With more than four decades of experience in luxury hospitality, Marcel van Mierlo brings a hotelier’s understanding of service, detail and guest experience to The Xmas Designers.
Marcel began his career at The Dorchester in London before progressing through senior leadership positions with Shangri-La Hotels and Rosewood Hotel Group across Hong Kong, Mainland China and Southeast Asia. His career included serving as General Manager, Area General Manager, and Regional Vice President and General Manager.
During these years, Marcel recognised that many of the world’s finest properties struggled to find festive and seasonal décor that reflected the same quality, individuality and attention to detail as their brands. Most available solutions were generic and were not designed around each property’s architecture, identity or guest experience.
In 2012, he co-founded The Xmas Designers to address this need. Today, as the company’s sole owner and Managing Director, Marcel leads the creation of bespoke festive and seasonal experiences for luxury hotels, cruise ships, airports and premium retail environments worldwide.
Under his leadership, The Xmas Designers’ installations have been featured at properties and venues associated with Four Seasons, The Peninsula, Ritz-Carlton, Waldorf Astoria, Jumeirah, Shangri-La and more than 30 other internationally recognised luxury brands.
Every project is created specifically for its location, carefully aligned with the client’s brand and delivered with the precision and attention to detail Marcel demanded throughout his hospitality career.
“Having spent most of my career in luxury hospitality, I understand that festive design is not simply decoration. It is part of the guest experience and should reflect the character, quality and story of each property.”
