Personalities
Paris road
less traveled
By Jeff Weinstein
Philippe Vaurs ( l .) and christophe sauvage have been developing elegancia Hotels together since 1999 .
“ in france , We ’ re not knoWn as being Welcoming to foreigners – it ’ s not true ,” chuckles Elegancia Hotels co-founder Christophe Sauvage . In fact , he and partner Philippe Vaurs have capitalized on that misconception in a city known more for classic hotelkeeping by focusing more on service and unique style to drive business over the past 10 years at their Paris-based company .
With a portfolio of 15 Paris hotels with some 500 rooms operating under a creative and increasingly successful structure somewhat unique to France , the duo – one coming from an independent , family-owned hotel business and the other a veteran of Accor – since 1999 has been leasing smaller hotels in physically horizontal Paris . After refurbishing what are usually outdated hotels or converting other types of spaces into 32- to 35-room properties , they are able to grow rate and occupancy with their design- and service-led approach . Generally , within three to four years they sell the leases at between four and six times the yearly turnover . Then , because the taxman in France tends to be greedy , the French “ fonds de commerce ” system under which they operate allows them to reinvest in new hotel leases . Sometimes they retain management after a sale , but not often , and currently they own and operate one of their 15 properties .
Sauvage says once they obtain a new lease , they generally invest from € 2 million to € 25 million and increase turnover in a big way . In 2015 , the lowest occupancy stood at 78 % and the highest was 92 %; average rate ranged from € 104 to € 215 without breakfast and including tax . What Sauvage says makes Elegancia
truly unique is that not one hotel they create or re-create is similar . Each comes with its own story and fresh lifestyle design . Spaces range from artistic and modern to contemporary or even a refurbishment of a wooden home . There is no restaurant , per se , but they do serve breakfast and try to create a great bar environment .
Because they are not a big business or supported by the likes of a sovereign wealth fund , Elegancia grows by finding solutions without constraints of the price usually paid for being inside a great city like Paris . To that end , their next project opening this summer will be the country ’ s first floating hotel , with 58 rooms on the River Seine , called Off Paris Seine located near the Pont Charles de Gaulle .
The opportunistic group tends to find two or three new projects a year and lately has been moving into bigger projects , including unoccupied office buildings authorized to transform into hotels . In fact , Sauvage says Elegancia has three
“ ElEgancia is popular bEcausE it is vEry kEEn to always rEnEw its stylE and dEcoration .”
such buildings under renovation .
A 40-room project where all rooms have a view of the Eiffel Tower is set for next month , while two projects are progressing for September and November . More ambitiously , in addition to two renovations , an 80-room , 5-star hotel with two restaurants is in the works for 2018-2019 .
And next up , says Sauvage , is a plan to buy 100 chateaux in France and develop a fractional destination club . – JW
18 hotelsmag . com May 2016