This new lifestyle brand will land at the end of the year in Bordeaux. With in his suitcases some well-defined ideas on the hotel business.
The sign is not yet affixed to the pediment of the hotel, but we already know a little more about this new brand, the first establishment of which will open at the end of the year. At the helm of Firstname, names that are all but unknown in the hotel world: we find in particular Yann Caillère, who has become the general manager of numerous hotel groups, Disneyland Resort Paris, Louvre Hotels or Accor, surrounded by two passionate real estate and hotels: Jérôme Bosc and Eric Omgba. All three founded Alboran Hotels & Hospitality in 2016, which manages 17 establishments in France on behalf of different brands. At the same time, the idea of creating their own brand gained ground.
“There was an opportunity in Bordeaux, an office building that could potentially be transformed into a hotel,” says Yann Caillère. And the question arose: what brand? The time had come to launch. “The world is changing, and so is the way of traveling”, observe the founders of Alboran. With Firstname, they therefore wanted to embody their vision of the hotel industry, promising “feelgood” establishments, living spaces open to travelers and locals alike. In particular, you will find a speakeasy , a bar hidden behind the door of a cupboard, art exhibitions, concerts…
Codes well in tune with the times, therefore, while reaffirming certain fundamentals. “When we talk about lifestyle hotels today, some things leave us unsatisfied,” explains Yann Caillère. We are a lot in the decorations, and not enough in the accompaniment of the service. We also found that often in lifestyle hotels, the room product is quite basic. Normally, the function of a hotel is to sleep well! For us, the bedroom product is important. We will therefore have two distinct atmospheres with very cocooning rooms, where we want people to feel good. In the lobby and common areas, it will be very lively. »
“A brand must be embodied”
“I have the experience of having launched several brands, recalls Yann Caillère. When you launch a brand, it takes time, you need dedicated teams who have to drink the brand, eat the brand, live the brand. Today, there are many groups that are launching brands at random, but these brands are not embodied. A brand must be embodied,” he insists. One thing Firstname hears about makes the difference.
To anchor this new brand, the founders of Firstname therefore want to focus on people. A real bet, while the sector suffers from a profound lack of attractiveness. “There must be complete consistency between what we want to tell our customers, what we want our employees to experience and the work tool that we make available to them, analyzes Jérôme Bosc. And that is fundamental. A hotel is neither more nor less than a working tool. If we manage to master it well, the teams do their job well. As a result, they feel good, and the customer likes it. »
Firstname therefore intends to pamper its teams, by taking care of both their working environment and its organization, with, for example, the implementation of the four-day week. “The entire back-office part of the teams is totally designed by the same designer who makes the rooms. We put the same attention, the same quality of products, so that, when they are on this side of the theater, they take as much pleasure as when they are on the “internship” side with the client”, thus illustrates Eric Ombba.
France… and after Africa?
“This ability to retain our teams is perhaps the most challenging,” notes Jérôme Bosc. (…) The fact of retaining our collaborators will surely be one of the most important indicators in the management and in the perception of the brand. We talk a lot about well-being in the hotel industry, but it only applies to the customer side. There is therefore still a whole section of this subject to be worked on in the industry, on the team side. We consider this aspect to be a strong element of brand differentiation. »
Three to five Firstname hotels should open their doors in France in the next five years. “We don’t want to scatter at first, because we have to be close to the hotels, but afterwards, when the brand is established, it will no doubt have to cross the Alboran Sea to see what is happening in Africa”, slips Yann Caillère. “It’s a field where we have affinities and knowledge. And in terms of potential, it’s an area that’s not completely saturated, it moves around a lot. »
Before that, two opening projects under the Firstname brand are already being studied in France. But motus for now. To move forward, Firstname also wants to take its time.
