Sama Trinder
At PeopleDem property we believe in celebrating our community by spotlighting black excellence in property. Today we are celebrating Sama Trinder.
Sama is the UK’s only Black female hotelier. Her main business is running Bingham Riverhouse, an award-winning boutique hotel and Members Club in Richmond-upon-Thames. Sama weaves entrepreneurship, embodied wisdom and lived experience to create environments where people from all walks of life can heal, reconnect and reclaim joy. Her work is guided by a lifelong fascination with the human experience and a desire to make life better for people.
Sama’s journey into property began in 1984, when her parents Ruth and Bill Trinder purchased three adjacent “crumbling” townhouses, converting them into a family home/B&B. Sama recalls sitting on her father’s knee aged 7 counting the coins doing the weekly cashing up. At that time there were only 12 ramshackle bedrooms, and the garden level was derelict. In 2001, a 22-year-old Sama took over the property with a mission to transform it into a prestigious boutique hotel. Under her deft guidance, the business continued to grow. In 2007, Bingham Riverhouse was featured in the Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Collection Volume 2.
As Sama continued to expand herself spiritually, she allowed her revelations to flow into her business. After a profound personal turning point led to Sama spending years training in yoga, energy healing and holistic wellbeing, she resolved to share what she had learned by creating an antidote to the modern western fast-paced and stressful lifestyle that afflicts so many people. In 2016, she founded Bhuti, an eco-wellbeing retreat and soul-health brand. Bhuti offers a range of alternative healing practices from around the world, including yoga, Pilates, Kundalini massage, spa treatments, crystal sonic rejuvenation and astrology readings to name a few. They deliver in person retreats at Bingham Riverhouse, as well as online workshops, and events in corporate, private and public spaces.
During the 2020 lockdowns, Sama and her team pivoted Bingham Riverhouse into a Members Club, answering the needs of their community and the changes in their living behaviours. They are now a home for people with purpose, entrepreneurs, game changers, creatives to have a home from home for work, rest and play. Sama said, “It’s a dream come true to create a place which responds to the needs of our neighbourhood, offering a sense of belonging and a second home for people to get together, work and play in.”
In 2024, Sama led Bingham Riverhouse to become one of the first B-Corp accredited hotels in the UK. Sama has stated that “the lengthy process to get B-Corp accreditation has meant that we have scrutinised every area of our business.”
For employees, Bingham Riverhouse has removed all zero-hour contracts, which they previously used for seasonal workers, events, weddings etc. They are committed to paying a London Living Wage to all staff across the board.
Environmentally, they changed their energy tariff to use more renewable energy sources. In 2022, that only meant 20% renewables, but their aim is to move towards 100% renewables. Sama notes “we feel it essential to do our bit and join the hospitality industry’s pledge to be net-zero by 2040.”
In terms of suppliers, Sama has always tried to source things as locally as possible, and they generally opt for smaller artisans for their amenities. Nowadays Bingham Riverhouse also gets every supplier to sign a code of conduct, confirming they look at their own supply chain, carbon footprint, etc.
A significant change has been completely relaunching the restaurant. They closed their previous restaurant because it didn’t fit their sustainability criteria, due to the sourcing of some of the ingredients, and the lack of vegan or dairy free options. After six months of planning, they internally promoted South African-born chef Vanessa Marx to the helm. Their new restaurant, Riverhouse Restaurant, opened in February 2024 with a whole new concept, new menu and new suppliers. They have focused on “slow food”, consciously sourced produce and foraged ingredients which vary in harmony with the seasons, as well as batch cooking and portioning menu items to drastically reduce food waste. Nearly all of their suppliers are local to SouthWest and Greater London. They even use oyster mushrooms grown in recycled coffee grounds from Wimbledon Rooftop. These radical changes led to Riverhouse Restaurant winning the category of Sustainable Restaurant in the 2024 Marie Claire Sustainability Awards.
In an interview with Country & Town House, Sama had shared some of the complexities of building Bingham Riverhouse whilst being the UK’s only black female hotelier. Noting that it has been hard because hospitality, like many industries in the UK, is so dominated by old white men that she never saw anyone who looked like her. In many people’s eyes, you have to be a middle-aged white man to be taken seriously. Bingham Riverhouse never used to advertise that they were a black and woman owned business. For so long, Sama never even put her picture on the website. “It wasn’t a conscious decision, but they were definitely aware that it might put people off. Luckily, the world has changed and Sama’s really happy to be visible at the moment.”
It has been an honour to write about Sama, to see how she has continued a black family-run business that has lasted over 40 years, and how she has invested in sustainability for the betterment of people in her community. She is a massive inspiration to young black girls showing them that there is opportunity to be hoteliers. We look forward to seeing how Sama continues to improve the wellbeing for those around her.
