Maisons Pariente, a family-run collection of boutique, luxury hotels in France, is gearing up for the opening of its latest asset, Le Grand Mazarin, early next year in the Le Marais district of Paris.
Guy Bertaud, group managing director of Maisons Pariente, said the new property will be in the heart of Paris close to several iconic city landmarks.
“Our Paris approach is to offer the first five-star hotel in this area of Le Marais, within a Parisian neighbourhood, and within walking distance of Notre Dame and the Louvre,” Bertaud said.
Bertaud said he always had a taste for the “art of living and entertaining.” This calling led him to study hotel management in Paris and then obtain an MBA in tourism at the University of Zurich.
Bertaud began his professional career in 1988 in London at the Le Méridien Piccadilly. For more than 30 years, he has managed such properties as Le Vendôme in Lebanon; Hôtel de Paris, Monaco; H Dubai, Le Grand Hôtel in Bordeaux and Le Plaza Athénée and Le Shangri-La, both of which are in Paris.
Now as group managing director of Maisons Pariente, he is responsible for the development of the collection and for “continuing to anchor it in the local landscape and multiplying the emotions and experiences of guests.”
Even though the company has roots in Paris, developing and opening hotels in the French capital is never straightforward, he said.
“Paris is a very dynamic destination, yet highly competitive. We needed to wait for the right time in order to find the right location,” he said.
Providing a luxury hotel stay in the heart of Paris is the driving force behind its Le Grand Mazarin hotel.
“So many international travelers have experienced the west of Paris," he said. "We purposely wanted to offer Paris’ visitors a new experience right in the historic heart of the city. Hence, it took some time to find the best spot in this Parisian neighborhood."
Another challenge of opening in Paris is that it is a world-class city that has dazzled guests with beautiful hotels for several centuries.
Bertaud said that even though the City of Light has been his home for many years, he is continually discovering its new and changing areas. He added it is such freshness and vitality that his guests crave and his hotels want to showcase.
“This is exactly the kind of excitement we at Maisons Pariente want to share. … Rather than seeing it as a challenge, I see Paris as an opportunity to regularly discover something new,” he said.
“The hotel has been a delicate rehabilitation in a busy Paris neighborhood. We have been working almost five years on this project, which will give birth to an amazing property made of 61 rooms and suites in one of the most exciting environments in the City of Light,” he said.
Maisons Pariente's other hotels include Lou Pinet in Saint-Tropez on France's southern coast; Crillon Le Brave in Provence north of Marseille and Le Coucou in Meribel near the country's eastern border.
Steady Hands
In the five years leading up to the opening of Le Grand Mazarin, the COVID-19 pandemic especially affected Maisons Pariente, Bertaud said.
"We only opened the first hotel in our collection in 2019. However, we have been blessed by many returning guests, mostly from European countries, who have already experienced at least one of our properties before,” he said.
“I can tell that we have completely redesigned the guest journey [during the development of Le Grand Mazarin] so that every single interaction becomes an opportunity to engage and show we care. The design brief has never really changed, it has only evolved to make sure service is seamless and human engagement is paramount,” he added.
Getting the caliber of staff to make all of this happen also required a definite strategy.
“It is true staffing has certainly been a challenge. However, we have developed two opportunities on this front. Firstly, we have strongly been communicating our values, such as respect and being a caring family organization," he said.
“Secondly, we have embraced [corporate social responsibility] activities, so every single employee can participate in a purposeful action. Such actions enforce the sense of belonging that ultimately help us attract and retain talent,” he added.
Bertaud said within the leisure segment, which is the firm’s focus, demand for Paris hotels has increased from both mature travel markets such as the U.S. and from "less-mature” travel markets such as Latin American countries.
“Furthermore, the 2024 Paris Olympics should be driving even more enthusiasm and interest to Paris as a destination,” he said.
But there are headwinds that could temper tourism demand in Paris, Bertaud said.
“The real economic concern when hosting international travelers is the inflation rate. Should it become too high, it will definitely impact Paris as a destination. The situation in Ukraine is, indeed, terribly sad, [but] it has not yet had a direct impact on Paris,” he said.
He added communication efforts on social media and in digital marketing have helped sustain growth, but this is a classic hotel company in that its guests are its biggest advocates.
“With close to 30,000 guest nights every year, we truly believe that our guests are our best ambassadors and better referrals than any other system. Without it being a surprise, almost a third of our guest base is from the U.S. and another third from European countries outside of France,” he said.
Bertaud can see opportunities for growth in the future, but they will be carefully chosen, he said.
“We are conscious family investors, which means that our investments are purposeful for the family, [but] maybe one or two new addresses in the years to come. The family is certainly keen to expand the portfolio,” he said, adding sustainability is at the heart of those decisions.
That adds to the deliberateness of opening a new hotel, he said.
Operating as a sustainable hotel company is also a priority for both Maisons Pariente and its guests, Bertaud said.
“If we look at [sustainability] from a guest perspective, consuming environmentally sensible products is a choice that is being monetized," Bertaud said. “Looking at it from an operators’ perspective, recycling organic waste reduces waste-management cost, helps sustain the environment and provides fertilizer."