The new boss of three of the country’s top luxury lodges says he’s happy to see tears when guests check out.
Stephane Massarini has just been appointed New Zealand managing director for ultra-luxury Rosewood Hotels and Resorts and throughout his career has worked in some of the most stunning locations in the world. He’s seen guests weep as they head for transport after making memories they can’t buy.
Rosewood now operates the Robertson Lodges, which are still owned by the three sons of billionaire founders Julian and Josie Robertson. They are now called Rosewood Kauri Cliffs, Rosewood Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay and Rosewood Matakauri near Queenstown and the operator is lending its marketing hand.
And to boost business during winter, the lodges are now targeting the New Zealand and Australian markets with discount deals. The Northland property is now staying open throughout the year, rather than shutting down for four to six weeks during the low season.
Massarini has a simple philosophy: meet the very high expectations of some of the world’s mega-rich and powerful, and then add more.
“You want to have this emotional connection with the people. This is what makes a really good property even better.“
He’s come to New Zealand from a Caribbean playground for the the wealthy and famous, Saint-Barthelemy.
For the past three years, he was resort manager of Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth and under his leadership, the resort achieved what the company says was a remarkable service delivery score that is ranked among the top three of 33 Rosewood properties worldwide.
There, he hosted guests who could buy anything they wanted.
“Most of the people I was welcoming in St Barts could have bought the hotel and most of them had houses 10 times better than the room we were offering.“
But they weren’t interested in more objects that gather dust – they wanted memories. And the more deeply ingrained, the better.
“Many times we have had people leaving in tears because they said ‘I’ve never felt that before’. You can’t buy your memories,“ Massarini says at Rosewood Kauri Cliffs in Northland.
Synonymous with the Rockefellers who built a holiday home there in the 1950s, St Barts is an island of 21sqkm which has 80 restaurants and at peak season last year had 256 superyachts in its harbour.
The top 2 per cent of the world’s wealthy who go there like nothing better than to get into shorts, tank tops, and flip flops and get Mini Mokes to drive – something they can’t do at home.
“I think they look for simplicity because their lives are so complicated.“
Luxury is different for everyone.
“However, what is really important is the personalisation and the attention to detail.“
Founded in 1979 in Dallas, Texas, Rosewood manages unique luxury properties in some of the world’s most desired destinations. Hong Kong’s Cheng family owns Rosewood as part of their vast conglomerate and were estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of US$28.9 billion ($48b).
The entry into Robertson Lodges last December was the first time Hong Kong-based Rosewood has entered the Oceania market. Its properties embrace the company’s “A Sense of Place” philosophy, reflecting the history, architecture, scale and sensibilities of the destination, an approach that Massarini says fits nicely with the rich history, culture, design and landscapes of the New Zealand lodges.
He says Rosewood has made a few tweaks, mainly in accounting and IT, since taking over management of the lodges.
The whole operation is under review but Rosewood says the “quintessential spirit of each property lives on”, the first of which was founded at Kauri Cliffs near Matauri Bay in 2001.
Famous for its world-class championship golf course, (where former United States President Barack Obama played in 2018) and a coastline with unlimited views of the Pacific Ocean, the lodge has 26 rooms and suites. Site works have been done on a hill to the north of the villas to expand – when the Robertsons want to.
The 2430ha coastal estate is also a working sheep and cattle farm with pockets of native bush, including a magnificent 800-year-old kauri (where one guest bumped into former Wonder Woman Linda Carter several years ago), a pine forest and access to three private beaches, magnets for surf on the right swell.
“It’s a beautiful place, there’s a couple of things that I’ve already noted but the hardware is nice and the view is stunning.“
Rosewood – which is paid a fee for lending its name, immense global marketing presence and management skills – would build on the legacy that the Robertson family have created.
“We will keep growing those little touches, the sense of place. We’ve got a beautiful property, we’ll look at how we’ll be able to work on the small details and the guest journey from the moment they look at New Zealand as a destination to the reservation, to your arrival, your departure, and the follow-up later.“
Rosewood aims to get more leverage from the network of lodges through the country.
The average length of stay is three to four nights, the aim is to increase this by one or two by enhancing the experience and emphasising the range of activities for guests.
With four-bedroom family villas at Rosewood Kauri Cliffs selling for up to $20,000 a night during the summer peak (with about 5 per cent of guests arriving by helicopter), the stakes are high.
But from December to the end of February, the property is close to fully booked, so it’s not only about stretching the length of stay, but reducing winter lows – hence the discount deal for the New Zealand and Australia market until October.
For a standard suite with breakfast and dinner, and unlimited green fees (on the course still operated by the Robertsons) or a spa treatment, the rate for two starts at just on $2500 a night.
Massarini says about 40 per cent of guests are attracted by golf and most of them come from the United States, Europe and Australia.
Rosewood wants to use its name to widen the customer base to include more from Asian countries, where it is based and growing.
“There’s a strong base of Americans and we’re going to capitalise on that. And what Rosewood can bring is big visibility in Asia and we expect to bring them in, especially at this time of the year.“
He’s confident of attracting more guests from Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia, Taiwan and perhaps more slowly, Japan, where the low yen is working against overseas travel.
The lodges were located in places with some of the freshest air on the planet, something those living in hot, polluted, Asian cities dreamed about during their summers.
“We came in a bit late [last year] in December so we’re expecting to drive more Asian guests to this market next year,“ Massarini says.
He’s very keen on employing more locals. Those connections were important for most guests.
While Asian guests are happy talking to their native-language speakers, US guests and especially Europeans love dealing with locals to immerse themselves in the local culture.
“Around the world I meet New Zealanders everywhere because when you’re between 20 and 30 you love to travel. We would love to have these young people come here first, get their first step in the Rosewood culture.“
There were some tense times when Europeans first settled what became Kauri Cliffs (the original 607ha was bought in 1836 with goods to the value of £48) so those connections with locals are critical.
The first thing Julian Robertson did before developing Cape Kidnappers was meet iwi leaders to find out what they expected of him as a neighbour and at Kauri Cliffs he would donate to nearby kura for sports gear.
It’s something Massarini is aware of and why he wants the lodges to tap further into what services locals can bring – and what the lodges can do for them.
Massarini, 46, grew up in a small town outside Toulouse. He was a big fan of food and wanted to be a chef. His father had his own business as a mechanic and his mother was a primary school teacher.
The interest in food came from family meals.
“It was more about my grandma’s cooking and spending time with her and the quality of the products,“ he says. It’s an attention to detail that hasn’t let him down and is imperative when running luxury properties.
“An egg should not be light yellow in the middle, it should be a nice colour – it’s all about the quality.“
In the mid-1990s he went to London and then Dublin to work in top restaurants and hotels to learn his craft and to learn English, although many kitchens were packed with French chefs.
He was then called back to do 10 months of national service in France (one of the last compulsory intakes) and worked at the Defence Ministry as a chef, at one time catering at the Paris Air Show.
The wider world beckoned.
“I decided to move to the front of house and see what was happening with the guests and what I enjoy about travelling is settling inside the culture of a destination.“
For four years, he had a management role in Le Meridien in New Caledonia and was then able to indulge his interest in Polynesian culture at Bora Bora, French Polynesia, at what used to be Pearl Beach Resorts.
“Polynesian culture I felt was ingrained in me. I read a lot – that’s what I do when I’m in a destination.“
He then opened a luxury hotel in Phuket, the Indigo Pearl, which played on the tin mining heritage of the area with an industrial chic. After that deep exposure to this type of unique and stunning property, he went on to spend his career running them at various levels.
He worked for IHG in the Japanese southern island of Ishigaki, known for its manta ray diving and a beach where every single piece of sand is in the shape of a star. “You say ‘yeah sure’ but when you use your magnifier you see it is the shape of a star – it is the way it is.“
Massarini spent time in management roles in other hotels in Japan, then Vietnam, and back to Bora Bora.
He saw the difference a committed property owner makes.
“When you have a hotel owner who’s investing and developing and really loves what they do, it’s not just something they want to sell later.“
He also learned skills in developing staff.
“My job is to to make sure all the team members have the right things, the right keys to please the guest.“
Back in Japan he won plaudits for his work leading the development of an Intercontinental hotel in Beppu, known as “hell city” for its geothermal activity. It is home to one of the biggest ranges of hot water in the world that feed hot tubs for guests. The hotel brought in monks to bless the water after an expert judged it was “unhappy”. “It’s so fascinating. From a Western point of view you might find that crazy – you’re learning so much from the people and the culture you’re visiting.“
Growing up in the rugby stronghold of southwest France, he’s keen on the sport and got to enjoy some of the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019.
Then Covid-19 hit and his life and that of his young family was turned upside down.
“I lost my job. I had to relocate back to France – my experience was in the South Pacific and Asia but this region was closed for three years. We’re passionate about work, we work long hours and we’re surrounded by people – this all came to an end.“
He went back to his village, spent time with his family and took a job working with a carpenter, learning something different.
“It wasn’t about the money, it’s about mental health because in life I’ve always taught my kids that you have to remain humble.“
He then joined Rosewood, where he’s been since 2021.
Massarini met his wife, Yukina, when they were working in hotels in New Caledonia.
They will base themselves at Cape Kidnappers and their twin boys will go to school in Hawke’s Bay.
He says they have moved close to 40 times and that can be gruelling.
“Having said that, we find a lot of happiness and opportunity to grow ourselves in new cultures.“
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism
The Herald was hosted at Rosewood Kauri Cliffs.
The airline sold its last slots at Heathrow in 2020.