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Hot Scottish Hotelier News: Ken McCulloch

September 28, 2006 at 2:36 PM | by | Comments (0)

Ken McCulloch, the proprietor behind the swank Columbus Hotel in Monaco, may be the Ian Schrager of boutique hotel chains in Europe.

Back in the 1980s,  McCulloch turned a Glasgow townhouse into the city's first boutique hotel, One Devonshire Gardens which was later visited by celebs like Bob Dylan, Madonna and now famous chef Gordon Ramsay, who oversaw the hotel restaurant.

One Devonshire Gardens was the jumping off point for McCulloch who then started the Malmaison hotel chain in 1994 (the first new UK hotel chain in 30 years) which he later sold. Now he is intent on expanding both the Columbus chain and the Dakota Hotels chain throughout the UK. A sensibly  priced boutique brand, the first Dakota hotel has opened in Nottingham and was listed as one of Conde Nast 2005 top hotels pick. Similarly, the Columbus Monaco was rated best independent hotel in the UK.

However unlike Schrager who depended on the artist Julian Schnabel to decorate his Gramercy Park Hotel, McCulloch uses his wife Amanda Rosa who is an award-winning hotel designer.

And while Schrager made his mark with the Studio 54 nightclub, McCulloch made his millions and fames as the man who started the Spaghetti Factory. He later sold it off to a US company so that they could grace us with this hokey dining experience across the heartland.

Having been in the hospitality industry his whole life and having been successful too, McCulloch really has no need for modesty as his explains his life work:

You're blessed with mediocrity. You're cursed with high standards. I never want to get good at hindsight. I've never done anything just in order to sell it because you can't do anything with passion if that's your goal. Having said that, I've sold everything I've done."

Related Stories:
· Ken Mcculloch: Hotel giants, check this out - 'I am absolutely going for these people' [The Independent UK]
· Ken McCulloch: Restless Native [Scottish Hospitality Jobs]
· Columbus Monaco reviews [TripAdvisor]

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