THE GENERAL MANAGER ’ S LIFE
H : How do you see hotels changing as a result of the pandemic ?
JCM : I think it ’ s exciting ... We went from being a nobody to one of the best hotels in the world , and I ( told my team ), ‘ You know , this is the time to reconsider and think about how we can again progress , change and make sure that in two years , five years , we ’ re still number one or within the top 10 ’... So we ’ ve always looked at ways to do it differently . This virus , this crisis — unfortunately , it ’ s a great opportunity to say , ‘ OK , how can we change ? What can we do differently ?’
H : How did you handle the first few weeks ?
JCM : We spent a lot of time on our people , on my family and my staff , to make sure that they have the right information , they are safe , they know what ’ s going on … We ’ ve done a lot of internal communication to make sure the family stays united , caring for each other .
JeaN-Claude
Messant
General ManaGer
RoyAL MANSouR MARRAkECH , MoRoCCo
Jean-Claude Messant calls himself “ one of the luckiest GMs in the world ”: He joined the Royal Mansour in 2014 after stints at Saint James ’ Hotel & Club in London , Le Fouquet ’ s and Hôtel de Crillon in Paris and the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo . In early May , Messant was maintaining the hotel with 60 staff , down from the usual 500 ; the tentative re-opening date is August 1 .
By BARBARA BoHn , MAnAGInG edItoR
H : How has your work changed ?
JCM : I can ’ t say I ’ ve enjoyed it but I have to reinvent myself as a GM . I think it ’ s a really good experience and a really good exercise . I ’ m not sure if I should say this , but it ’ s like going to the war . People you ’ re happy to go to the war with and people you don ’ t want to go into the war with because you don ’ t trust them , or with the guy who ’ ll save your life if needed … ( My team doesn ’ t ) get depressed and they ’ re fighters . For that , it was a good experience .
So , that ’ s why I said it ’ s exciting . In my mind , it ’ s not reopening , it ’ s opening … You don ’ t start again , you start from scratch . We are opening a new hotel in Marrakech .
H : How are you managing personally ?
JCM : I do a lot of sports and so I keep fit … But I don ’ t drink more , I don ’ t eat more , I don ’ t have an argument with my wife ... I speak every day with my parents , and both of them are 90 . I used to call on Sunday night at 7 p . m . and it was the 15-minute Sunday call . Now I call them every day .
We ’ re delivering 200 meals to the local hospital tonight … Yes , we ’ re losing money , everybody is losing money . Yes , it ’ s sad and yes , it ’ s a disaster . But , we are alive , we ’ re happy , we will be opening soon … I don ’ t say we will forget , but we will move on . I think it ’ s important to help now .
30 hotelsmag . com June 2020