An open door to emotion. Tucked away in the cloister of the Royal Convent of Saint-Maximin, the seminarians for the day - all of them executives of major companies in the secular world - pass through it in silence to enter the basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine. Candles in hand, they slowly make their way through the nave of Provence's most beautiful Gothic building, barely lit by a soft chiaroscuro. Suddenly, the organs begin to sound for a private quarter-hour concert. "They come out of there with goose bumps, as if petrified."says Olivier Gourio, Managing Director of Hôtels & Patrimoine.
The fruits of its long history, Old Europe is teeming with venues that, like this converted former convent, are turning to the hotel business to give themselves a new future, adding a very distinct soul to the meetings that are organised there. Whether they are intimate or convivial, these historic venues are the keystone of memorable events. "Organisers like to put a lyrical spin on their eventssays Béatrice Bonnet, Chateauform' Sales, Marketing and Communications Director. A place steeped in history makes a lasting impression and creates emotion. In the city, however, participants will often not remember the name of the hotel where their meeting was held, even if it was a very good one. For the company, organising a beautiful seminar in a beautiful location is a way of recognising the work of its employees and showing them their worth."
A VERY PRESENT PAST
In all of these venues, organisers will find something to suit the times. Because, paradoxically, the past has never been so relevant. Away from the workplace, the business traveller is a man or woman like everyone else. And they are no exception to the growing craze for bygone days, with their thirst for culture and nostalgia. You can see it every day at the newsagent's or on the television news: history is popular. The great epics of kings and queens, as much as their little adventures, are splashed across the front pages of magazines; heritage days and medieval re-enactments like the Puy du Fou attract crowds; and the most beautiful villages and smallest churches are now venerated as common property to be treasured.
IN PERIOD COSTUME
In line with this trend, Hôtels & Patrimoine has embarked on safeguarding exceptional places in the style of paradores in Spain or pousadas in Portugal, charming establishments set in palaces, castles or monasteries. The group is expecting, among other things, the opening in 2017 of a 23-room hotel in the UNESCO-listed abbey of Saint-Savin, and an establishment in the priory of Charité-sur-Loire, flanked by its 11th-century church and saved from demolition by Prosper Mérimée.
The group already has a number of success stories to its name, including the royal convent of Saint-Maximin and the Sedan fort. Since it began offering accommodation, Europe's largest medieval fortress has succeeded in attracting a large number of customers to a town that had long remained off the tourist map. Business groups can combine business meetings with a taste of history. "At the end of dinner, a guard in period costume will pick them up and guide them on a torchlight tour of the château, its ramparts, moats and museum."explains Olivier Gourio.
Similarly, in the Tarn region of France, Sorèze Abbey, a former Benedictine convent converted into a royal military academy under Louis XVI, is very popular with executives from Toulouse's aeronautics industry, who travel the sixty kilometres or so between the Pink City and the Black Mountains to take part in seminars set in a setting of ancient stones and lush greenery. "Its abbey hall, for example, has been transformed into an amphitheatre for conventions and product launches."explains Olivier Gourio.
Chapels, refectories, libraries, cloisters, monks' cells: monasteries, formerly dedicated to the hospitality of ecclesiastics, are easily converted into meeting rooms, bedrooms and restaurants. Yet these timeless places know how to keep up with the times. "An old building does not mean old-fashioned meeting tools - quite the contrary.says Béatrice Bonnet. In our establishments, traditional flipcharts are being replaced by smartboards equipped with Click & Share technology. This means that participants can take control of the screen at the click of a button. In addition, two thirds of our sites around Paris are already equipped with fibre optics, as high-speed WiFi is now essential. Of course, the architects of yesteryear never envisaged this. So, for some of our homes where the walls are very thick, we're looking at satellite solutions."
As its name suggests, Chateauform' also specialises not only in corporate training courses, but also in transforming prestigious residences into seminar venues, such as the Palais abbatial de Royaumont, which opened this year and adjoins the famous Cistercian abbey near Chantilly, or the Château de Guermantes. Dating back to the 17th century, the starchitect of the time, a certain Mansart, was involved in its construction, along with another benchmark of Grand Siècle design on the garden side, no less than André Le Nôtre. It's a rich history that the managers of these establishments are delighted to highlight. "On arrival, guests will find a booklet on their bed explaining the name of their room. Then, over dinner, the host couple tell them about the history of the place, says Béatrice Bonnet. At the same time, one of the incentives we offer is "the house challenge", a treasure hunt with amusing riddles that lead to the discovery of a rich heritage."
With their large parks and vast interior rooms, beautiful châteaux lend themselves just as much to studious meetings as they do to playful moments of relaxation; large spaces that transport employees far, far away from the hectic atmosphere of their daily lives. Even more than any seaside resort, no matter how sublime, they provide participants with an experience that no meeting in an urban setting or, even more so, no videoconferencing solution can offer. Especially as overbooked executives, always between two meetings to prepare, rarely take the time to clear their minds and bodies. "This is particularly noticeable during seminars organised in our Parisian urban establishments. As soon as the event is over, participants focus on catching the first metro.says Béatrice Bonnet. But you need to take the time to digest and take on board what the speakers, coaches and experts have said during the day. Otherwise, you lose some of the richness of the day.." Conversely, at residential seminars, it's not uncommon for one of the guests to move behind the counter in the evening to show off his bartending skills, while others take up the guitar or the piano, creating a relaxed atmosphere conducive to exchanges that are half-personal and half-professional.
THE THREE-UNIT RULE
"That in one place, that in one day, a single accomplished fact should hold the theatre full to the end.". Since the 17th century, Boileau's Art poétique has not aged a day, and the three-unit rule of the theatre of yesteryear applies just as well to today's seminars. "We have a number of small hotels that can be fully privatised, says Yannick Gavelle, founder of Hôtels et Préférence. It's a wonderful atmosphere for the teams, who can suddenly start dancing without the risk of disturbing other customers. At the end of the day, they feel like they're spending a weekend with friends who are organising a party.." La Maison d'à côté, near Chambord, is just one of a number of establishments suited to intimate meetings and executive committees, bringing the region's sublime heritage to life with private tours of Chambord, Chenonceaux and Cheverny, punctuated by Michelin-starred dinners prepared by chef Christophe Hay. For its part, Château Boisniard, built in 1407 by Jéhan du Puy du Fou, is a partner of the famous Vendée leisure park. History is everything. So, whether they stay in the château and its five-star rooms or in the luxurious wooden houses built on stilts to extend the hotel's capacity, seminar participants enjoy VIP access to the shows, with the possibility, out of season, of visiting the backstage areas of the Cinéscénie or the falconry.
Like Hôtels et Préférence, it is above all the voluntary chains - the major global networks Relais & Châteaux, Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Small Luxury Hotels (SLH), Preferred or those with a more regional focus such as Symboles de France - that are carrying high the torch of historic heritage revisited. They include independent establishments that depart from the classic standards of the business hotel sector, and range from Spanish convents and English manor houses to Italian palaces.
Of course, it's impossible to list them all, but exploring some of them allows you to leaf through some beautiful pages of history and postcard images. One of SLH's most recent members is Château Le Cagnard, a 13th-century fortified residence perched overlooking the Bay of Antibes, which was once part of the castle built in Cagnes-sur-Mer by Rainier Grimaldi, a distant ancestor of the Monegasque princely family. The history of the Schlosshotel Kronberg, which entered the SLH collection earlier, is closely linked to that of Empress Victoria Friedrich, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, wife of Friedrich III and mother of the future William II. An example of Tudor architecture emigrated to the mountainous landscape of the Taunus, not far from Frankfurt, this venue built at the end of the 19th century for the Empress now welcomes business groups of up to 350 people. These studious executives can meet in the former library or the royal salons and wander through the corridors of a house decorated with authentic Titian, Rubens and Gainsborough paintings. In the park, when the weather is fine, the 'empress's grotto' comes to life for team-building events, gala dinners or relaxed barbecues, all lulled by the murmur of a waterfall.
In the same way, the Relais & Châteaux portfolio includes Château de Bagnols, a medieval fortress nestling in the heart of the Beaujolais vineyards, whose Grand Salon was once frequented by Madame de Sévigné and is now used for meetings, and Borgo San Felice, a former medieval hamlet in the heart of the Chianti region, whose castle and outbuildings, chapel and cellars have been entirely converted to welcome leisure and business tourists.
THE GREAT AND THE GOOD
If the Italian and French countryside has been studded with noble residences throughout its history, the aristocracy of the British Isles has also left a legacy of rich mansions that are the pride and joy of voluntary chains. A member of Leading Hotels, Ashford Castle has seen all the greats of this world come and go. This sublime medieval residence, whose foundations date back to 1228, has recently been refurbished, with some new features such as a 32-seat cinema, but also, in a more timeless and sobritish style, a billiards room and a terrace where you can smoke a cigar while contemplating the vast estate where business groups can enjoy a multitude of sporting activities and even try their hand at falconry.
The great outdoors, whether through the royal art of hunting, pigeon shooting, archery, fishing, cycling or horse riding, is also on the programme at Dromoland Castle. Although construction of the castle, one of Ireland's most famous, began in the 16th century and was subsequently extended and remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries, its earliest traces date back to King Brian Boru, who drove out the Vikings and unified the island shortly after the year 1000. The Gothic-inspired conference centre is dedicated to him. Without necessarily remembering his feats of arms, over 400 people can gather under the high ceilings of the Brian Boru Hall for major conventions, product launches or fashion shows.
This place, which illustrates the mythical history of Ireland's first king, adds to the prestige of Preferred Hotels' aptly named Legend Collection. The American-born chain also offers other jewels such as Il Salviatino, a patrician villa in Fiesole, and the Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi, part of the chain's Lux range.
DIVINE BEAUTY
Proof that desacralisation is nothing new, this former 13th-century Cistercian monastery welcomed its first tourists in 1885. While its Arab-Norman cloister, Baroque church and loggia are now used for events, its 'passeggiata dei monaci' - the monks' passageway - adds to the charm of the place. Bordered by a Mediterranean garden, the promenade overlooks the entire coastline. And it's easy to imagine all the hours the monks spent there, meditating before the divine beauty of a natural setting now classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
However, before being a member of Preferred, the Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi is above all part of the Spanish NH Hotels group. Because, make no mistake about it, soul and charm are not the prerogative of voluntary chains alone. The major hotel groups all have a few nuggets from days gone by in their portfolios. For example, a few kilometres from Evora, in Portugal's Alentejo region, the Convento do Espinheiro, a member of Starwood's Luxury Collection, has delicately revisited an ancient 15th-century monastery, leaving the cloister, refectory, church and monks' steles virtually untouched.
In the same way, the Hilton Sa Torre Mallorca Resort on the island of Mallorca has taken up residence in a noble 14th-century finca, whose chapel, now desecrated, hosts all kinds of events. Lost in the countryside, heralded by a 15th-century windmill, it celebrates the past, only enhanced by a wealth of contemporary works of art. It's a far cry from the Hilton Group's business image. And, in the end, that's all to the good.
