We are collaborating with our local experts to share their deep, firsthand knowledge of their respective areas, providing you with unmatched, insider insights into Edinburgh’s real estate market and skills.
There’s a moment in every great hotel stay when you stop noticing the service because it’s simply there, anticipating what you need before you’ve asked. That same instinct, honed over three decades in elite hospitality, is exactly what Marina Ferbej brings to every client relationship at Cullerton’s.
Marina’s career spans over 30-years in hospitality, including owning and running her own hotels and businesses, much of it at the very top end of the market, where presentation, attention to detail and customer service are non-negotiable.
Running her own businesses also gave Marina a masterclass in managing people, solving problems under pressure, and staying calm when things don’t go to plan. Skills that translate directly into estate agency.
Ask Marina what connects hospitality and property, and the answer comes without hesitation: it’s all about how you make people feel.
“In hospitality, people remember how you made them feel, and I believe exactly the same applies in property,” she says. “From the moment you meet a client, you want them to feel comfortable, listened to and confident that they are in safe hands.”
Buying or selling a home is rarely just a transaction, it’s often deeply personal, sometimes emotional, and always significant. Marina’s hospitality instincts naturally extend to looking after clients through the whole journey, “from that first meeting right through to handing over the keys.”
When Marina moved into the property, she expected to be starting from scratch. Instead, she found her hospitality toolkit was almost entirely transferable.
“Communication, reading people, negotiating, managing expectations, attention to detail and dealing calmly with difficult situations were all things I had been doing for years.”
“I quickly realised that estate agency is really a people business,” Marina explains. “We might be selling property, but behind every sale there are people, personalities, emotions and individual circumstances.”
“Home, to me, is your sanctuary,” she says. “It’s the place where you can close the door at the end of the day, relax and completely be yourself. It’s where memories are made with family occasions, celebrations, friends around the table and all the little everyday moments that eventually become part of the story of your life.”
She’s also seen, time and again, how instinctive the search for the right home can be. “You can have a checklist of everything you think you want, but sometimes you walk through a front door and immediately connect with a property. It might be the light, the proportions, the view, the kitchen, or simply a feeling you can’t quite put your finger on.”
“Two houses can look very similar on paper, but one can make somebody feel completely different from the other. Ultimately, a home isn’t just about what it has. It’s about how it makes you feel “
If she could bring a single lesson from elite hospitality into an estate agency, Marina knows exactly what it would be: exceptional service is all about the details and making people feel genuinely valued.
“The best hospitality businesses anticipate what someone needs rather than waiting to be asked, and I think estate agency should be exactly the same,” she says. In practice, that means being proactive: communicating regularly, returning calls promptly, giving honest feedback, and being there when a client needs support, regardless of a property’s price point.
“Ultimately, people may initially choose you because of your experience or your knowledge of the market,” Marina reflects, “but I think they remember you and recommend you because of the way you looked after them.”
Marina’s story is a reminder of what sets Cullerton’s apart: property expertise, delivered with the warmth, precision and care of world-class hospitality. It’s an approach that shapes every client relationship at Cullerton’s, because whether you’re checking into a five-star hotel or opening the door to your next home, you deserve to feel exactly the same way: welcomed, valued and looked after.
To find out more about buying or selling with Marina and the Cullerton’s team, click below.
