buy-outs from June], and Hotel Cipriani in Venice will reveal the results of the third phase of its ongoing, multi-year renovation. We’ll end the year by reopening the redesigned Tower Wing and pool area at Rio’s Copacabana Palace as well.

We’re finalising plans for a redesign at Le Manoir aux Quat-Saisons in Oxfordshire which we’ll work on all year to reopen next summer. That property has a beautiful story of an English country house with a French touch to it. We’re trying to tell a different story in every room and also enhance the culinary experience, so that is an exciting one.

Q. How do you go about preserving history in your heritage properties while still bringing them up to date for high-end clientele?

Historic properties like Villa San Michele can be a big challenge because the architecture is already so present and so strong. We call our approach ‘contemporary heritage’ – we take our time and ask ourselves how far we can go with renovations while keeping the spirit of the buildings alive.

Before starting heritage projects, we look into the history of the place by going into the archives to see old drawings and materials. If we find photos, our interior designers work really closely with them to develop something that is the right answer for the project.

With Villa San Michele for example, we took a deep dive and asked which old doors do we keep? Which historic flooring do we keep? Which original beams do we keep? We’re working with the Renaissance stonework and painted wooden ceilings, and we’re also restoring two original chapels we found in the gardens.

Preserving the history of our properties is one of the pillars of Belmond; we just add a layer of discerning innovation on top to take the customer experience to another level.

Q. Tell us more about your collaboration with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin – do you plan to work on any similarpartnerships in the future?

This private dining carriage on the British Pullman is an absolutely stunning project. Working with Luhrmann and Martin – who had a massive vision for a small space – was completely disruptive to classic interior design in terms of materiality, proportions and how to approach the project as a whole. Every centimetre counts in a train, so we’ve worked with some amazing craftspeople to make it perfect. It was an absolutely incredible experience, and I think it will be completely different from what you expect.

Just last month we also debuted the Thebe Magugu Suite and Magugu House at Mount Nelson, Cape Town in partnership with renowned South African fashion designer Thebe Magugu, which has also been very exciting. We’re interested in other collaborations, as bringing in these geniuses with incredible creative processes gives an entirely different view on our projects. By working with other visionaries, we can stay true to our values but with incredible new results.

Q. How do you feel that design can enhance properties’ luxury feel, and how do you do this at Belmond?

What’s super exciting about Belmond is we don’t have a concept book or a Bible that sets out a cookie cutter approach applied to all properties. When we look at each project, we basically start with a blank page and decide what we want the customer to experience – this gives us an incredible freedom to tell a rich, luxurious story at each property.

There is no such thing as a recipe to what we add to our properties to make them feel luxurious. It’s more like a composition of materials, colours, finishes and craftsmanship that we superpose into each one. I think the way we work with light and daylight and views in our rooms’ layouts creates an incredible composition that is effortlessly luxurious. What sets us apart is the time we take to try and do everything right.