In 2009, you announced the "eighth Parisian palace" with the opening of the Shangri-La Paris Palais d'Iéna. Has the legend of the Parisian palace come to an end?
Didier Le Calvez : On the contrary, it's more vibrant than it was ten years ago. When I took over the management of the Four Seasons George V in 1999, there wasn't a single Paris hotel in the world's top ten in the benchmark rankings. Everything has changed since then: following the reopening of the George V, the Plaza Athénée and the Meurice have undergone renovation work, and Paris is once again being seen as a city with an exceptional hotel industry, with historic buildings of limited size that allow us to carry out in-depth work. The arrival of Asian groups such as Shangri-La, but also Mandarin Oriental or Raffles, at the Royal Monceau, can only amplify this movement.
How will the Shangri-La in the Palais d'Iena justify its title of palace?
D. L. C.: A palace is all about luxury, space, comfort and well-being, and when you look at the characteristics of the Palais d'Iéna project, it fits in perfectly with this spirit. The Shangri-La Palais d'Iéna will have just 108 rooms, including 50 % suites, with a minimum surface area of 45 m2 for the rooms. Above all, the project has a very strong identity, as it is being developed in an exceptional building: Roland Bonaparte's former private mansion. The interior design by interior architect Pierre-Yves Rochon fully respects the spirit of the place.
Apart from the bedrooms, what will the establishment have to offer?
D. L. C.: A large Chi-Spa with ten treatment rooms, three restaurants including a gourmet Chinese restaurant and a gourmet French restaurant, a real hotel bar, exceptional panoramic views over Paris, as well as a unique range of meeting facilities. Alongside the banqueting room with terrace in the Roland Bonaparte salons, we have created a second ballroom that can also accommodate 200 people. This makes it possible to hold a seminar in one exceptional venue and lunch in another. To my knowledge, we are the only ones to offer this.
Will this establishment be the spearhead of the 'conquest of the West' recently launched by the Shangri-La group, which until now has confined itself to the Asia-Pacific region?
D. L. C. : Yes, but it won't be the only one. There's also the Shangri-La in London, which is being developed from the 32nd floor of a building designed by Renzo Piano and will offer the most spacious rooms in the city, with incomparable views. And the one in New York, which will be located on Park Avenue.
And what is the Group's strategy for the future?
D. L. C.: The aim is not to develop in a very large number of destinations, but to be present in strategic cities - New York, Paris, London and Los Angeles - and to seize good opportunities elsewhere, as we did in Vienna. We are currently finalising projects in Moscow, Mexico and Washington. If an opportunity arose in Rome or Kiev, we'd be interested. Without wishing to rush things...
Bio express
1987-1989 General Manager of Plaza Hotels (New York).
1989-1993 then 1995-1999 Managing Director of Le Pierre (New York).
1993-1995 Managing Director of Le Regent (Singapore).
1999-2007 General Manager of the Four Seasons George V (Paris).
2007 Executive Vice-President, Europe and North America of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and General Manager of the Shangri-La Paris Palais d'Iéna.
