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LEADER - CHRISTOPH MARES, CEO, BOUTIQUE GROUP: "WE CAN CREATE SOMETHING THAT CAN MEASURE UP TO THOSE TOP PLAYERS, POSSIBLY BETTER" (Saudi Arabia)
Christoph Mares charts an ambitious course for Saudi Arabia's most exclusive palace hotel collection. |
Category: - Saudi Arabia - Interviews and portraits
- Interviews - Industry leaders
Interview made by Sonia Taourghi on friday 27 june 2025
 Christoph Mares, CEO of Boutique Group, at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in April 2025
Photo credit © Sonia Taourghi / Journal des Palaces
Appointed CEO in January 2025, Mares succeeds Mark De Cocinis at a pivotal moment for the Saudi hospitality sector. Building upon the strong foundation laid by his predecessor, he brings his vision of operational excellence and cultural authenticity to the task of transforming historic palaces into world-class hospitality destinations. With The Red Palace set to open in April 2026 as the flagship property, Mares is methodically positioning Boutique Group to become synonymous with Saudi Arabia's cultural renaissance whilst establishing new benchmarks for luxury hospitality in the Kingdom.
Journal des Palaces: As you take the helm at Boutique Group, how do you plan to build upon the foundation of combining culture, heritage, and hospitality that your predecessor emphasised as the core of the group's identity?
Christoph Mares: I think what Mark established was fundamental—this understanding that we're not just operating hotels, but becoming custodians of Saudi Arabia's cultural heritage. My approach builds on this by creating particular, brand-defining service touchpoints that date back to the preferences of the late monarch at the time. We're developing eight key service standards that will be critical to consistently protecting and familiarising our guests with. It's about embedding cultural and historical responsibility into every aspect of our service delivery, which I believe no other hotel company or project, even at the luxury level, can replicate.
With your extensive background at Mandarin Oriental and Emaar Hospitality, what specific innovations or best practices do you plan to introduce to elevate Saudi Arabia's luxury hospitality offering?
What I'm bringing is a very rigorous approach to technical execution and operational excellence. We have an enormous ratio of quality – essentially five colleagues to one guest per day. That level of personalisation simply doesn't exist in most luxury operations today.
From a technology perspective, we're creating sophisticated guest control systems with voice activation and motion sensors that work seamlessly within these historic shells. But the final touch is always the human interaction – the empathy, humility, and sophistication in service delivery will be defining for these projects. The shareholders are expecting the highest level of excellence.
Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 aims to diversify the economy and position the Kingdom as a global tourism destination. How do you see Boutique Group contributing uniquely to this national ambition?
Tourism is expected to account for 10% of GDP, and I believe that target will be surpassed earlier than expected. We're positioned to play a central role in introducing international travellers to authentic Saudi heritage. When I explain our concept to the team, I position it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—imagine converting Buckingham Palace into a hospitality project today. That's what we're doing with the Kingdom's historic palaces. We're bringing these cultural treasures into the public domain for the first time, allowing people to sleep, dine, and experience history in the heart of the capital and second city. It's a national project, and that's how we need to embody it.
Boutique Group plans to significantly expand its portfolio. What are your priorities for growth within Saudi Arabia, and how will you ensure each property maintains authenticity and exclusivity?
We're very methodical in our approach. By summer, we'll have four palaces under construction simultaneously – The Red Palace in Riyadh, the Palace in Jeddah, Al Hamra Palace, and Tuwaiq Palace. The property in Jeddah is particularly unique, designed as a five-key standalone residence that can be privatised entirely with an authentic Japanese garden. Beyond the first four properties, we're evaluating another five palaces in various destinations to be finalised. Each property will have its own cultural narrative and service touchpoints, while maintaining our overall brand standards.
You're exploring new segments like branded residences. What excites you most about these opportunities, and how do they resonate with both Saudi and international guests?
The opportunities are formidable, particularly when you consider the airlift partnerships coming online. With Riyadh Air launching direct services to Asia, the United States, and expanding European connections, we can offer combinations that simply don't exist elsewhere. A guest could experience our heritage palaces in the capital, then transfer to the Red Sea resorts – it's two hours door-to-door from Riyadh to those incredible destinations. That level of contrast and discovery within one journey is quite remarkable, and it opens up possibilities for extended stays and multiple property experiences.
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities you anticipate for attracting high-end travellers to the Kingdom?
The challenge is awareness, as with any new market, it will naturally take some time. When my American wife shared images from our recent family visit to the Red Sea with her network – comprising European and American contacts – the travel enthusiasts recognised exactly what they were seeing, whereas the Americans thought it was AI-generated. That tells us everything we need to know about our marketing priorities.
The opportunity lies in the fact that we're creating something completely unique. If one truly wants to discover Saudi Arabia and its origins, we'll find our market. At the top end, for international travellers, to have heritage, culture, and luxury in one place – no doubt it will have a following.
What is your vision for developing local talent and leadership within Boutique Group?
We're already 85% Saudi nationals in our corporate team of 100 colleagues – one of the highest percentages in the industry, across the GCC. Our organisational development leader joined us in May, and we've formulated a comprehensive training strategy that runs on three parallel tracks: technical delivery, cultural embedment, and service standards for property level, as well as corporate governance enhancement.
We're planning 22 weeks of pre-opening training and simulation. For me, the coaching and transfer of knowledge have always been essential wherever I've worked. It's not just about bringing international expertise – it's about ensuring the Saudi team ultimately owns and leads this vision.
Looking ahead, do you see Boutique Group as becoming destination hotels in their own right?
Absolutely. The combination of cultural history, the authentic palace surroundings, and our experiential hospitality components creates a very powerful proposition. We're developing virtual museums in collaboration with Google and the Ministry of Culture, bringing to life what happened in these palaces – the state visits, the governmental decisions, the birth of modern Saudi Arabia. When you add our partnerships with celebrity chefs, our 3,000-square-metre spa with eight individual treatment suites, and our curated transport arrangements from that era – including original cars used by the late monarch – it becomes something far beyond traditional hospitality.
Our first market will naturally be the domestic Saudi market, especially on weekends and holidays, as this is where the project originated. Then the wider GCC, followed by international markets. The US market represents the largest luxury outbound market globally, so our communication strategy in this market will be crucial. But ultimately, we're creating once-in-a-lifetime experiences that transcend typical hotel stays – we're offering the chance to live within the pages of Saudi history whilst enjoying contemporary luxury at its finest.
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