Hôtels & Préférence adopts a new strategy in China

The consortia is increasingly present internationally and did not want to miss the potential on the Chinese market. The hotel’s boutique concept seduces rich hotel owners, whose needs go beyond simple commercialization. A new avenue is opening up for the team led by Yannick Gavelle and Cyril Vaussard.

With the help of a Chinese partner well-established locally, the Hôtels & Préférence network launched an offensive on the immense market that is diversifying enough to feed its network. The Hong Kong office opened in 2012 and provides the first results with the membership of Metropark hotel in the Wanchai area. The goal is to group together a series of properties that correspond to the upscale network's spirit, with adaptations that fit the market. Recruiting continued with The Mansion, a 5*property located in the French Quarter overlooking the Concessions in the historic heart of Shanghai.

This property built by the French architect Lafayette in 1932 has 24 rooms and suites with two gastronomic restaurants. The décor is contemporary, befitting a Boutique Hotel. It is leagues away from the gigantisms of modern properties owned by chains in the Pudong district. This promising first step inspired the Yannick Gavelle-Cyril Vaussard tandem who saw an opportunity to valorize the Luxury expertise they had accumulated over fifteen years. The meeting with the first owners of charming properties led them to offer a broadened range of services, beyond commercialization, that may include managerial support, implementation of a Luxury approach and a contribution from the brand Hôtels & Préférence whose French consonance offers a refined touch that appeals to Chinese clientele. The commercial structure is already set up to handle demands on the local market or internationally with support from the Dallas office that centralizes GDS sales worldwide with the networks own IW code.

In the future, Hôtels & Préférence does not necessarily plan to limit itself to small capacity Chinese boutique hotels, recent experience and the available tools incite the group to also contact large hotels that focus on the leisure, business and MICE markets.