“When you look at Jo&Joe, it’s economical but not economical at the same time, especially when you look at the bunk beds. I found something amazing when I visited the showrooms in Paris. The guests were impressed with the bunk beds and compared them to the first-class beds in an Emirates flight,” he says.
Gobilliard makes it clear that Jo&Joe’s endeavour is not to stuff rooms with guests. “Jo&Joe is not a classic hostel where you put 20 young guys in a small room. We want them to live in an experience. We are reinventing the hostel and calling it the ‘open house’. In lifestyle, we believe that the customer is not the guest anymore, but they are our friends,” he says.
The old adage of ‘the guest is king’ does not hold true in this case, Gobilliard says. “In lifestyle, your guest is not the ‘king’; he/she is your friend. You will be able to have lunch together, discuss and share your passions. We are creating a community, which is the biggest difference from a classic hotel.”
With Mama Shelter set to debut in the Middle East with its first hotel in Dubai, 25Hours is sure to follow as well, Gobilliard surmises. “I strongly believe the market here is ready for such a product,” he says. He, however, remains wary about Jo&Joe’s future in the region because of the model on which it operates. “I’m a little skeptical about Jo&Joe, not because of the product, but because it has shared rooms and there is less privacy. I don’t know honestly if there is potential in Dubai,” Gobilliard says candidly.
The group is willing to be flexible on a few aspects of the concept. “I believe if we split the accommodation with a higher number of private rooms and a lower number of shared rooms [it might work]. If we are able to modify this mix, it’s going to be interesting for the region. If we can adapt Jo&Joe for this region, I’d love to have that,” he says.
“We are going to be agile, that’s the basis of lifestyle. The concept for Jo&Joe is shared, private and out of ordinary rooms – that’s mandatory. I have no issue with the percentage of these categories [being represented in the hotel]. But I don’t want the shared room to be a gimmick and just have one shared room for the sake of it. The concept will not be negotiated, but we can adapt to the culture,” Gobilliard points out.
Through the lifestyle division, Accor will also up its F&B game. Gobilliard says: “F&B is the way to attract new clients and to create the destination. Mama and 25Hours are already well respected in this space. We need to change our mindset; we are no longer a hotelier. We have to be a destination manager with hotels and F&B.”
Gobilliard reveals AccorHotels is close to signing a partnership with Groupe Noctis, a Paris-based company that specialises in F&B, events and clubs. “This will enable us to adopt and create, and to be a true player in the F&B-oriented space. Rooms revenue is absolutely key but if you want to create a destination and increase your profitability per square metre, you have to develop your F&B,” he states.
Ultimately, Gobilliard says each hotel within the lifestyle division has to be managed carefully, and the division will not look at controlling them but help them. “It’s kind of like a family at the end of the day.”
The objective of the lifestyle division is to protect the founders of the brand, Gobilliard says, and enable them to keep innovating. “My first job is to protect these brands and to make sure the founders, the CEO, and the people working with the brands are not [distracted]. They stick to their task, without Accor interfering in their decision. I told Sébastien [Bazin], we need to protect them, Accor cannot impose anything on these guys,” he says.
“At the end of the day, these guys represent the essence of the brands. We want to continue developing the brands. I’m an Accor man and that’s what I am focused on,” he concludes.
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