How does the NH Hotel group intend to expand its presence in France?
Hugo Rovira - In addition to our two existing hotels near the Lyon airports and Nice - which will soon be renovated - our ambition is to have around twenty hotels in France. À Paris of course, but also BordeauxLyon, Lille... Our future establishments will be either in the city centre or close to congress centre or major hubs. This will also be the case for NH Hotel which opens its doors in November in Toulouse Blagnacadjacent to the airport terminal. Further evidence of our interest in France are the hotels recently opened in Marseille with an NH Collection ideally placed in the up-and-coming district of the Joliette and the inauguration in September of Nhow, the former Palm Beach. A superb product completely transformed with a MICE very important.
Why did you choose Marseille as the location for the Nhow design chain?
Hugo Rovira - A 'canaille' city, in the midst of a business and cultural boom, Marseilles was right up there with the rest of Europe. Nhow concept. With its design and architectural bias, this disruptive brand is very popular. After Berlin, Marseille, Milan and Rotterdamothers will soon open in London - designed by Norman Foster -, in Amsterdam - designed by OMA, the Rem Koolhaas agency - as well as in Santiago de Chile. We are always very demanding when it comes to this type of project.
Outside France, what are your ambitions in Southern Europe?
Hugo Rovira - We have almost 140 hotels in Spainour home country. So we will be very selective. But we have many projects in ItalyIn addition to renovations to upgrade hotels from the NH brand to the highly successful upmarket NH Collection brand. This does not mean that our mid-range NH brand is any less important to us, especially as it encompasses the largest number of establishments. We are working on reinventing it, restyling the rooms, bringing more life to the public areas with new gastronomic concepts. This is an integral part of the NH experience.
