“If you’re so smart, why don’t you do it?”
The words humorously challenged by Mallory’s husband, Charles—the Delamar Hotels owner and CEO—were more than enough fuel for action. The growth opportunity became a goal for the visionary, who saw the Greenwich Harbor spa with its singular massage therapist and few bookings a week as an opportunity to benefit the town and the hotel.
“My background is completely different,” Mallory says. “I’m not a spa person per se, but I love learning, and I am ready to get my hands dirty.” The self-proclaimed “misfit,” born in the flower child era of the 1960s, recalls being reprimanded by the Features Editor when she was Head of Research at MADEMOISELLE magazine for wearing sandals without a pedicure. Driven by her free spirit and non-conformist nature, Mallory established her own practice as a learning specialist. She later became a fellow at Columbia University and taught creative nonfiction writing to undergraduates.
“The can-do attitude I’ve had throughout my career is largely due to my childhood,” Mallory says. “When I was 17 years old, I lost my arm as well as my mother and brother in a car accident on my graduation day. I focused on learning how to write left-handed, type, and zip my jacket before leaving for college. That grit and perseverance has stuck with me and certainly benefited my entrance into the unknowns of starting a spa.”
Mallory says her interest was two-fold: helping her husband and seizing a lost opportunity for the successful hotel brand. However, the decision wasn’t driven by her professional experience but by her upbringing and lifestyle. “I had to rely on beauty experts to help me, but I knew how to find them. That lone therapist, Stephanie Torres, became Delamar’s lead esthetician and trainer; she took esthetic and massage classes nonstop, and I listened to her input.”
“We come from one of the oldest Greek shipping families,” Mallory says. “My father married an American woman from a farm outside of Hartford, Connecticut. His family was very concerned, from a European point of view, how his girls were being raised.”
Homesick in Paris, 13-year-old Mallory was sent to visit her great-aunt at the Lausanne Palace Hotel in Switzerland.
“I was breaking out but didn’t know anything about facials,” Mallory said. “I was using Clearisil. My great-aunt took me to a talented European esthetician in town twice a week. She had a galvanic spoon with blue light that looked like lightning streaks to clear congestion. By the end of my two weeks, my skin was perfect. To this day, I still have the exfoliating brush she gave me.”
Mallory recalls her great-aunt reinforcing the idea that a skincare regimen is an element of hygiene, not a lavish indulgence.
“In America, it seems like skincare is geared towards the wealthy,” Mallory says. “But in Europe, all women take care of themselves more automatically. It’s not about class; it’s about culture. It was very important to me that I integrated that same European skincare philosophy and its gentle techniques into the Delamar spas.”
“ Our model is self-care and teaching guests routines that transform and nurture. ”
Establishing a high standard of service is a hallmark of the Delamar Hotels, and this principle extends to the spa. In the early days, Mallory says she would quiz estheticians on product ingredients and the formulas suitable for each skin type. Across the three locations, facialists continue to maintain that same level of connection—ensuring guests a truly transportive experience from start to finish.
“I believe you’re paying for that full-time slot at the spa, so our estheticians give you arm or foot massages while you have a face mask on,” Mallory says. “Our client is our focus every minute they are in the cabin. These little touches are what, I believe, have made the Delamar spas exceptional. It’s incredible to see our spas’ impact on the brand as a whole. Our spa vision is now being built into the DNA of the Delamar Hotels as it continues to grow.”
This broader perspective is the reason Mallory has avoided incorporating injections or other significant alterations that deviate from the core essence of the Delamar Hotels brand.
“The idea of the spas is for them to be restorative,” Mallory says. “Our model is self-care and teaching guests routines that transform and nurture. It has been proven that rest and positivity affect the brain’s development in healthy and positive ways—or so my shrink says—and the Delamar Hotel spas want to be a part of this positivity. As we grow the wellness arm of the Delamar, fasten your seatbelt!”
