In the 19th century , it was the only hotel available for welcoming wealthy travelers in Paris until the opening of the Ritz in 1898 . It was these first hotels that defined the level of excellence . They took inspirations from castles and fine bourgeois estates in a careful attempt to define the service roles they wanted to offer their first clients . While some professions have disappeared , others have been modernized . During this period , the hotelier ’ s expertise was developed on the job , passed down from generation to generation , and further reinterpreted upon the arrival of subsequent generations — and this remains true even today . It is this alchemy that ensures the client the experience of excellent service .
French luxury in the hotel industry brings together at once tradition and the ability to constantly reinvent ways for welcoming one ’ s guest . Welcoming one ’ s guests provides a source for the exchange of sensual and intellectual pleasures that , in France , bring out the best in standards , beauty , refinement , bygone and new rituals , and sophistication , not to mention lightheartedness , excellence , and courtesy .
French luxury hotels also bring together the best providers of products for their clients . For instance , a luxury hotel has to be able to offer the highest quality bedding by working with the best brands , such as Dumas , a company that has crafted luxury pillows and duvets for over 100 years . This expertise also becomes passed down from generation to generation , and it is this transmission of expertise that characterizes all the providers of our finest hotels , whether it be in the setting of the room or the restaurant .
The Plaza Athénée , for instance , continues this tradition of hospitality while reinventing it . In terms of decoration , if you look at the work that has taken place in the bar and the restaurant under Alain Ducasse , architects Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku have understood how to preserve the spirit of these historic places while bringing to them a touch of modernity . As far as service is concerned , the team continues to respect traditions while remaining open to innovating tableware , such as doing away with napkins . Yet excellence continues to reign ! In these kinds of establishments , there are always a handful of collaborators who claim more than thirty years of experience within the establishment . They represent the memory of the establishment , and they are the ones who can recall the hotel ’ s most memorable stories and finest moments . Within their respective departments , they pass down knowledge they have learned from those who came before them .
2 . What place do French luxury hotels hold abroad ?
Numerous international brands go looking in search of French expertise in the luxury hotel world . A considerable number of hotel managers around the world are French . They thus pass down their expertise to their teams on a daily basis and see to the excellence of their service . This goes the same for chefs . The finest hotels always make it a point of honor to name a French chef at the head of their kitchen . A restaurant boasting French cuisine is always a sign of excellence for a Palace . In the world of luxury hotels , France and French products are signs of quality and excellence . Again , we possess a wide range of ancestral expertise that continues to be passed down , and we possess an immense richness of terroir that summons envy from the rest of the world .
Take the brand Sofitel ! It brings to life the French art of living around the world and cultivates the “ French touch ” as a way of differentiating itself from its competitors . Sofitel thus delivers a French vision of luxury hotels based primarily on the use of French brands in its hotels and by highlighting the best expertise in gastronomy , design , and culture , all while welcoming the best of what is being done in the local area .
3 . The notion of service is an integral one in the French luxury hotel industry ; does it still exist in France ? And in your opinion , what type of service remains to be invented ?
The digital age and the Internet have vastly transformed our modes of living as well as our modes of consumption since the time they ’ ve been introduced , as tends to happen with such progress . This is the way it is , and it ’ s only inevitable . Luxury hotels simply can ’ t afford to bury their heads in the sand to avoid digital innovation or the importance of smartphones in their clients ’ lives . They have to integrate it into their service . Too few hotels are actively conscious of it , and they often just wait around to see what their competitors do . The digital dimension can improve their clients ’ all-around experience within the hotel , from their arrival in the hotel all the way to checkout .
New consumer behaviors , related in part to emerging forms of social media , have arrived in the hotel industry and have consequently shifted toward holding a different rapport with luxury hotels . The mode of ‘ consuming ’ luxury hotels has evolved — just look at Dubai or China . This new clientele has grown accustomed to luxury hotels , which are developing more and more of a presence in Paris and Provence , and they have also come to expect an evolution in the range of offers of hotels in France .
There might come about a gap between the generations , and some of the older directors might not be conscious of the stakes involved in integrating digital technology into their hotels . And this is not just a matter that is just important to Paris ,
52 ILHA