Businesswoman Behind £20m+ London Hospitality Group Reveals New French Riviera Hotel and Art-Led Villa

Former investment banking director Elmira Amdiy is expanding beyond her seven-strong London restaurant portfolio and existing French Riviera hotel, with a new hotel development and art-led villa on the Mediterranean coast.

The businesswoman behind the Wild Group, the eight-figure hospitality group that includes some of London’s most coveted restaurants, including Belvedere, Wild Tavern, Wild Izakaya, Wild Corner, Wild Notting Hill, Chelsea Grill and Pinna Mayfair, has revealed the next stage of her wider hospitality portfolio, with two major projects underway on the French Riviera.

Former investment banking director Elmira Amdiy, formerly of Barclays Capital, Nomura and UBS, is preparing to restore and redevelop a collection of historic buildings into a new hotel, named Hotel Les Chardons, while also creating a private seven-bedroom art villa at her existing luxury hotel, Hostellerie La Farandole.

The villa is being created in partnership with renowned artist and sculptor Grishi Giano, who is designing the property in its entirety, from its recycled materials and interiors to original stone sculptures, creating a villa that will be a work of art in its own right.

Meanwhile, plans for Hotel Les Chardons are taking shape, with Amdiy currently developing the concept around a potential focus on wellness and longevity. The historic buildings will be carefully restored and redeveloped, with architectural plans revealing landscaped gardens, restaurant terraces overlooking the French Riviera and a large outdoor swimming pool with an expansive poolside lounge area.

Amdiy said: “Hotel Les Chardons is a significant project for us. We’re taking a collection of existing buildings and creating something new around them, while also being very conscious of what is already there and what we can restore. If we do take Les Chardons in the wellness and longevity direction, we will make sure there is real substance behind it, and a reason for people to travel specifically to stay with us.”

The projects mark a significant expansion of Amdiy’s hospitality interests beyond London, where she has spent the past five years working alongside her partners and team to build Wild Group from a single restaurant into a £20m+ portfolio spanning seven venues and employing more than 300 Londoners.

Her involvement in hospitality began in France. Alongside her career in investment banking, Amdiy was already involved in the ownership of Hostellerie La Farandole before investing in Wild Tavern in 2020 and going on to help build the wider Wild Group portfolio.

A SEVEN-BEDROOM VILLA CREATED AS A WORK OF ART

The seven-bedroom private villa at Hostellerie La Farandole is on track for completion by the end of 2026, when it will become available to book through the hotel. Set within private grounds, the villa will have its own swimming pool and pétanque area. Amdiy is working closely with renowned artist and sculptor Grishi Giano on the design of the entire villa, with art and design being developed together from the outset. His involvement spans materials, furniture and lighting to original sculptures created specifically for the property and its grounds.

Amdiy said: “I didn’t want us to design the villa and then decide what art to put on the walls afterwards. Grishi has been involved from the very beginning, so the art is part of the design rather than something added at the end. We have quite different instincts, which is what makes the collaboration interesting. My taste is far more classical, while Grishi will push things much further. We challenge each other, and that’s often how we get to the best result.”

Giano said: “My role goes far beyond creating the artworks. I am closely involved in the overall design of the villa, from choosing colours and materials to selecting furniture, doors, lighting, switches and many of the smaller details that ultimately define the character of a space.

“I don’t really separate the process of creating a sculpture from the process of creating an interior. Choosing materials, combining textures, colours, furniture and objects is also a form of artistic expression. I see the villa itself as a work of art.”

Giano describes the concept as “Mediterranean art living”, combining contemporary sculptures with vintage furniture, natural materials and the architecture of the villa. The intention is not to create a gallery, but a space where guests live with and experience the art as part of the property.

Natural stone will feature heavily throughout, including marble, onyx and travertine, with Giano hand-carving sculptures specifically for the spaces they will occupy, responding to the proportions, light and surrounding materials, rather than placing existing works into the finished villa. Amdiy and Giano recently travelled to Pietrasanta, Italy, to source stone for a major sculpture that will become the focal point of the villa.

Giano said: “I think of this particular sculpture as the heart of the villa. There will be other artworks throughout the interiors and outdoor spaces, but this particular piece should become something that guests remember, an object that gives the villa its own identity and, over time, becomes inseparable from the place itself.”

Giano’s work has previously been exhibited in London and Milan and is held in private collections around the world. The villa marks the first time he has brought sculpture, interiors and his wider artistic practice together within a project of this scale.

For Amdiy, the two French projects are an opportunity to build on what she and her teams have already established, while taking on projects that are very different in both scale and approach.

Amdiy said: “I’m not interested in growing simply for the sake of having more properties. If we take something on, there has to be a clear reason for it and we have to believe we can make it exceptional. The villa and Hotel Les Chardons are completely different projects, but both give us the opportunity to do something we haven’t done before.

“The villa is very intimate and every detail can be considered, while Les Chardons is a much bigger undertaking. That difference is what makes both projects exciting. I don’t want to keep repeating the same formula. I want us to keep taking on projects that challenge us both creatively and commercially.”

The villa at Hostellerie La Farandole is expected to open to guests by the end of 2026, with further details on Hotel Les Chardons and its final concept to be announced as the development progress