The new segmentation of Appart'City's offering will soon be taking shape. After sketching out the outline last autumn, France's leading provider of city apartment hotels has set 3 April as the launch date for its new brand architecture. Previously, its offer was based on two ranges, Appart'City and Appart'City Confort - some three-star and others four-star - all linked by an identical logo and signage. From now on, its network will be segmented into three ranges: Classic, Comfort and Collection.Each has a logo with a distinct colour code. Blue for the Classic budget apartment-hotels and black, a colour associated with the top end, for the Collection establishments, while the Appart'City Confort, positioned in the mid-range, will retain the brand's emblematic colour: raspberry.
But this major change is not just cosmetic. It also reflects a desire to move upmarketHalf of the offer is now positioned in three and four star hotels. Whereas Appart'City previously had around sixty budget establishments, the Classic range will now comprise just 44, compared with 43 Appart'City Confort and 7 Appart'City Collection establishments.
This new structure is also based on clarified standards for each range. " For example, some establishments did not offer breakfast, while others did, and not always at the same price.Richard Perdu, Director of Strategic Marketing, Product and Communications. Hence the need to put things back in order and tooffer a clearer range of services to our customers" .
As a result, Classic establishments will see their opening times harmonised and on-demand services deployed everywhere, such as breakfast, daily cleaning and on-site or nearby parking. In addition, travellers will be guaranteed a ready-to-live-in flat equipped with a kitchenette and broadband WiFi. A service base that expands as the range rises. Appart'City Confort will also offer 24-hour reception, fast food and takeaway services, and business corners. The flats are also equipped with an integrated kitchen, pod or capsule coffee machine and Chromecast TV. Finally, in addition to the refinement of the four-star level, the Collection range will offer a number of additional services, including fitness areas.
The roll-out of this new identity will begin at the beginning of April with Classic establishments and will continue with Appart'City Confort and Collection establishments. " At the beginning of June, we will have a clear, legible and structured offer" says Vincent Compagnon, Chairman of the Appart'City Group. As part of its strategy, Appart'City is supporting the introduction of this new segmentation by an investment of over 25 million spread over 2022 and 2023. Furniture, bedding, floors, paintwork: some sixty establishments have given their offer a facelift. " We're not talking about large-scale renovations, as we've done in the past, but targeted upgrades to accompany the move upmarket." says Vincent Compagnon.
On the strength of this new base, as well as record results in 2022 - with EBITDA of 12.5 million last year compared with 10.3 million in 2019 - which will accelerate the progress of its safeguard plan concluded at the end of 2021, the Group will be able to resume the forward march of its development.
Following the opening of a four-star apartment hotel in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 2022, this autumn will see the inauguration of a new Appart'City Collection in Paris, less than ten minutes' walk from the Gare de Lyon. This 109-apartment establishment will be the first of many, since, without revealing any further details, the group has said that it is close to concluding a deal for a new Appart'City Collection. new projects in ParisSome of these will be the result of the refurbishment of former offices. " We are planning new openings in the Paris region as well as in the major provincial cities, with the aim of reaching a rate of around ten new establishments a year by 2026, most of them in the Comfort and Collection ranges." says the Chairman of Appart'City. This development will be all the more sustainable as the entire network is set to be awarded the Green Key by the end of 2024, compared with half of the fleet already carrying this label today.
