"No more standardisation" : Sebastien BazinCEO of AccorHotels, has sounded the death knell for the budget hotels efficient and rational which was the norm for many decades. Establishments that are personalised and open to the outside world, a welcome that is both mobile and friendly, lobbies transformed into living spaces: the ibis brand aims to meet the changing expectations of travellers. According to an Ipsos study carried out for ibis in six countries, today's customers want both more service and more comfort. services and digital solutionsbut also friendly places. Even more than leisure guests (70%), 79 % of business travellers expect their hotel to be a real place to live, right in the city, right in time.
"We wanted to rethink Ibis as if it had been created today, with the aim of favouring porosity between the outside and the insideto create flexible spaces with no internal barriers"says Damien Perrot, vice-president of design at the French hotel group. To create this new customer experience centred on hospitality, AccorHotels launched a competition between design agencies on three continents based on a number of guidelines: designing a hotel with its own personality that is attractive to local customers, and defining several room formats that can accommodate from one to six people.
From there, three concepts have been selected for owners to choose from as part of their opening or renovation projects. While the one designed by the Austrian agency Innocad plays above all on the fluidity of the transition between the exterior and the hotel lobby, the concept of the Brazilian agency FGMF has designed vast convivial spaces inspired by a more industrial style. Lastly, the project by the Thai agency Soda is both comfortable and contemporary.
This ambition to make ibis dreal places to live also takes the form of new restaurant concepts attractive, capable of seducing local customers and to keep travellers around fresh, local produce. The pilot hotel for this new offer is theibis Zurich Messe Airport has installed Charlie's Corner in its lobby, a beer bar where you can enjoy a morning coffee and, in the evening, a rösti accompanied by a wide choice of Swiss beers, all in a pop-rock atmosphere. The attractiveness of our establishments also depends on the music. More than 100 live concerts are planned in ibis hotels this year. To this end, AccorHotels has formed two partnerships, one with Sony to sponsor emerging artists, the other with Spotify to identify the most popular artists locally.
"Ibis is one of the biggest hotel brands, but it's also one of the ones that has reinvented itself the most."remarks Franck Gervais, CEO AccorHotels Europe. In addition to the hotels' "look & feel", the way in which guests are welcomed has been completely rethought, drawing on the following factors making the most of technology and human interaction. "At a time when the majority of people make their reservations online, queuing when you arrive at the hotel no longer makes much sense."Franck Gervais continues. So instead of reception desks, which have now been banned from hotels, staff will come to customers, smartphone in hand, to carry out the following tasks mobile check-in. Quickly if the customer is in a hurry to get to their room, or over a coffee or refreshment if they have more time.
Convert the entire ibis network by 2022
Around a hundred hotels - 16 in Europe, 28 in Asia, 20 in Latin America and 10 in Africa and the Middle East - will soon be offering this new approach, with AccorHotels aiming to convert its entire network by 2022. "While we have made many acquisitions recently, we have not limited our ambitions for ibis, which represents half of our hotels worldwide, explains Sébastien Bazin. We open a hotel under this brand every three days..."With this new attractiveness, could the pace accelerate even further?
