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Tony Pike

Ibiza Legend and Owner of Pikes Hotel

Tony Pike

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  • WHAT DO YOU DO AND HOW DID YOU GET HERE?

    As a youngster, with not a pot to pee in, I knew that out there in the wide, wide was a world, a different life, and I wanted my share of it. I finally arrived where I am up the ladder, working unbelievably long hours day after day, week after week, until the years passed and I literally ‘arrived’. I have enjoyed every moment since and nothing really daunts me.

  • WAS HOSPITALITY SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO DO? WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP?

    No, not at all…I only knew that I loved “people,” no classifications…just “people”. Rich or poor, straight or gay, black or white, it was of no consequence. A kind heart and a belief that good is better than bad and if you wish, we could be friends. 

  • WHAT'S YOUR GREATEST INSPIRATION?

    Successful people who have made it on their own volition.

  • WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE HOTEL?

    In the West Indies, to make their guests (me) happy, the staff tries to outdo one another and burst out with laughter from the belly. And why? They took turns cooking and each was overly proud of her own expertise. This tiny, insignificant hotel was a converted house owned by four West Indians in the island of Granada in the Southern Caribbean. I guess they influenced me so much that I endeavored to recreate the feelings they inspired in me. Simple, West Indian women, all of gigantic proportions and widowers with an ability to laugh and with but one wish – to make me, their guest, contented. (They had vegetables I had never heard of before.) I also wandered around the islands of southeast Asia for many years gaining an insight about “people” who really had nothing but were so happy and content. I even bought my own island so that I could fulfill an idea that would not rest for me, though only to be thwarted once more as I lost it due to political change. The island was unique, in Papua New Guinea. Absolute paradise.

  • WHAT'S THE BIGGEST CHANGE YOU'VE SEEN IN THE INDUSTRY IN THE PAST FIVE TO TEN YEARS?

    I believe that people are becoming more aware of what it is they wish to gain from a hotel. Not polished chandeliers, but more personal service with a genuine smile.

  • WHO ARE YOU CURRENTLY ADMIRING IN THE INDUSTRY AND WHY?

    Donald Trump! He knows what he wants and he goes for it, in a big way.

  • WHERE WILL YOU BE ON YOUR NEXT DAY OFF?

    Still here, at the helm.

  • WHAT'S THE NEXT BIG IDEA? WHAT ARE HOTELS MISSING?

    No “big ideas.” I am eighty years old and in love with a wonderful woman who has all the right qualifications.

  • WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING IN A FEW YEARS FROM NOW?

    Enjoying life to the fullest, as I do each and every day.

  • CAREER ANECDOTE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?

    So many, but mostly heard and then dismissed (shame on me)! Liked it? Read The Pikes Hotel Review