Anne Lomas never intended to run a hotel. Originally training as a sommelier, she imagined wine would define her career until a mentor encouraged her to consider a different path. “He basically mapped out two options for me,” she recalls. “Wine or leadership. And I realised leadership was the thing I was most excited by.”
Now Hotel Manager at The London EDITION, the people-first mindset which shaped her on the restaurant floor influences how Anne leads one of London’s most iconic luxury hotels: with curiosity, authenticity and an unwavering belief that hospitality works best when people work together.
“Hospitality is about people. And the best partnerships are the ones where everyone works together to create something special. [Act-Clean] understand the building, the rhythms of the hotel and the people within it.” – Anne Lomas
What has shaped your approach to leadership?
“People,” Anne says immediately. “People have massively shaped me.”
“When I moved from Food & Beverage into hotel operations, I was leading people who were absolute specialists in what they did while learning from them at the same time,” she explains. “That taught me to lead with curiosity instead of pretending I had all the answers.”
For Anne, creating space for questions is essential.
“When leaders openly ask questions and learn, everybody else feels comfortable doing the same. No such thing as a stupid question.”
That collaborative philosophy feels deeply aligned with The London EDITION itself, a brand Anne says immediately resonated with her values.
“I’m very values-driven, and when I asked about EDITION’s values during my interview, I remember thinking: I want to work here.”
Of the brand’s four values: impassion, enchanting, sophisticated and authenticity, authenticity stood out most strongly to her.
“The times I’ve regretted something professionally are usually the times I haven’t handled something authentically,” she says. “Luxury shouldn’t feel scripted. It should feel personal.”
What make The London EDITION such a unique hotel environment?
For Anne, the answer lies equally in the people and the building itself.
Before becoming The London EDITION, the property was the Berners Street Hotel, and Anne loves the sense of history that still exists throughout the space. She recalls one particularly memorable moment involving a former hotel employee who returned years later for an anniversary stay because he had met his wife there when the building operated under its previous identity.
“Luxury shouldn’t feel scripted. It should feel personal.”
“It reminded me that hotels hold people’s stories,” she says.
Emotional connection is something she believes guests feel instinctively, particularly in the lobby, a space she describes as genuinely “enchanting.”
“One Christmas, I was lying on the floor at two in the morning just staring at the ceiling because I was completely enchanted by the space,” she laughs. “That’s actually how I explain the EDITION value of enchantment to the team.”
How important is collaboration in creating a luxury guest experience?
“Connectivity is everything,” Anne says.
For her, true luxury is not about rigid service standards but understanding what individual guests need and tailoring experiences around them.
“Some guests want a deeply personalised, more conversational experience. Others just want beautiful service without having to think about it too much. The key is understanding the person in front of you.”
Internally, that means removing silos between departments and operating as one unified team.
“The guest shouldn’t feel separate departments. They should just feel The EDITION.”
That same philosophy extends into the hotel’s relationship with Act-Clean, which has supported The London EDITION for years across both front and back-of-house cleaning operations.
“It’s genuinely a partnership,” Anne says. “And that makes a huge difference operationally.”
What makes the partnership with Act-Clean work so well?
“Consistency,” Anne says without hesitation.
With Act-Clean overseeing everything from public spaces to kitchen deep cleaning overnight, Anne says the value comes from having one trusted partner responsible for maintaining standards across the entire property.
“They understand the building, the rhythms of the hotel and the people within it,” she explains. “There’s consistency in communication, consistency in delivery and consistency in standards.”
Over time, the relationship has become increasingly collaborative. Anne describes joint walkarounds between hotel teams and Act-Clean as a particularly important shift.
“Instead of operating separately, we started approaching spaces together. The communication became much more organic and collaborative.”
Trust, she says, is fundamental.
“There’s consistency in communication, consistency in delivery and consistency in standards.”
“In hospitality, things go wrong. Boilers break. Someone calls in sick. But when you trust your partner, you don’t panic because you know there’s a solid structure behind you.”
When asked if there was a specific time Act-Clean was particularly supportive, Anne highlighted a recent episode in which “the bar was undergoing some engineering work and needed a much deeper clean than usual. Lateef, Douglas and the other Act-Clean attendants didn’t hesitate, they went above and beyond to assist the floor staff. It’s exactly that kind of attention to detail and commitment that so impresses us about Act-Clean.”
Beyond operations, what stands out most about Act-Clean as a company
For Anne, the answer again comes back to people.
“What I really value is that they genuinely invest in relationships and community,” she says.
She highlights Act-Clean’s networking events and support for women in hospitality, describing them as refreshingly authentic.
“It never feels transactional or sales-driven. It feels like they genuinely want to connect people.”
One moment that particularly stayed with her was when Act-Clean invited members of The London EDITION housekeeping team to attend an industry awards event.
“That meant a lot,” Anne says. “It wasn’t about senior leadership, it was about recognising the people doing incredible work every day.”
Those gestures, she believes, reveal a company’s true culture.
“You can see they put people first in the way they support their teams and the retention they have. I’ve known some of the Act-Clean team working in our hotel for four years. That tells you everything you need to know.”
Finally, how would you describe Act-Clean to another hotel operator?
“They’re phenomenal at what they do,” she says. “Their standards are incredibly high, but their approach is calm, collaborative and human.”
Most importantly, she says, they understand partnership.
“They don’t overpromise. They communicate clearly and respectfully. And when challenges happen, they work with you to solve them.”
For Anne, that shared mindset ultimately comes back to the same principle that has guided her throughout her own career.
“Hospitality is about people,” she says. “And the best partnerships are the ones where everyone works together to create something special.”
Act-Clean are proud to work with Anne Lomas, Aileen Huelgas, Housekeeping Manager, and Blessed Edekere, Back of House Manager, ensuring all front and back of house areas are sparkling every night.
We’re truly your #teamwithintheteam
