How Sofitel's CEO gave one of Accor's oldest brands a chic transformation
Maud Bailly is entering her third year as the CEO of the high-end collection of Accor brands like Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, MGallery and Emblems.
Some might say she was given one of the more difficult tasks at hand when the French-based hotel giant underwent yet another one of its notable corporate restructures a little more than two years ago. Sofitel, which turned 60 last year, was a French luxury brand that had lost its way and needed a face-lift — akin to Chanel before Karl Lagerfeld.
With M Gallery, Bailly inherited a lesser-known collection of hotels that faced off head-to-head with competitors like Marriott's Autograph Collection, and Emblems was a luxury collection brand on paper with no open hotels to point toward.
Bailly, who previously served as Accor's CEO of southern Europe and as the company's chief digital and commercial officer, took the challenge before her — and catapulted the brands she oversees into new (and revived) beacons of French hospitality around the world.
What ethos drives the growth and rejuvenation initiatives at the brands Bailly oversees?
TPG learned more in two exclusive interviews with the hotel executive at the recent International Luxury Travel Market conference in Cannes, France, and, more recently, this week over a transatlantic video chat.
"People may lose some appetite for luxury goods, but they're never going to lose any appetite for luxury experiences, and good hospitality is about luxury experiences," she said.
The numbers speak for themselves. Sixty-year-old Sofitel, currently operating with about 120 hotels around the world, has a pipeline of 32 new hotels slated to open in markets like Ireland, Vietnam, Portugal, India and Mexico over the next few years.
At a time when a new hotel brand gets announced almost weekly, it's a strong signal that a sexagenarian hotel brand has so much interest and so many new properties in the works. Twelve of those new hotel deals were signed in the last year alone, but it's not just about the new properties.
Part of Bailly's leadership initiative has been elevating existing hotels and bringing a consistent feel to the luxury Sofitel brand. Twenty-six percent of the existing Sofitel network is currently under renovation. Properties like Sofitel New York — an important refresh, as Sofitel is one of Accor's best-known brands in the U.S. — and Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile are part of that effort.
The brand leans into its French heritage at properties around the world and often includes nods to its home country, such as a "Bonjour" at the front door or French chefs curating menus at the hotel restaurants. The first Sofitel in the U.S. made a splash with its extensive French wine collection and baguettes baked fresh daily in 1975.
"There are so many brands, so why should you pick this one?" Bailly said. "Sofitel is clearly not pretending to be an eight-star hotel, but it has a very clear, unique, distinctive identity and a very strong culture. It's French zest with heart, authenticity and generosity."
Further, the Sofitel Legend brand of heritage properties — including TPG favorite Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo in Panama City — is also picking up steam on the growth front. Three new Sofitel Legend hotels are slated for the Czech Republic, India and Egypt in front of the pyramids of Giza — delivering 50% growth for the current six-hotel offshoot brand of Sofitel.
"People also had some questions about Sofitel Legend because it's such a small network. These are beautiful properties, but if a brand doesn't grow up, doesn't develop itself, people start having questions," Bailly said before emphasizing the brand will remain highly selective about future growth: "Development is a good thing, but developing well is even more important because you are protecting the brand consistency."
Similarly, strong growth is underway at MGallery, which has 48 hotels in the development pipeline, and Emblems, the new luxury collections brand that has seven hotels slated for its debut. The first MGallery hotel slated for the Caribbean, The Whimsy Hotel & Spa Saint-Martin—MGallery Collection, will be a luxury transformation of the former Beach Plaza Hotel on the French side of St. Maarten.
Additional properties are planned for markets like Mexico, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Egypt and India. MGallery also has 8% of its portfolio under renovation.
But one of the more interesting and long-awaited developments at Accor has been a different collection brand: Emblems. The brand, first announced in late 2021 as the Emblems Collection, still doesn't have an open hotel, but that is slated to change this year with the first property expected to open in Europe. More properties are planned or in advanced negotiation stages for Italy, Greece, China, Vietnam and North America.
Should one be concerned that there's still no bed to lay one's head at an Emblems-affiliated property more than three years after the brand was first launched? Probably not.
"There are so many brands that, if you rush, if you don't do things the way they should be done, especially for a new brand — making sure the brand positioning is really different, making sure the new leads are good leads — you are just killing the brand before you have even a second to death," Bailly said.
After all, it took Ian Schrager and Marriott roughly seven years to open the first Edition hotel after launching the brand in 2008, so it appears Accor is well ahead of the luxury development curve.
"It's a balance between the rigor requested to make a difference and the time where you need to say, 'Okay, it's now or never,'" Bailly added.
"Build it, and they will come" went the line in "Field of Dreams."
"Open it the right way, and the luxury guests will come" might go the line in successful hotel and loyalty development.
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