Positioned on either side of the Rue Nationale, one of Tours' main thoroughfares, the new Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton The Naos Hotel Group and the Naos Hotel & Spa Group have joined forces to discuss the city's future as a tourist destination, which has become even more promising since their opening on 30 June last year. Developed by the Naos Hôtel Groupe and featuring two fast-growing brands in FranceThese establishments add a new dimension to the city's hotel offering. With these two brands, Tours is boosting its appeal, particularly to foreign tourists, for whom the American group remains a benchmark. But thanks to them, visiting business travellers are also finding new places to stay, in keeping with the tone of today's hotel industry.
Both design-led and functional, perfectly soundproofed, the hotels come in a palette of shades of blue for the Hampton and pink and pastel for the Hilton Garden Inn. The two establishments share the same idea of a a welcoming, contemporary settingThis is reinforced by a lobby bar at the Hampton - with an all-day snack offer - and by the Babette concept at the Hilton Garden Inn. A restaurant focusing on healthy, predominantly local food, combined with a concept store where you can buy a selection of objects and clothing designed by "responsible" brands.
An ideal location, next to the historic centre
Over and above these assets, this pair of hotels is especially well located just a stone's throw from the Unesco-listed historic centre and a quarter of an hour's walk from the stationAnd even less by tram. An ideal location for enjoying the charm of Tours and its streets lined with medieval and Renaissance houses after a day of meetings. All the more so as, until now, the business hotels in Tours have been mainly concentrated in the city centre. around the station and its convention centre which, while not very far from the historic centre, are nonetheless further away than the Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton.
Close to the rail hub, business travellers could find well-known names such as Novotel, Mercure and Ibis from the Accor group, as well as the city's historic establishment, the Océania Hotel de l'Univers, opened in 1846, and an independent establishment, the Grand Hôtel. For the most part with meeting roomsThe Hilton Garden Inn also has three modular rooms equipped with the latest technology and able to accommodate from 10 to 40 people.
However, these hotels also complement each other. With increased capacity, Tours will be able to position itself for bigger events at a time when the city tended to sell out quickly during conference periods. As a result, the hotel now offers 70 rooms at the Hampton by Hilton - ranging from 15 m2 to 25 m2, a good size for a budget hotel - and 100 rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn, including 30 Deluxe rooms, three suites and a presidential suite. All rooms offer comfortable bedding and are complete with Nespresso machine and/or teapot, flat-screen TV, walk-in showerThere is also an iron and ironing board. It should also be noted that, while the Hampton has an individual fitness area, the Hilton Garden Inn offers its guests a much more extensive fitness room.
The two hotels owned by the Naos Hôtel Groupe have an obvious tourist vocation. But the opening of these an even more important urban dimension. With their exterior décor in keeping with that of the neighbouring buildings, designed in the 1950s by architect Pierre Patout, they are part of a vast project initiated in 1999, that of the redevelopment of the Rue Nationale. Long clogged with cars, this former section of the RN10 has gradually turned towards soft mobility, with the inauguration in 2013 of a tram designed by Daniel Buren and priority given to bicycles and pedestrians on the Wilson bridge.
Porte de Loire, a flagship project for Tours
In the wake of the arrival of the tramway, the municipality has given impetus to the redevelopment of the upper part of the Rue Nationale, turning it into an attractive district with two hotels, housing and cultural venues such as the Olivier Debré Centre for Contemporary Creation, inaugurated in 2017. Flagship project, the project, renamed Porte de LoireAs always, there have been delays. But today, the two Hilton Group hotels are helping to make the Rue Nationale both a new entrance to the city and a link to the river, the greenery of its banks and the guinguettes that line it.
At a time when a number of key trends will be driving the resurgence of the seminar and incentive business - the great outdoors, culture, proximity to Paris - Tours in general, and these two hotels in particular, have undoubtedly made a significant contribution to the recovery. a card to play to win over organisers. Just an hour by TGV from the capital, the city offers a host of activities that can easily enhance a business meeting. For example, a guided tour of the Loire offered by the Boulavant company, which is highly instructive on the commercial role played by the river, its navigation despite the fact that its course is not channelled, and its environmental quality, which is tending to improve.
Of course, a visit to the historic centre, from Saint Gatien cathedral to Place Plumereau, is a must. But groups can also take things a step further with a visit to the nearest Loire château, at Villandry and its sublime formal gardensor discover the finesse of the Chenin grape, the variety used in the Montlouis and Vouvray appellations. In the village of Rochecorbon, for example, the Bourillon Dorléans estate can organise gourmet walks in small groups through sculpted troglodyte cellarsThe works evoke the history of man, wine and the region, ending with a dreamlike voyage of initiation. Sparkling wine and oysters, salmon and dry Vouvray, rillettes de Tours and Sainte-Maure cheese with a demi-sec before finishing with a mellow foie gras and Roquefort: or when the gentle way of life in the Loire Valley is combined with a certain savoir-être.
