One day With Olga Polizzi

ONE DAY WITH | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA

British designer and hotelier Olga Polizzi - Lady Shawcross OBE - is something of a national treasure, co-founding Rocco Forte Hotels with her brother, Rocco Forte, and serving as the company's Deputy Chairman and Director of Design. A former councillor, for London's Westminster City Council, Olga's own hotel portfolio, The Polizzi Collection, includes Hotel Tresanton, The Star and Hotel Endsleigh. She talks Sophie Goodwin through the rhythms and rituals of her day.  

INTERVIEW BY SOPHIE GOODWIN | MASTERS & MUSES | 8 AUGUST 2025

Interior designer and hotelier Olga Polizzi © Julian Broad 

I hate getting up early but often have to. My husband brings my breakfast upstairs, which is the one domestic thing he does, and it is very spoiling. I often sleep in many grand and luxurious bedrooms of Rocco Forte Hotels but I am always wanting to get back to my own prosaic bedroom. Then I get dressed.  

Now that I’ve got old, I always wear the same thing – trousers with a loose shirt, and a necklace. I never go without a necklace, I’ve got hundreds. I love jewellery and have many wonderful pieces by Angela Caputi. My favorite at the moment has the head of David on it with a tassel. I always buy at least three from her when I’m in Florence.   

My home is always evolving creatively. I hardly stay long enough in any place to re-create, but I am forever fiddling around with my own house. My Most treasured object is a seventeenth century wooden carving of the Madonna.

It is a very short commute to the office, ten minutes if I’m lucky.  I come to, and look at what my diary has in store for me for the day.  We now have a lovely new space for Rocco Forte Hotels and I like working together with colleagues so we can share our knowledge and ideas.  I am not naturally tidy but I like working in a tidy environment.  

Olga (left) with her daughter and fellow hotel expert, Alex Polizzi. 

I have very good colleagues and we talk through my ideas, and they will then draw them up. I liaise with craftsmen and sketch some ideas for them.  In the office we have our very clear roles. For The Polizzi Collection, I let my daughter Alex take the lead, unless I feel very strongly about something. 

It is always good to share things. And to bounce ideas off each other. I like doing that in all areas of my work, whether that is in the office or with Alex, my daughter.  

There is no such thing as a typical working day because a lot of our hotels are abroad. There are multiple video calls and I try and have as few meetings as I can, otherwise nothing ever gets done. Work is continual. There is always something new coming up in the hotels – whether it’s in public areas, bedrooms or gardens.

To give you an idea, I am in Naples on Monday and Sardinia on Tuesday. Both are for visits to prototype rooms. However, many rooms one does there is always at least one mistake and it’s good to catch it in the prototype room.  I work with a lot of outside designers and it is always good to get new ideas. 

Typically I will eat at my desk. Unless I’m going out for a quick lunch with friends. I have also taken up Pilates (again), which I try to do at least twice a week. 

I respond to stimulus. It’s exciting when one has a clear idea of where one wants to go.  There is a method in my instinctiveness.  Annoyingly I have more energy in the afternoon and evening than I do in the morning and I drive everyone mad by starting new projects at 6pm. 

I work in silence during the week in the office.  At the weekends I listen to music – Handel, Wagner, the latest thing at Glyndebourne as we go there quite often, living nearby.  My playlist does shift with the mood.  I like to listen to classical and Jazz music and Neapolitan love songs. 

I take a break at the weekends in Sussex, in my garden. I love my chickens! I am always drawn to markets.  I am a buyaholic. It's a huge respite as I don’t really enjoy the outward facing parts of what I do, but I do it, because I have to. 

I get wonderful ideas from beautiful places, whether it is something to do with nature or a mesmerising work of art.  Seeing beauty is both uplifting and inspiring.  In the office we have a huge facsimile of a Lowry painting that my father used to own which was sold at Christie’s – this reminds me of my father. 

Hotel Endsleigh in Devon © Paul Massey

My workday often bleeds into the evening.  I go straight from work to dinner.  I try to dress up in the morning and then add a different necklace in the evening. However, I love a good shower and have a good husband so I do not need much else at the end of the day. 

My ideal weekend involves staying in bed late, and relaxing in the garden with the family. I go to The Star in Alfriston every weekend to chat with the GM and with Alex (my daughter).  We now have a lovely Walled Garden at The Star, ideal for the days of sunshine.   Currently we are finishing off a hotel shop which should be open in the next few months. 

Tresanton and Endsleigh, my two hotels in the South West of England, both have stunning views that always inspire me.  I just love the views across the bay to the lighthouse from Tresanton, and at Endsleigh, there is a magnificent view of a wonderful mass of trees across the River Tamar.

Rome is my favorite city. It always leaves new impressions. The only other place I would live, besides England, is Italy. But England is where I will be staying.