'I'm awake by 7am. I would love to sleep in but there's always so much going on. I have one person who is assigned to organising my schedule and keeping me on track. The first thing I do when I get up is switch on my BlackBerry to find out what's been happening in the past six or seven hours. At that stage, information is coming in from all of the projects we are doing in Hong Kong, the Middle East, India and South Africa.
Then I exercise. I get bored very quickly, so some days I like to swim, some days I like to do weights. I work with two trainers in New York. I look at life as a bank account: I'm always giving out and the one thing I can do for myself is make sure I have a good hour of exercise, which helps me stay in shape and keeps my energy levels up.
Because of the business I'm in, if I don't watch what I eat I will have a waist the size of a Lazy Susan. I eat a high-protein diet and stay away from white rice, potatoes, bread and pasta. I only drink water when the sun is up, so I can do cocktails when the sun is down. I work hard but I play harder.
When I plan a party, I always make sure everybody has a good time. First of all, I listen to my clients to find out who they are. I see myself as a storyteller, and everything has a beginning and an end. Along the way, I like to use the devices available to me - such as the five senses.
I always consider what you taste, what you feel, what you smell, what you see and what you hear. It's always carefully orchestrated.
When I first came to Hong Kong, the idea was I would consult and create a 'hip hotel' and a ballroom programme for the [Hotel] Miramar. I quickly realised there was great potential there to take this 50-year-old brand and give it an extreme makeover. I feel, as creative director, very privileged to work with the local creative teams. I want [the hotel] to be world class in style and elegance, in a modern format, down to details such as the knives and forks we found in Paris, to the silk thread in the fabric, to the contents of the mini bar, to the chandeliers made in the Czech Republic. We, literally, scoured the world.
