LE FIGARO. - You are known for your exceptional hotels. Why offer villas?
Philippe GOMBERT. -
There were already a little more than 500 villas in our network, all private, in more than thirty countries around the world. But the owners offered them little. The Covid crisis has changed the situation: the customers of our hotels who wanted to travel while needing to be in a private setting, have voted for them. The spirit is really that of the vacation home in which we return. It is by observing our customers that we understood it. Our hosts are enthusiastic about this idea. The villa is the place where childhood memories and collective memory crystallize. Hence the idea of offering this option, rather than the hotel, to meet more numerous, with family or friends. It can now be rented "empty" with the quality guarantee of Relais & Châteaux,or take multiple options, such as treating yourself to an exceptional dinner prepared by a starred chef. In any case, we want to be sure of one thing when booking: there will be no wrong notes or worries. I call it private hospitality.
I think we will go from “revenge travel” to “slow travel”.
Philippe Gombert, President of Relais & Châteaux
A new way of understanding the hotel experience?
Absolutely. This product also helps to attract a new generation of travelers for whom the hotel “
is a bit out of date
”. You have young people who do not have quite the same expectations as their elders, but who, however, love the beautiful and the good. The world is changing, and so is the way of travel. When you push the door of a villa, not only do you want to feel at home, but also in a unique place. It will be a ranch in the American West, a hacienda in Mexico or a riad in Morocco… What is interesting is the idea of immersion in a place of life. I really care about it because, for me, it seems to me to be a rebirth of Relais & Châteaux.
A private residence immersed in a unique natural setting and enhanced by exceptional hotel service, as here in Les Landes: such is the concept of the new offer, imagined and launched by Relais & Châteaux.
Castles Relay
Will it be necessary to review its vacation budget in the coming months?
Not necessarily on the rental price. For example, in the middle of August, we have a small chartreuse in the Lot at 7,500 euros per week, but also villas in the Luberon at 12,000 euros. When you divide that up for two families with children, it's still pretty reasonable. On the other hand, our customers will have fun with the services. They will treat themselves to a nice bottle or some spa treatments, but it will only last for a while. This health crisis is a revelation or even an accelerator of the trends that existed before it. And the demands evolve. Today, we want to be able to cycle through the countryside and avoid being in the middle of a thousand people. Take Limoges, on paper, it does not make you dream like Provence, however it isis a fabulous destination when you know it. I think we are going to go from “revenge travel” to “slow travel”, like a need to take the opposite view of this hyperconnected life.
