The dream team.

Tell us something surprising about Cartagena's music culture

Like few cities, and I don't think it's the only one, Cartagena has the luxury of drinking from very different sources, both broadly and in the detail. From the greater Caribbean in many of its strands, from different latitudes of Africa. But also from the north and from Europe: on the picós of the eighties, on the Turbo Láser, I remember hearing David Bowie's Let's Dance. In my opinion a Cartagena music lover has an advantage. They don't necessarily specialise in one genre, they were exposed to many, and that is genuinely impressive. Our algorithm was the neighbour, the radio and the picó.

What profile of person do you think most enjoys Cartagena?

A person who is indeed captured by a story and a legacy, from architecture to music, but who is also open and sensitive enough to find more beyond that. To the local spirit, to the foreigners who have made this city their own. For those who want to enjoy life and also give back a little.

What defines your cooking style?

I like a challenge and I am curious. To learn about ingredients or techniques and apply them in a way that surprises diners, is my goal. How can I create a menu which works in a hotel context but isn't a repeat of what they've seen everywhere else? It's equally important that everything on the plate reflects my values, and is nourishing for the client as much as for the community that produced it.

What does it mean to you to build your values into how a company is run?

For me, building my values into governance means they will not be written on a wall or in a document, but reflected in every decision I make.

Living and working by my values means choosing what is right even when it is not the easiest thing. It means acting with transparency, responsibility and empathy; looking after people and the environment, and building a company I feel proud of, not only for what it achieves but for how it achieves it.

You don't live in Cartagena, so hardly anyone gets the chance to meet you. How do you make everyone feel like your friend?

I don't live in Cartagena, mystery solved (although the work probably suggests otherwise), and I spend almost 90% of my time working remotely. Even so, I have a small superpower: making people feel like my friends without us needing to see each other every day. I love connecting with people, building trust, and making work feel a little more human and a lot less corporate. Because yes, you can take work seriously without losing your sense of humour.

Marketing and impact? How does that work?

Brands have never marketed harder. In a world with so much noise, so many channels and now, so little trust in what we see, I think impact has become marketing. Telling the real stories behind what motivates a brand beyond profits is how we engage with our clients. While everyone else is selling sun, sand and piña coladas, I'm talking about waste, closed-loop water systems and social development. Maybe we're mad, but we're always real and I think our guests connect with that.