NEW YORK—Oetker Collection, a Paris-based owner and operator with eight hotels, plans to double in size. The latest addition is a management contract for the Eden Rock – St. Barths in the Caribbean.
The Matthews family, who purchased the property in 1995 and previously managed it, will be owner-partner. Oetker, also a family-owned company, will be manager-partner.
David Matthews, executive chairman of the hotel, said it was time to bring in “the best management we could find as the company sought to grow but maintain its standards.”
The Eden Rock—located on Saint Barthélemy, commonly known as St. Barths, island—has 34 units along a beach with each decorated individually. There are two large villas, including the Villa Rockstar where John Lennon is said to have recorded the music to “Imagine.” Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the celebrity chef, heads the On the Rocks restaurant at the resort.
This is Oetker’s second recent move into management of a St. Barths hotel. It managed the Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France for about a year but lost the contract after new investors took over the property. Asked about that brief experience, Didier Le Calvez, senior VP of operations and sales & marketing at Oetker, said, “We did too good a job. We were very successful for a year and then the hotel was purchased by LVMH, the European luxury retailer, and they decided to make a change. We look forward to competing with them in the interest of a better St. Barths.”
Matthews said his family purchased the 70-year-old property when it was “falling down” about 20 years ago and has built it up to its present position as a luxury property with 90%-plus, year-round occupancy.
“We are expanding our company into other areas like design and fractional ownership but wanted to keep improving the hotel, so we decided to look for a management company of like mind,” he said. “We decided that Oetker is the best of its type in the world as far as being private, high-class and always looking to improve its product. It was a perfect fit for us.”
Caroline Goux, Oetker’s head of sales and marketing-North America, said the company wants to add 10 more properties through management contracts and perhaps equity but that “we will never become a chain.”
Le Calvez said the group had its eye on New York, but there are no definite plans at the moment. Most of its growth is expected to be in the Middle East and Europe.
Rooted in history
Oetker opened its first hotel in Germany in 1923 and slowly acquired ownership of three more, including the iconic Le Bristol in Paris.
Several years ago, the company decided to move into management and has added four more properties on that basis. However, Oetker does have limited equity in the Eden Rock and, according to Le Calvez, is open to other such deals.
He said the Eden Rock gets 60% to 70% of its guests from the United States and 30% across all hotels from North America, so there will be some overlap in clientele.
Asked how a small group like Oetker competes against major brands, Goux said, “We are all about maintaining the identity of each hotel. We do not try to recreate anything. We have an amazing group of hoteliers in charge. Didier Le Calvez was with Four Seasons for 17 years and has been general manger of The Pierre in New York. We’ve been around.”
The Oetker Collection also includes:
- L’Apogée Courchevel—a chalet in the French Alps;
- Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa—in a private park in Baden-Baden in Germany;
- Le Bristol Paris—a former palace and one of the city’s best-known luxury hotels;
- Château Saint-Martin & Spa—a chateau in France;
- Fregate Island Private—a small property in the Seychelles;
- Hotel du Cap-Eden Roc—a well-known hotel in Cap d’Antibes, France; and
- Palais Namaskar—a 41-unit resort and spa in Marrakech, Morocco.