Kerzner International’s Philippe Zuber And Celine Assimon On Luxury, Memory And Stepping Up In India

"In 2016, only 30 per cent of guests at One&Only used the resort gym. The figure now stands at about 70 per cent," says Philippe Zuber, CEO of Kerzner International. The group has changed how it manages the gym and private lessons, and it now hosts tennis and padel tournaments at Club One because, Zuber says, its guests are competitive. 

Kerzner’s portfolio includes Atlantis, One&Only, SIRO and Rare Finds. On June 22, 2026, it named Celine Assimon Chief Commercial Officer, bringing 25 years of luxury goods experience to the role. She has served as CEO of De Beers Jewellers and De Beers Forevermark and of de Grisogono, and held senior positions at Louis Vuitton and Piaget. 

Kerzner has so far reached Indian travellers through partners, with One&Only Private Homes proving popular among large, multigenerational families. It now intends to engage with them directly. One&Only is capped at 35 properties, with 13 open today, while SIRO is built to grow faster. During an exclusive conversation with Robb Report India, Zuber and Assimon speak about how guests have changed, how each brand keeps its individuality, and what craftsmanship means when the product is a stay.

Robb Report India (RR): You have seen luxury in several categories, so how has your own definition of it changed?

Celine Assimon (CA): I looked at luxury through the lens of an object for 25 years. That object carried craftsmanship, gravity, provenance, and an understanding of how it was crafted and how long it took. Translating this into hospitality has been easier than I thought, because it is still about craftsmanship. You are crafting an experience, a moment for your guests. There are a lot of similarities between the two industries. 

RR: How did your early years in hotels shape the way you lead today?

Philippe Zuber (PZ): The beauty of One&Only, our ultra-luxury brand, is that we have high-end, sophisticated guests, and we lead by observing how they behave in our hotels. The average stay is more than four nights, so they use the room, the villa, the garden and the outdoor space very differently. That gives us a lot of indication for designing new hotels.

Here is a true story. By 2016 or 2017, only 30 per cent of our One&Only guests were hitting the gym. It went to 50 per cent, a massive shift, and now about 70 per cent of guests use it. We had to change how we manage the gym and the private lessons. If you are successful enough to afford One&Only, you need to be extremely disciplined about your health and your body, and that tells you a lot about how this audience has changed.

Those guests spend more time at the wellness and longevity centre, and at Club One playing tennis or padel. They are competitive, so we organised tournaments. We observe the behaviour and turn it into experiences that fit.

RR: How do you keep each brand individual, from the energy of Atlantis to the intimacy of Rare Finds? 

CA: My role at Kerzner International is to ensure that every brand in our portfolio is truly distinctive. That is not just about brand codes or how you look on a website. It is about the sentiment you want every guest to feel, which means different experiences and differently designed spaces. 

Atlantis The Royal in Dubai is very flamboyant. You are stimulated by the colours, the art pieces in the lobby, the retail brands we partner with, and the restaurants and chefs, from Milos to Carbone and Club 22, an exclusive VIP experience on one of the top floors. One&Only is about refined, quiet luxury, disconnecting and enjoying privacy. 

The same guest might want different things depending on their mood. If you want to unplug, you might go to One&Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives. If you want a high-energy setting to celebrate a birthday or engagement, you might choose Atlantis The Royal. That is the beauty of having a portfolio.

RR: How do you grow Kerzner globally without losing what makes each brand distinct? 

PZ: To protect us, we have capped One&Only at 35 hotels. Many companies say they will build as many hotels as the market allows. Our view is that an ultra-luxury brand needs a level of control, and if you grow too fast, you lose the soul of the brand. Today we have 13, a few are under design and development, and we still have around 15 to identify. We are not in a rush. 

One&Only is very special and Atlantis is very big, so they cannot happen in just any destination. SIRO, our new brand, is developed to grow at a much faster pace. We combine brands that are strict and controlled with others that can go super fast. It is all about quality over quantity, and it is a gift when your ownership shares that view.

RR: Why is now the right time to step up Kerzner’s engagement with India?

CA: We have always engaged with India, but through our partners. One&Only has been very successful with its Private Homes offering. These are guests who want the amenities of a hotel, fine dining and activities, but prefer a villa because they are travelling with a large family. 

Now is the right time to engage directly, because we have built a deeper understanding of the Indian market. We have a very nice set of loyal clients, and we were hosting some of them for dinner last night. They tell us what they are looking for. That allows us to personalise experiences according to their preferences, because you travel differently and have different expectations depending on where you come from. 

RR: Is the room still the product, or has the stay become the product? 

PZ: Many developers obsess about the design of the rooms, but that is not where you create the biggest memories. Master planning is the most important time. 

First, you select the site, and it has to be beautiful. Then you embrace nature. Where is the sunset? If it is here, you build here, because every night nature gives you a show for free. You work out where the wind comes from, the topography and the shadows, and you walk the site and talk to locals. Then you plan a place where everybody is happy together, usually where we serve breakfast, and you protect privacy in the villas. After that come the pools, landscaping, wellness and Club One, which has tennis, a racquet academy, and kids and teens clubs in one area. Only then do we design the rooms. We spend much more energy on what the guest does outside the room, because that is where the amazing experiences happen. Master planning is the secret sauce of Kerzner International. 

RR:What is one aspect of luxury that the industry underestimates? 

CA: Craftsmanship, a word I used a lot in my previous life in luxury goods. I thought I would not use it as much, because it is typically associated with something tangible. It turns out that craftsmanship and creativity are critical in hospitality, at the level at which we operate. Crafting an experience requires time, knowledge, discipline in delivery and consistency. Then the experience has to be unique, and we talk a lot about surprise and delight. 

Say you come back to your room after a day at the beach and a lovely lunch. Turndown has prepared the room. The lighting is softer, and there is a little something waiting for you. It could be chocolate, a particular tea, a certain way of folding your clothes or presenting your slippers. It takes attention to detail and an understanding of how you like things done, setting the tone for your sleep. That takes craftsmanship and creativity.

RR: You started out in food and beverage, so what can F&B teach a CEO about running a resort?

PZ: It is evolving so fast, and we have to be humble. A lot depends on culture, and what works for a French guest does not work for an Indian or an Italian. I believe fusion has limitations, because there is only so much flavour you can put in one dish. 

The younger generation is much more visual and wants to be entertained when they dine. We call it eat-ertainment, but we have to avoid cliché, because if you repeat the smoke and the effects, you tire of it quickly. Buffets no longer work with vegan, flexitarian and lactose-intolerant guests. In Dubai we do ultra-fine dining with FZN by Björn Frantzén, one of only two three Michelin star restaurants in the city. The other is Trèsind Studio, an Indian restaurant. 

Food is going back to basics: cooking methods, original produce, simpler dishes, less fusion and more authenticity. The new generation is also not drinking like the previous one. They may have one cocktail, so it has to be extraordinary. And if a table of 10 orders 10 different cocktails, you have to execute at scale.