As a seasoned professional, how do you view the current crisis and its consequences?
Marie-Béatrice Lallemand - There are always opportunities in crisis. This catastrophic period for the tourism industry forces us to review our modelsWe've had to refocus on our customers and our employees, and think about the things that were important to us and that, in the end, may not have been necessary. When people start travelling again, the welcome, the personal touch, the social and human experience that we can offer will be essential, for both leisure and corporate customers. Take the image of a hotel that used to be alone on its island and suddenly sees three or four others arrive. It forces you to be better by always focusing on the very basics, for example taking the time to treat customers individually, even if you're on your fiftieth check-in of the day.
Do you think the current emphasis on hygiene and cleanliness is here to stay?
M.-B. L. - I believe that many things will remainAnd that's very important. Hotel groups take care of a lot of things, programmes, this and that. But at the end of the day, when a customer walks into a room, the first thing he wants is for it to be clean. Bill Marriott, if I'm not mistaken, used to say that they should always have the impression of being the first to enter the room. The hotel business had already very high standards in this area, but we need to rise to a higher level. even higher levelWith immaculate rooms and perfect meeting rooms. Those who embrace this and train their staff in it will be winners in the future.
Another trend that emerged with the pandemic was the conversion of rooms into offices. Does this trend have a future?
M.-B. L. - It's a market that needs to be developed, but I don't think it's going to become huge. You always had people working in hotel lobbies, so the need is there. And with people teleworking all week, they don't always want to stay at home for five days. Human beings need to get out. However, for those who can afford it, this development will involve moving house or setting up a real home office. However, this can become a occasional assistance. The proof: I now recommend the hotel MGallery La Citadelle à MetzIn September, we refurbished four of the rooms, because we had a lot of demand, either for or to interview candidates.
Let's talk about this hotel. What is the demand from business customers, particularly for meetings?
M.-B. L. - In September and October, we received a fair amount of regional demand for small meetingsThe trend was the same for November, but everything was cancelled due to confinement. The trend was the same for November, but everything was cancelled due to confinement.
Is this slack period a good time to make changes?
M.-B. L. - During the first lockdown, we were already working on refurbish all the bedroomsWe'll be changing the beds and adding large televisions. We're taking advantage of this to tackle the lobby and meeting rooms before turning our attention to the restaurant area from next spring. Previously, La Citadelle had a brasserie and a gourmet restaurant, and we're going to transform that into a single, vast space organised around a bar. A cosy place furnished with sofas, high or round tables, all with attractive catering where the chef will revisit the gastronomy of Lorraine with local products. In a nutshell, a great place to meet for all the people of Metz, as well as for the customers who come to discover this extremely pleasant town that is far too little known, despite being only 1 hour 20 minutes by TGV from Paris. It's always very interesting to work on modernising a protected building - this massive-looking citadel dating from 1559 - while retaining the charm of the period.
