What's new at Belaroïa?
Pascal Donat - We made a few small changes, improving things we weren't entirely happy with, in particular the breakfast room, the creation of an additional treatment room and a rest room for the spa. We've also created the Bela Shop, and redesigned some of the walls to display our new signage... But the main work has been on our digital communications and theexperience that we were offering customers. There was a complete overhaul of our tools and the creation of this new brand from a graphic point of view, which required a real investment in time and money... Personally I'm in love with this iconographic work which I find particularly successful. When I saw Belaroïa Hotel written like that, I fell under its spell. It immediately conveys a world, an experience, a modernity.... That's exactly what I wanted for the hotel. And the idea of using Bela as a prefix for each experience is one I've had for a long time, as we also implemented it with the TOO Hotelwhich I co-own with Laurent Taïeb.
Does the launch of a new brand mean that other establishments in other destinations will have to adopt this identity?
Pascal Donat - Yes, perhaps there will be others. I have other hotel projects, and Belaroïa enters the realms of possibility. For example, I'm working on a hotel project in Valencia with Manuelle Gautrand [the architect who designed the Belaroïa, among other major projects].a contemporary boutique hotel, which may well be a Belaroïa. Manuelle is also taking part in a competition at Stockholmwhich may lead to a Belaroïa in Sweden... Now that we know how to franchise our brands with Maison ELLEWhy not franchise Belaroïa in the future, if we happen to be in a contemporary urban environment? These are questions we're asking ourselves. Working on a brand is a huge job. It's not enough just to create it, you have to bring it to life, you have to convince the whole team that the project is worthwhile and that they embody the values of the brand. It's a big job. But whatever happens, we'll already be very, very happy to be running Belaroïa Montpellier, which is very close to our hearts.
It's no coincidence that you've chosen this establishment as the starting point for a brand that has the potential to spread far and wide...
Pascal Donat - It's one of Valotel's biggest investments, along with Maison ELLE and the TOO Hotel in Paris. These are flagships to which we are very attached. In any case, we have very strong brand identities.
What role do business customers play at the Belaroïa, which seems to rely heavily on seminars?
Pascal Donat - Like many provincial hotels, we have a large business clientele during the week. But a hotel has a good business, a good occupancy rate, when it is firmly on its two legs: one for business customers, the other for leisure customers. It's up to us to have universes that speak to both populations and who are compatible. The profiles we're going to be working with at Belaroïa are both a 35-year-old Montpellier woman, a legal director, who used to live in Paris and has been here for 5 years or since the health crisis, looking for a modern and relaxed place to live, as she has in Paris or when she travels, and a tech company director with a subsidiary in Montpellier, who travels a lot and wants to find what he knows in Berlin, London or Lyon. Belaroïa needs to become a landmark, a place where everyone can find themselves.. And we all have the idea of a hotel where the heart of the city beats, where you're also in touch with the locals. That's the kind of mix we want to continue here.
An update on Maison ELLE, its achievements and its future?
Pascal Donat - Maison ELLE is doing well! And we may be making some very good announcements in the coming weeks, with several hotel conversions. Paris is doing very well, and we're very happy about that. Amsterdam is also a great success. We have developments under discussion abroad, in South-East Asia, China and the Middle East, particularly in the surprising and incredible country of Saudi Arabia. More recently we've also had discussions about Morocco, more specifically with Marrakech and Rabat. The brand is young: Maison ELLE is just two years old. Development takes time. It also gives the brand time to grow, to hone its skills, to find its place in the hotel landscape. But it's a brand that's doing well.
But you've already ticked off a lot of destinations...
Pascal Donat - Of course, but it takes time from targeting a destination to actually doing it! In Saudi Arabia, for example, we're talking about construction projects worth tens of millions of dollars... We need to reassure people about the brand's potential, more so than for other, more established brands. And awareness of the ELLE brand is not the same everywhere: it is very strong in Asia, unlike Saudi Arabia. All this takes time, but we're doing our best.
What are the brand's specifications for internationalisation? Adapt to the destination or export the ELLE spirit and its standards?
Pascal Donat - We are the only media hotel in existence, and the hallmark of a media outlet is tomaintain an intimate relationship with the reader, a relationship of trust. If ELLE recommends a good address, a good treatment, there is a greater relationship of trust than if it's Hilton, Novotel or even Belaroïa. So we have the legitimacy to speak out about the hotel experience, which is very important. That's why, for example, each ELLE House offers a City Guide. Once in the hotel, you immediately recognise the ELLE spirit with its refined, rather Parisian, very French style of decoration, which works very well in Paris, of course, but also in Amsterdam. There's a sense of the obvious: it's HER, and it's nowhere else.
Does it also imply a certain femininity? Does it also appeal to men?
Pascal Donat - Yes: surprisingly, we welcome a lot of business travellers to Paris, who find themselves in the ELLE environment because is above all a cocooning environment. It's like a home, you feel at home there. Taking the brand to another country like China, where the hotels are much bigger, with a five-star luxury project with 120 rooms, it's clear that it's not the same experience as in the middle of Paris with a 25-key boutique hotel. So the brand is going to have to express itself in a different way, with different services, with a restaurant, a bar, probably a club... Europe is well suited to the intimate boutique hotel format, and abroad we'll be working with more imposing formats. We'll have to adapt.
From time to time, hotels position themselves to offer specific services for business travellers, in terms of comfort and security. Do the Maison ELLE specifications also take this into account?
Pascal Donat - Of course: we pay particular attention to welcoming women so that they feel safe. There is a Maison ELLE's promise of intimacyIn Paris, for example, the automatic door is made of wood and there are no glass doors. In Paris, for example, the automatic door is made of wood, there is no glass door. It's like a subliminal message, because we don't have a glass front door at home. More and more women are travelling, especially on business, and they are often the influencers in the hotel industry. The notion of 'home' is therefore very important, but there could be other variations: we could have a Villa ELLE, ELLE Residence, ELLE Luxury or even ELLE City... It's a huge field that requires a lot of energy!
Do you have enough left over to remain close to Accor hotels, with which Valotel has historical links?
Pascal Donat - Valotel is cheese and dessert! We continue to do everything because our size allows us to. We're already going to make sure that Belaroïa does well in Montpellier, Maison ELLE is in the development phase, but I really like working with Accor, we're very close and we still have projects in the pipeline for Ibis, Mercure... We're continuing. It's a busy schedule, but it's exciting, and I'm lucky enough to have great teams!
