At breakfast time, as you enter Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg’s Blossom restaurant, you pass a freshly set breakfast tray. “This does subconsciously alert breakfast guests to try our in-room service,” says hotel General Manager Vincent Arnaud.
The hotel is in Rue Boissy d’Anglas, which is, other than for hotel drop-offs and pick-ups, pedestrian-only – the short street is at right angles to the U.S. Embassy and a few minutes’ walk from the Elysée Palace, and it is surrounded by important business offices. Blossom therefore fills Mondays through Fridays not only with guests of the 147-key hotel but with daily-regular outsiders, and seeing the tray set-up encourages weekend staycations.
The standing menu shows that in-room breakfasts are served, in 15-minute slots, right through to 2 p.m. Set meals start from “French” (continental), at €30 (US$37), which generously includes juices, say anti-aging or energizing; American breakfast, with eggs, is €36 (US€45); and well-being, with low-fat yogurt and egg-white omelet, is €32 (US$39).
The breakfast tray initiative has been running for nearly a year in Sofitel hotels in Europe. Martin Jones, AccorHotels’ vice president, F&B – luxury brands, Europe, says it will be extended to all of Accor’s Luxe brands in the continent. ”Done with style, as at Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg, such a display has a lot of positive effect and it has potential to grow F&B revenue,” he says. “Stylish displays can subtly, yet effectively, promote dining options better than posters.”