BERLIN — Xavier Grange, global chief development officer, Sofitel, Emblems and MGallery, and all luxury brands, Europe and North Africa at Accor, said even if brands have the scale, history and color of a global hotel firm such as Accor behind them, building a brand remains a very tough proposition.
Technical rigor and deep market expertise are required, he added, speaking to CoStar News Hotel at the 2026 International Hotel Investment Forum EMEA in March.
“To be honest, at the beginning, it was difficult, the feeling of being at the bottom of a big world, looking up … now is the time we need to do something,” he said.
That “something,” he said, was refreshing and relaunching the Sofitel brand; accelerating the growth of MGallery, of which he said there was a problem of the lack of awareness; and launching in its entirely the Emblems brand.
For Sofitel, he said, “we have convinced owners all around the world — in India, South East and also in Europe — to invest in the brand, and now we are signing the same number of hotels as our main American competitors.”
Emblems Collection is Accor’s newest brand, which debuted its first property, Lucknam Park in Wiltshire, England, in November 2025.
“We have a vertical now at Accor, starting with [brand] Handwritten [Collection], then MGallery and now Emblems, the luxury level. … We took time to position it, to find the right product … and now we can see the attraction to the market,” he said.
Grange said he sees the future as being bright, even for new builds.
“The money is here. Looking at [IHIF] in Berlin, and I have been to here for the last 10 or 20 years … you have so many investors, they are looking for projects,” he said.
He added the challenge is finding the right projects, not the right investors.
For more of Grange’s insight and comments, click the video or podcast embedded above.