The Hôtel du Collectionneur is preparing to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its inauguration. But it is also just over a year since the hotel, close to the Arc de Triomphe and the Parc Monceau, went out on its own following the divorce between its owner and the Hilton group. "Its business logic was very different from that of our owner, who felt that his hotel contributed more to Hilton than the other way round. What's more, the takeover of the American group by the Blackstone pension fund was not conducive to maintaining the capital, whereas he wanted to perpetuate and pass on his heritage", explains Bruno Chiarruttini, General Manager, to explain this abrupt separation. In September 2012, the hotel, which looks like an ocean liner from the 1930s, unveiled its new identity, a direct reference to the pavilion presented by decorator Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann - the Hôtel du Collectionneur, that is - at the 1925 International Decorative Arts Exhibition.
However, is it easy to live without the support of one of the world's best-known brands, especially when you have to market almost 470 rooms? "When you look at New York or London, there are independent hotels of this size. In the long term, it's a good choice," says Bruno Chiarruttini, while emphasising that the hotel is nevertheless affiliated to the voluntary Preffered Hotels chain. Since taking up his post, the new CEO has set about turning the hotel around, with the renovation of 200 rooms and the installation of free WiFi throughout the hotel. Above all, this new vision has resulted in a move upmarket, from four to five stars. Particular emphasis has been placed on service to attract high-spending customers, while on the MICE side, the sales teams have a six-hour response time to requests.
"The hotel is customer-focused, not brand-focused," says Bruno Chiarruttini. With its location, spacious rooms (minimum 30 m2), executive lounge and 1,700 m2 dedicated to meetings and events, the Hôtel du Collectionneur is clearly targeting the professional world. Its clientele comprises 40% for MICE, 30% for individual business travellers, as well as niche markets such as diplomatic staff or sports teams, notably national football teams or those coming to face PSG in the Champions League. Voted "France's best business hotel" at the World Travel Awards ceremony, the hotel has set itself a number of projects for 2014, including upgrading the restaurant offering to match its new positioning, refurbishing certain meeting rooms and reorganising the lobby into several areas.
