Perez-Alvarado called a“ burnishing” of the brands. Here, again, Accor reaches back into the past to move forward.“ It’ s about going back to find their roots, their reason for being and to make sure that what we’ re doing today will carry on for the next 100 years,” she said. Today, Accor’ s luxury brands— from North America to Southern Europe— are set up to reap the rewards of the so-named K-shaped economy, which favors the affluent, who continue to spend vast sums on travel.“ We’ re well positioned,” Perez-Alvarado said.
She views brands through the prism of history and is quick to point out that some brands today don’ t carry the depth and legacy that many— like Orient Express, where actual carriages are being refurbished at three sites across Europe— do at Accor.“ They are just a name and a design— that is not a brand,” she said.
Looking after Orient Express has been a
Orient Express Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice is a 47-room restored palace.
prime objective for Perez-Alvarado, but her dual role as chief strategy officer allows her to flex her enduring real estate muscle. In it, she looks after Accor’ s significant circle of real estate investors, many of whom she has known and worked with for years.“ We have a very clear roadmap in terms of what we promise. It’ s up to us to make sure that we’ re optimizing our portfolio,” she said, adding that Accor’ s investor base is broad and invests up and down the chain scales. They can have a foot in luxury, another in lifestyle and another appendage in midscale.“ We need to be organized at the enterprise level to make sure that we have a long-term strategic relationship with that particular investor so that we can grow the portfolio.”
Between launching hotels, trains and yachts, Orient Express has the feel of“ Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” the 1987 comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy. At this, Perez-Alvarado chuckles.“ That’ s a throwback,” her rejoinder. For Orient Express, that’ s exactly the point.
Mar / Apr 2026 hotelsmag. com 33