Why make things complicated when you can make them simple? That, in a nutshell, is the strategy of easyHotel, theoint of the low-cost airlineIn 2019, investors Ivanohé Cambridge and ICAMAP took control of the hotel group. Apart from a minority share of the capital still held by their joint founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, and, above all, a logo that is instantly recognisable by its emblematic orange colour.
But they also have something else in common: a focus on basics at the right price. " Hotels made for sleepingsays Karim Malak, CEO of easyHotel. With thick mattresses like in four-star hotels, blackout curtains, a strong emphasis on silence in the rooms and WiFi. Hotels that don't have a formal appearance, a cocktail bar or a gym. Customers can find all this around our establishments." . The opposite, in fact, of this tendency to want to bring the life of the neighbourhood into the hotel, but rather to spread the life generated by travellers into the neighbourhood.
At a time when major groups such as Accor, IHG and Hilton are focusing on luxury and lifestyle, Karim Malak intends to take advantage of this opening to develop a budget hotel business that will enable "the hotel industry to offer its customers a wide range of services". travel anywhere at low cost".. Taking the example of the easyHotel Paris Nord Aubervilliers, due to open in March 2023 at the foot of the Front Populaire metro station, not far from the Stade de France, the CEO of easyHotel believes that "the easyHotel Paris Nord Aubervilliers will be a real success. customers who come to see a concert and pay quite a lot for their tickets don't necessarily want to spend 400 to 500 euros per night, but rather around a hundred." . The same applies to business travellers, who make up 40% from customers of the group's forty or so establishments in Europe.
Forty if we follow the ideas of the Group's CEO since 2022: " That's what I realised when I arrived. It's almost absurd to have so little when brand awareness is enormous. Everyone knows the orange logo, which means there's real potential for increasing our presence in Europe." . Why not follow in the footsteps of the big business brands by breaking the 1,000-establishment barrier in the future? " There's no reason why we can't do it." says Karim Malak.
Among the developments underway in large and medium-sized European cities, Marseille is on the list of upcoming destinations, with a hotel due to open in September, as well as Zurich, where the brand will appear from this summer. Several establishments are also being developed in Spain, in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia by 2025, and another in Alicante in 2026. France will also see a new opening in 2027, with a hotel close to Geneva airport.
" We have a huge number of projects under discussion, with a strong focus on France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and soon Germany.explains Gwenaëlle Pouy, Director of Development and Property. Our development team is ramping up with the intention ofaccelerate in the coming months signing up to new projects to achieve the objectives we have set ourselves" . " There are plenty of countries where we can do more and where we will do more.Karim Malak, citing the top 15 French cities as a target, which could be extended in the future. Our shareholders bought the company on the grounds that easyHotel was a sleeping beauty, with a good brand and a good concept, but with too much emphasis on the UK and not enough on Europe, unlike easyJet, for example, whose offer is pan-European." .
This transition to a " industrial "At the same time, we have set ourselves high standards in terms of CSR. " In addition to the brand's DNA, which is to offer the best room at the right price, we want to developing low-carbon hotels" says Gwenaëlle Pouy. Hence the work on a new room design incorporating the use of wood, bio-sourced floor coverings and recyclable materials, a concept that will be rolled out across the new hotels. " We analysed the carbon emissions of a hotel over its 50-year cycle, taking into account construction, operation, renovations and end of life. We arrived at 1.9 kg of CO2 per night, which puts us 66% below a standard four-star hotel." says the easyHotel Development Director.
At the same time, the Group launched a investment plan to also transform existing hotels, with €7 million spent in 2023-2024 on around twenty assets. " This will enable us to reduce the CO2 emissions of these hotels by 25 % and ensure a consistent low-carbon trajectory for our fleet." points out Gwenaëlle Pouy. According to the projections, this will put us around ten years ahead of the decarbonisation curve set by the European body CRREM for property assets.
