GOSTELOW REPORT—”We are a natural base for young Chinese tourists as they want to stay in an authentic Parisian palace, and they know the Shangri-La brand,” says Guy Bertaud, GM of the 101-room Shangri-La Hotel, Paris. The location is also a major draw: The seven-floor palace is at Iéna, directly across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
Robert Kuok had always wanted a palace in the French capital and when the opportunity came to buy the ornate home built in the last decade of the 19th century for Prince Roland Bonaparte, a great-nephew of Napoleon, he snapped it up, via Shangri-La Asia. The company worked with architect Richard Martinet. Pierre-Yves Rochon designed interiors that skilfully include working just a few valuable Chinese ceramic urns into a theatre that is quintessentially of the ornate lacquer and gilding style.
The hotel opened in 2010 and achieved the French hotel industry’s coveted palace status four years later.
“Business in Paris generally had a sorry first quarter of 2019 because of weekend ‘yellow vest’ disruption but we all saw guest numbers recovering from this April. Our average length of stay is three nights. Top market is USA, at 28%, but China is 15% and growing nicely,” Bertaud said.
The interesting thing is that although there are some multi-generational groups, with up to 10 members, baby through to great-grandparents, by far the greatest number of visitors from Beijing, Shanghai or wherever are in their early 30s. And, says Bertaud, they fly first class, or business class at a pinch. They take a nice suite, preferably one with an Eiffel Tower-facing terrace for best selfies – and they spend.
“The first night they dine in our French gastronomic restaurant L’Abeille, which has two Michelin stars. Thereafter they retreat to our Cantonese restaurant, Shang Palace, where the entire brigade comes from mainland China – they transfer from our Shangri-La hotels there,” explained Bertaud, adding that the hotel’s copious breakfast buffet has a significant Chinese section, although many chic millennials, in latest haute couture, do seem to want to pair croissants with their congee.
The hotel also benefited this summer from Champagne sales at its pop-up Krug terrace bar. Year-round, the Chinese do not really favor room service, but they spend a lot on laundry.
How does the hotel use its unique selling points to market to China? “There are two ways. We have a Chinese national on the sales team which goes there every three months. We also have a GSO based in Shanghai who does a remarkably good job in promoting Paris,” Bertaud revealed. In addition, with an MBA in tourism management to his credit, he is unusually savvy when it comes to partnerships.
“A lot of new business comes from CTrip, which requires clever relationship management to ensure we are as high up the listing as possible – this is to their advantage, too, as CTrip realizes it is good for that brand to be promoting Shangri-La Paris.”
Bertaud expects big excitement in China next month: On October 1 he will open three Parisien Suites, two-floor duplexes with two bathrooms, one master bedroom and a convertible sofa in the living rooms. All have Eiffel Tower views, and he forecasts plenty of social media excitement leading to full occupancy, up to four per suite, orchestrating four-player photo shoots when the illuminated tower sparkles, from top to bottom, every half-hour.
The hotel might be boutique in room count but it is big in F&B, with three restaurants, two bars, a series of rococo sitting lounges used at all hours by locals for business meetings or networking, and a ballroom that even does noteworthy weddings from the USA. The total staff count is 320, with annual turnover of 27%.
“All new hires go through a four-day orientation, which includes one day of updates on luxury, and another, on different cultures, has an introduction to basic Mandarin,” said Bertaud.