My name is Hervé Guyat, owner of the New Steine Hotel & Bistro, and Gulliver’s Hotel.
The aim of this blog is to help our customer’s experience whilst in Brighton by sharing my passion of food, restaurants, Art Galleries, Theatre and Fringe performances, bars & Clubs and any event worth visiting whilst in Brighton. As you will see below I have gained a lot of experience throughout my working life.
I left my hometown of Biarritz in the South of France 24 years ago to start a career in the prestigious Bond Street and Sloane Street working for Valentino and Cacharel.
I guess this is where I got my first eye for details and beauty. I was first employed as sales assistant but was soon promoted to buyer and boutique manager for the Sloane Street store. This involved creating the ambiance, helping with window dressing and the overall appearance of the Boutique. We wanted to create a glamorous and inventive look. I was spending my entire time making ladies and men feel good in our collections, they needed to be surrounded by a décor to match.
In 1990 I left the fashion world and moved to the hotel business.
‘’Boutique hotels’’ was not a very well known term back then. They were called Town House hotels in London. I first worked at the Abbey court Hotel in Pembridge Gardens, part of the trendy Notting Hill Gate area. The hotel was mainly used by fashionistas and designers such as John Galliano. It was all about being quirky and glamorous looking.