William Donaldson

My parents owned restaurants in Germany and England. I spent my childhood in dining rooms and kitchens, and learned early that a guest's evening is made or lost in small, unseen attentions — the table that's ready, the greeting that isn't rushed, the thing nobody notices unless it's missing.

I read International Hospitality Business Management, started at a boutique coastal hotel in East Sussex, and went on to the Savoy. Then I came home to lead the family business for more than a decade — a collection of venues across the south of England, and the education no degree provides.

The Caribbean came next. I built a group there from nothing: an oceanfront hotel and restaurant, then cafés and restaurants across the islands. I sold it to a corporate buyer and came back to England.

What followed were the ten years I'm proudest of. An award-winning food-led gastropub. A boutique spa hotel. A village delicatessen built around British farmers and producers, and all three continue to thrive to this day.

Dubai came in 2023, with DVH Collection — city residences run to hotel standards. A year later I co-founded Esse Furnishings with a team of designers and craftsmen I'd trust with anything; it's where our own residences get their interiors, which is the best endorsement I can give it. Then Indonesia in 2025, where the warmth of the Balinese and the spirituality running through the island led to something new: Nusa Havens, the wellness villa company.

Forty years on, I'm doing what my parents did — trying to make people feel properly looked after. The rooms have changed. The work hasn't.