How One Entrepreneur Is Redefining Luxury In An Unlikely Location

22.08.2023 - 18:35 / forbes.com / Christmas Eve / Art

In a lounge at Connecticut’s Delamar Greenwich Harbor Hotel hangs a copy of a portrait of a man named Charles Mallory, who was traveling through Mystic, Connecticut on Christmas Eve of 1816. He was heading to the Midwest to seek his fortune, but got stuck in a snowstorm. So instead of continuing on, the entrepreneurial young chap got a job as an apprentice sailmaker in Mystic.

This twist of destiny set the stage for his remarkable rise, gradually amassing wealth that allowed him to purchase and launch his own fleet of clipper ships, culminating in the establishment of his own shipyard.

For the last 200-plus years, generations of entrepreneurial Mallory men have followed in his footsteps, building whaling ships, schooners, yachts, and more. Which brings us to the current Charles Mallory. After venturing into the shipping industry, Charles Mallory recognized the potential for all kinds of transformation and set his sights on reinventing a 1960s motel in his hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut.

The Mediterranean-inspired Delamar Greenwich Harbor Hotel opened in 1999 on the waterfront and quickly became an anchor in the Connecticut landscape. This undertaking spurred the birth of the Greenwich Hospitality Group, which includes a portfolio of similarly stylish properties in towns like Southport and West Hartford.

Now, the next chapter in this narrative is about to unfurl as Mallory seeks to redefine luxury hospitality across Connecticut with an exciting expansion plan. “As a Connecticut homegrown company, we feel that the state has been underrepresented by noteworthy hospitality experiences, and it is our mission to change that,” Mallory told me in an interview.

At the nucleus of the expansion is the flagship Delamar Greenwich Harbor, which is slated to undergo a overhaul that will marry classic aesthetics with a modern flair across its rooms and public spaces.

The Delamar will also unveil an array of exclusive experiences destined to set the property apart within the landscape of New England boutique hotels. Among these is the DeLaLuxe Package—a lavish one-night experience that includes a spin around town in a vintage car from Mallory’s personal collection, like a rare 1957 Mercedes Benz 300SL. For travelers within a certain radius of the hotel, a chauffeur can also pick you up at home in a vintage car like a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. Your stay is further punctuated by an exclusive yacht voyage, spa indulgences, a five-course menu of farm-to-table culinary delights at L’Escale restaurant, and a tapestry of other bespoke luxuries.

Greenwich Hospitality Group will also be expanding into other Connecticut locations, each of which has been carefully selected, whether it’s on the water with unrivaled