Gettys Group's Andrew Fay on why authenticity is the new buzzword in hotel design

"I grew up in Tasmania, which is a sweet, sleepy island state south of mainland Australia. It's pretty isolated. So from an early age, my parents were adamant that [their children] get out and explore the world beyond the borders of Tasmania. I see the connection between that and designing and creating spaces around the world."

"We started the company in 1988. We were a group of guys out of Cornell [University] and our backgrounds were in real estate, finance and hotel operations, not just design. Our view was firms that focus on just the aesthetics are in the past. We are all about the guest experience, trying to create an authentic experience depending on where the hotel is. That approach was always intriguing to me, way beyond the concepts of aesthetics and functionality."

"We worked on the revamp of The Peninsula Hong Kong in 2012. There was a sensitivity because of the landmark value of the property. We like to think we created a subtle [Chinese] chic that invites guests to relive a bygone era of travel."

"That would be the Al Faisaliah Rosewood Hotel, a five-star resort in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We had to work across several continents. The hotel company is based in Dallas, the property owners in Saudi Arabia, the designer in South Africa, and our vendors were in Dubai, Italy and several other countries. The project was large in scope, encompassing furnishings, fixtures and equipment for the guest rooms, royal suites, villas, some of the restaurants and the majority of the public areas."