Gestion hôtelière

🔔 Key personnel announced for Park Hyatt London River Thames, opening in the last quarter of the year. Rike Erdbrink, a Hyatt veteran since 2001, appointed as General Manager. Gonzalo de Estefanía Morales, with 18 years at Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme, joins as Director of Accommodation. John Sutherland, from Dublin Coffman High School, named Director of Sales and Marketing. Rike Erdbrink's recruitment phase started in October 2023.

🍴 Since July 4, Les Roches Blanches hotel in Cassis introduced "Les Petites Canailles" for lunch. Chef Nicolas Sintes, who started on March 31, offers a summer menu featuring Mediterranean Sea Bass and local Provence products. "Les Belles Canailles," serving since 2018, now exclusively offers dinner with 4 to 6 courses celebrating Mediterranean flavors.

🎭 In Paris, the Astra Opera hotel, owned by the Cachan family and designed by Philippe Maidenberg, pays tribute to Daniel Auteuil, Marie-Agnès Gillot, the Bouglione family, and Claudie Haigneré in its 73 rooms. The hotel offers a choice of four thematic decors to guests upon reservation, with the Gillot-themed rooms at the 7th floor being particularly popular for their views of Paris. After a two-year renovation, the hotel now features a mixed-use ground floor, a new spa with a 10-meter pool, treatment cabins, sauna, hammam, and a fitness room. Maidenberg is planning to renovate the adjacent Caumartin hotel next.

🍳 Bernard Boutboul, director of Gira and author at SOS Experts, recommends for restaurant menus: a short menu suggests quality and helps with staff shortages, dynamic presentation with fewer set menus, shared ranges, no decimals in pricing as that's for supermarkets, not sorting by price, include a few vegetarian options for the 51% of flexitarians, and having more expensive à la carte options due to rising prices. He also advises against using too many fonts and suggests chalkboards as an effective way to present the menu.

🔔 A OnePoll survey commissioned by Hotels.com revealed that 38% of French guests admitted to stealing from hotels in 2022. US hotel chains like Marriott and Hyatt have no recent theft statistics, yet theft of items such as towels, hangers, dryers, speakers, coffee makers, pillows, irons, and even TVs has been reported. Hotels now use bank card imprints, GPS trackers, and access monitoring to deter theft, while encouraging guests to take branded items like pens and miniature sewing kits.

🍗 Christian Segui, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France and Executive Chef at EHL Hospitality Business School in Lausanne, shares his poultry sausage recipe for 8-10 people. Ingredients include 400g pork lean, 350g chicken fillet, 250g Colonnata lard, 16g sea salt, 3g Espelette pepper, 50g shallots, 15cl dry white wine, and fresh tarragon. Mix the meats with seasoning on the eve and refrigerate at 3°C overnight for flavor enhancement. Sausages can be cooked in a pan, BBQ, or oven grill for 10-12 minutes, with no additional seasoning during cooking to preserve natural flavors.

📓 Syndicat and employer representatives in the French Cafés-Hôtels-Restaurants sector unanimously signed a historic agreement. They committed to increasing training funds with a contribution rising from 0.2% in the first year to 0.35% in the second, and 0.5% from the third year onwards. Facing recruitment challenges with a need for 100,000 qualified personnel annually and only 50,000 new trainees per year, this initiative aims to boost training and employment attractiveness. The agreement, a 24-month effort, awaits official validation for a January 1, 2026 implementation.

🐶 In France, there are 18 million dogs and cats in 2024. Booking and Tripadvisor offer pet-friendly accommodations filters. A 2021 survey revealed that 23% of French travelers choose accommodations based on pet policies. La Marine, a 4-star hotel, and La Sivolière, a 5-star establishment, offer extensive pet services, including custom beds and room-service menus. Services like Maison Lilibeth's custom pet products help hotels stand out. Ibis Budget Nice Californie Lenval charges an extra €5 per day per pet, while La Sivolière charges €35 per night plus €25 for pet room service.

🍺 Athletes at the Olympic Village complained about food quantity, with issues like egg rationing reported on Wednesday. Sodexo Live!, the official catering partner, is addressing these complaints by increasing volumes after high demand for certain products. The Village serves 40,000 meals daily. Despite initial problems, athletes praise the food quality, variety, and balance.

👨️ At an EHL roundtable on hotel management during war, industry leaders from American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem and InterContinental in Kiev shared experiences, highlighting the shift in clientele post-crisis, with an influx of journalists and diplomats. Discussions delved into maintaining high standards amidst conflict, prioritizing security, and providing psychological support to staff. Financial adaptability, focusing on cash flow over budgeting, and ensuring wellbeing through amenities like on-site sleep arrangements and psychological services proved crucial. The event underscored hospitality's role in human needs fulfillment and societal impact during crises.