Ben Elliot

“A quintessential experience is to raft the Rio Grande through the Blue Mountains, stopping off at waterfalls and having picnics of barbecued fish.”

“I don't believe that saying things because you feel they are what people want to hear is the right way to be in any part of your life.”

“I knew Quintessentially was a success when my father, who does a lot of business in Beirut, introduced himself to somebody and they said, 'Oh, do you know Ben Elliot? I'd really like to meet him.' I remember him ringing me up, really annoyed.”

“For me, a stay at the Uma Paro with Pilates every morning is a perfect escape.”

“My obsession with eating out partly comes from having spent 10 long years at English boarding schools in the 1980s, where food was pretty low on the list.”

“Buenos Aires is easily one of the most stylish cities in the world with its eclectic collection of neighborhoods, each with its own unique charm.”

“Fastidious attention to detail makes the difference between an OK service and first class service.”

“I have to be passionate about everything I do.”

“I mainly read histories and biographies, but I'm also a big fan of Graham Swift and Thomas Hardy.”

“Once you're involved in a business, it's part of what you do. It's the way you are.”

“I have an issue with others ordering for me, and I spend far too long haranguing people that my choices are the best. I apologize for the amount of conversations I have ruined with this attitude.”

“I eat out three times a day most days of the year. This is no big deal to most New Yorkers, and it is not something I am necessarily proud of - it's simply the nature of my itinerant life.”

“What goes around comes around in business, and it's better to help people out rather than bill them every time you speak to them.”

“I think people might say I'm a bit of a sucker for punishment.”

“Since childhood, I have been a cricket fanatic.”

“In my heart and soul, I am a West Country man, and ideally, my weekends are spent there.”

“If people don't feel they've got your attention, you're not going to succeed.”

“The way I choose to live my own life rates time and space as real luxuries.”

“I'm not going to complain to New Yorkers about working too hard.”