With short-stay rental properties “impossible to come by” on the lake, the hotel’s new general manager Laurent Branover said Villa du Lac will take the hotel’s offering to the next level.
Previously a private home, the split-level villa is designed by Remi Tessier, with three bedrooms, living room and private garden, while guests can still access the hotel’s facilities, including five restaurants and bars and a spa.
This October, further renovation will reduce room count slightly and create more presidential suites.
“It’s our intention to develop these larger guest spaces in keeping with guest demands,” said Branover. “We have many guests who are looking to stay longer and in bigger suites – our suites have been running at around 70% occupancy, which is really positive.”
A second villa across the lake could also follow soon, he said.
The spa is also to undergo an overhaul this spring and is adding treatments in the newly-branded Nescens Spa, which focuses on anti-aging support programmes.
The 102-room hotel is also working with a range of visiting chefs including La Mamounia’s Rachid Agouray from February 2-7 and chefs from southern Italy and Brazil will also take up temporary residence in the hotel. Branover added the hotel’s Cantonese restaurant, Tse Fung - under chef Frank Xu, who joined last year - was hopeful of Michelin status soon.
Having joined the hotel four months ago, Branover said he has also made it a priority to visit travel agencies.
“We get 70% of our business through travel agencies, so we decided the sales team needed to go back to basics, reconnect and support them,” he told ttgluxury on a visit to the UK, one of the top three markets for the hotel. “Going to see the key ones to check-in with them, thank them for their business and see how we can develop more together has been a priority.
“We are also reaching out to our top 100 guests – not to ask them to book direct, but to show them we care too about their needs when they stay with us.”
Other additions at the hotel include a new guest experience manager and transfers via Tesla, the electric-powered luxury car, could also be on the way, he hinted.
“Agents have told us they want us to be more innovative; when the hotel opened we definitely were – but times move on, and so must we,” said Branover. “Personal service is also key of course; with this in mind, I want us to be known for being an aubergist – the original hotelier, or innkeeper whose key job is to look after everyone. It’s as simple as that.”
The group also includes La Reserve Ramatuelle, La Reserve Paris and La Chartreuse de Cos D’Estournel, a family home set in a Bordeaux vineyard.
