Charles Forte

Charles Forte is Director of Development at Rocco Forte Hotels. He is the son of Sir Rocco Forte, Founder and Chairman of the group, and the nephew of Olga Polizzi, Deputy Chairman and Director of Design.

Charles joined the Rocco Forte Hotels central team in October 2016. As Director of Development, he is responsible for the growth of the group, evaluating the potential in new and established markets. Charles’ role consists of identifying new hotel opportunities, assessing prospective markets where to expand the company’s portfolio of hotels and finding capital investors to execute on projects of interest.

Charles graduated from New York University, majoring in History, after spending 4 years in the city, and one semester at NYU Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Through working in several different positions within the hospitality industry prior to joining Rocco Forte Hotels, Charles has gained experience in both the operational and non-operational aspects of the business. Within the company, he has held rotational placements at Hotel de Rome, Berlin, Verdura Resort, Sicily and Brown’s Hotel, London. He also spent several months working as a preparatory chef and front desk manager at Dorchester’s Principe di Savoia, Milan.

In addition to this, Charles spent many months in the group’s central office prior to university, working in various departments including design, revenue management, sales and marketing. Before joining the family business, Charles spent a year with CBRE and Rothschild, gaining further insight into hotel valuation and hotel finance.