Billy Skelli-Cohen, CEO of French hotel group Beaumier, on travel trends and Grand Hotel Belvedere

0:13Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. This time I had the pleasure to speak with Billy Skelly-Cohen, CEO of the hotel group Bermier. The rapidly growing French hotel group has just added another property to their portfolio, set amid the natural beauty of the Bernese Alps, the Grand Hotel Belvedere. Billy tells me more.

0:37Billy Skelly-Cohen, CEO of Bermier Hotels. What a pleasure. I am a big fan of the brand. I've stayed in one of your properties. My first question to you, Billy, you're fairly new. You're CEO of Bommier, but I think you've been appointed last December or in January. How does it feel to be there? Yeah, it feels great. Yeah, I'm a newbie. I joined in December, even though I had been following the group for a few years already. And, you know, it's been great. It's been great to build on, you know, what already has been a terrific start for the group and a nice growth trajectory. And, you know, just joining, working with a great, great group of people, a great group of very passionate people and lucky to have my hands on this incredible portfolio.

1:24From my understanding of the brand, you know, as I said, I've stayed in one of the properties, Petunia, which I thought was beautiful. It feels to me that you guys, you want growth, but I think you always pick hotels in amazing locations. They have such a connection to place in a way. So I think growth for you guys is good, but I think you really take time to decide where your new hotel would be, right? Yeah, I mean, you know, we've been lucky to assemble a group of hotels that are all in really special locations, right, that have a lot to offer and, you know, a lot of soul, a lot of culture, a lot of history.

2:02And then in addition to that, we've got our hands on hotels that already have their own history and their own DNA that we're trying to build on. So, you know, I've been saying a lot of the time that, you know, we're kind of writing the next chapter of those hotels, right? There were a lot of chapters before us. So the combination of being in these great surrounding, beautiful nature, beautiful towns and villages across our portfolio, but then also getting to work on these assets that have a lot of character, that combination, if we don't screw it up too badly, can add up to things that are quite special.

2:38So one example of what you just said about kind of, you know, it's not necessarily just a brand new hotel, but these are places of history is the reopening of the Grand Hotel Belvedere in Switzerland as well. I know you have properties in Spain as well, but I think it's the first time in Switzerland, right? Yeah, I was actually just there yesterday. What an exciting time for us to to open a hotel in Wengham. And, you know, I'm ashamed to say I was a little bit familiar with the valley, but wasn't really familiar with Wengham until Beaumier did this project. And it truly is a magical place where you've got to take a little train to get to this town that feels a little retro, but you can also feel it's going through a kind of a reinvention.

3:21And it's, you know, I've now been there in every season and it is just breathtaking how beautiful it is. just so beautiful. The nature surrounding the hotel is so incredibly special. And now, you know, for the past three years, working on kind of the repositioning and improvement of the Grand Hotel Belvedere and Val Grand, this domain right in the heart of Ingham, and just can't wait now that we've just opened our doors to welcome guests so they can experience Dorothée, but also really experience the destination. I was wondering, how much did you have to change in terms of design and food? You needed to put the premier imprints there, right?

4:06Yeah, I mean, it'd probably be quicker to say what we didn't change, you know. But, you know, in essence, we inherited these two kind of landmark buildings with a beautiful garden in between and a forest next to it. so you know like i said at the start right already a building that had a lot of dna and and a lot of character i think what what the group has done really well is kind of embrace and and getting kind of that mix of embracing the old and mixing it with the new there's quite a lot of yin and yang of kind of modern and classic throughout the design and and the buildings but you know a total reinvention of uh of the domain with with new food and beverage concept, a spa, and all new design across obviously all bedrooms and the whole campus.

4:54And I'm happy to say there'll be a pop-up shop for Monaco as well. Just plugging it in there. Yeah, very exciting. It's going to open, I believe, June 9th. So it's right around the corner, but I already, it's in a really cool little spot in the lounge lobby area of the hotel. It's this old little room, and we've kept kind of a lot of the original features of that room and then, you know, going to bring some kind of the coolness and relevant of Monocle. So it's a nice little add on to the hotel. I would like to ask you as well, now that you're going to Switzerland, as I mentioned, you have also property in Spain.

5:30But do you feel that when you're, you know, opening a hotel or working at a hotel like the Bovedere, do you think a lot about the French customer or do you see Bermier as a kind of becoming a more of a global brand in that sense? You know, it's interesting. I've had that debate with marketing directors for many, many years. I don't think very much of the customers when we're building hotels. I think more about creating a great place with a great sense of place and hopefully an environment where people can create great experiences for themselves. Now, the reality is, you know, our biggest feeder market across our portfolio is actually not France.

6:13It's the UK and the US. It varies a little bit, hotels to hotels. And a couple of our French hotels, France is probably the biggest feeder market. But really across the portfolio, the UK and the US are very prominent. For us with Switzerland now, a big market that we're introducing is the German market, which is a huge feeder market into Wengham, which has been a relevant market for us in our portfolio, but certainly not to that extent. And but Vengh is a fascinating place. I actually was just there and there's a huge Asian contingency that goes to Vengh. So a lot of Indian and Chinese also that visit.

6:56And that's kind of new for us as a clientele into our hotels. But like I said, right, I think for us, really, the focus is, you know, to develop, you know, hotels and employee and customer journeys that we can be proud of and let people enjoy themselves, whether they're, you know, French, British and American. We just want them to connect to what we're doing. Looking ahead for the summer season, are you excited when you look at the bookings already and everything? You know, I follow, for example, Le Roche Rouge. I mean, that hotel already became incredibly iconic, right? Yeah, I mean, so Roche Rouge, again, you know, for us this summer is about two big openings, right?

7:40The opening, obviously, of Wengham and us moving into Switzerland. and the new wing that we're opening in, in, in Rush Rouge, right. And like you said, a real iconic hotel already in our portfolio and wanted to make sure that our, our loyal following, that we're making them proud with what we're doing, but also introduce a new dimension to the hotel. Now, you know, there's boat access with the hotel. We we've introduced another, another couple of new F and B outlets. So really excited on how that's come together. So it's been a big couple of weeks for us, right. We've opened Roche Rouge. We've opened Vangon.

8:15And then, you know, going into the summer, yeah, I mean, business is really encouraging. Feedback so far has been great. You know, we never stand still, right? We know there's always work to do and always things to kind of make business better and make our employee and guest experience better. But really encouraged by what we're seeing going into the summer season on the back of a really solid winter season for us. Billy, what makes a good hotel for you? I can even tell you what I think makes a good hotel, food. I mean, for me, it's so important. And I think that's something that you deeply care as well, Bermier.

8:49But tell us, what are kind of the marks of a good hotel for you? You know, I think about this a little differently than most people. I think the number one thing that makes a hotel good is a place where it's easy for employees to smile. Right? I think it all starts there. You know, I think in our business, we underestimate how good we have to make it. It's not easy to work in a hotel, right? You're on your feet. There's a lot going on all day. There's a lot of fires all the time. So creating an environment where our employees can feel comfortable, be themselves, be safe, feel empowered, and have a good time.

9:30I think it really starts there, right? Because you can have the most beautiful design. You can have the greatest food in the world. If we don't create that environment where the people that are making it happen comfortable and flourishing, we're always going to fall short. After that, for me, it's and I think it's very relevant to Bomi, but I think becoming more and more relevant to our industry. Again, right. Design is important and little touches are important and food and beverage is very important. But I think more and more, you know, and certainly something we talk a lot about is moving away from providing kind of these experiences that are forced and creating an environment that has the confidence to allow the guests to decide how they want to experience our hotels and its surroundings.

10:21And that ultimately, that's what creates magic for the guests, right, is for them to get somewhere and feel super comfortable. And, you know, whether they want to, it's a time that they want to kind of retreat within themselves or a time when they want to let loose. And no matter how they want to eat, drink, spa, pool, experience the area, that we're just providing them a great environment to do that the way they want to so that they can shape their own experiences. That's a beautiful answer. And finally, Billy, I just want to ask, you just came back from the Grand Hotel Belvedere, which is very, very exciting.

10:58And what next? Do you go to the properties quite a lot and visit each one of them every time? Yeah, I don't know how to do what I do without spending a lot of time with the hotels, right? You know, we have a great team in our head office that does so much for our group, right? But without getting the feedback on the ground and without spending a lot of time with the operational team on, you know, whether it's big strategic decisions or the very little small little detail that we think are going to enhance our hotels, I don't feel like I'm personally adding the value that I need to be adding. So I spend a lot of time in our hotels.

11:37I spend more time in our hotels than anywhere else. And also I feed from that energy, frankly. Right. I come away from our hotels selfishly, incredibly energized by seeing our teamwork, by, you know, seeing guests interact with our hotels. It gives me a lot of energy and inspiration on whatever might be next for us in the future. Thank you very much. Billy Scali-Cohen there, CEO of the hotel group Beaumier. And for more information, go to baumier.com. And the Monaco shop is open at the Grand Hotel Belvedere in Wangen, Switzerland, until the 10th of September. The show was edited by Lily Austin, and I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco.