“To me, there’s no gray,” de Savary admits. “It’s either black or white. So I should see the dog [droppings] round the corner a few seconds before the guest does, so to speak.”

Any civilian wanting a PdS experience, by the way, had better get on the stick. Admitting that he may one day make Bovey a purely private club, too, if enough members join, de Savary says, “The people who’ve come as hotel guests have a wonderful time, and I get great satisfaction from providing them the most diversified, fantastic facilities, everything of the highest standard — in a nonpretentious way. If I was purely a snob, I probably wouldn’t have opened Bovey to the public. But you know what? I’m a farmer’s son.”

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"i don’t ask my staff now to do anything i can’t do myself."