Throughout its history, Sofitel has continually reinvented itself to define and redefine what is possible in luxury hospitality. To celebrate the brand’s 60th anniversary this year, Sofitel has completely reimagined its position in the luxury market. This upward momentum has not only lifted the ship for Sofitel, but also for its sibling brands Sofitel Legend, MGallery and Emblem.
With a rejuvenated logo supporting the new brand pillars and a thorough education program that increases employee engagement and emotional buy-in, it’s no surprise that this refresh has led to significant improvements for the Sofitel network. Major hotels such as Sofitel New York, Sofitel Philadelphia and Sofitel Montreal are undergoing extensive renovations, and Accor plans to open more than 90 new hotels across its four brands over the next three years.
SkiftX spoke to Maud Bailly, CEO of Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, MG Gallery and Emblem, about how Accor has simultaneously pushed the boundaries of luxury hospitality and built a recognizable and long-lasting brand. I heard the story.
SkiftX: What is your definition of luxury hospitality?
Maud Bailly: Luxury is really a matter of attitude. It’s the symmetry of care in how you make your guests and employees feel. Everything should look easy, but behind the scenes it’s a lot of work.
You can stay in a beautiful hotel, but if it’s emotionless, seamless, and bespoke, it’s not luxury. On the other hand, if luxury hotel bathrooms are magical, you can forgive the bathroom’s age. For me, luxury is walking on two legs: product quality and service culture. If you don’t walk properly with these two legs, you will fall.
There are many different types of luxury. Luxury can sometimes seem lofty, cruel, or arrogant. We represent luxury from the heart, humble, passionate, generous and a little cheeky. We train our employees to leverage emotional intelligence and authenticity as another unexpected indicator of luxury.
Let’s talk about that team training. What is the educational program?
We train our teams to leverage authenticity and vulnerability as superpowers, blending luxury code with emotional intelligence. You don’t have to spend millions to wow people. You wouldn’t care if I offered you a 50-carat diamond without any emotion. That’s fine, but don’t worry about it. But if I noticed you were tired when you arrived and I took care of you by delivering some chamomile tea to your room with a handwritten note, and the next day I asked you if you had a good night’s sleep because you had a tough flight. , it’s special.
We started with a special development program for general managers (GMs) called “I love, live, and lead the brand.” This is highly demanding work that takes a deep dive into brand markers and service culture standards. We then expanded that training to all employees. We also design leadership and empowerment programs that distill three key principles: high emotional intelligence, humble excellence, and distinction. Our “Extraordinaire” program is a shortcut for employees interested in becoming a GM within a brand’s specific culture.
Our staff tell us that the training has not only changed the way they manage their teams and understand the brand, but sometimes their personal lives as well. They learned to embrace vulnerability as a strength rather than a weakness, and in the process began to value themselves and their loved ones more. They listen with deep personal impact. We are a human resources industry. Our first real material is people.
How do each of your brands approach luxury differently? Let’s start with Sofitel.
Sofitel aims to offer a little piece of France to the world. The Sofitel The Obelisk in Dubai and the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney are both the same, yet completely different. But it’s also because of the familiar French atmosphere: fresh pastries and baguettes, brasserie dining, sophisticated design and the promise of French sleep with Sofitel My Bed. Still, each Sofitel is different, offering a unique homage to the local culture. At Mexico City’s Sofitel Reforma, French culture is integrated into the Mexican art of living, from food to mixology to music. Sofitel Skipper Barcelona’s food concept combines French gastronomy and tapas culture. Sofitel arranges this beautiful meeting, this bridge between French and local culture.
For Sofitel Legend, it’s about providing a luxurious experience steeped in history. Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi is housed in a 100-year-old building that was the first movie screening venue in Southeast Asia. Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile at the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract. The building is historic and surrounded by the cradle of Egyptian civilization. Sofitel Legend Grand Amsterdam was once the city hall. Cartagena’s Sofitel Legend Santa Clara was once a convent. Sofitel Legend Xi’an was a building in the ancient Chinese capital. Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Panama City.
All of them are wonderful. You can imagine the power and magic of that history. The brand new Sofitel Legend will soon open right in front of the Pyramids of Giza. This is an exception, as all Sofitel Legend accommodations are located in historic buildings. This is a new building and 60% of the rooms have direct views of the pyramids. When you open the windows, history literally breathes into the room. That’s the Sofitel legend. We live, sleep, and eat with history in all its dimensions.
How do MGallery and Emblems approach luxury?
As a collection of boutique hotels, MGallery and Emblem represent a promise of more intimate luxury. Each Sofitel location has 400 to 500 rooms, while MGallery hotels have 50 to 180 rooms. Each M Gallery is a destination in itself. Each of these buildings has its own story, as they are housed in buildings that once housed coffee plantations, tea rooms, a monastery, a police station, a tannery, and a newspaper office.
Emblem is a new brand for us. Our first hotel will open in 2025. The emblem is to MGallery what the Sofitel Legend is to Sofitel. Enjoy a more luxurious experience, with each hotel becoming its own destination. The emblem focuses on villas and apartments. We welcome guests with more space and more bedrooms while retaining the intimacy of a boutique hotel.
Can you tell us about the repositioning that brought these four brands under one house, so to speak?
Two years ago, we decided to take a brand-led approach to our luxury and lifestyle brands, which now sit within dedicated organizations within Accor. I now focus on four of these brands across the global profit and loss (P&L), rather than the 2,000 local hotels I was responsible for before taking on this global role. Global scale is key to ensuring consistency, which is critical to the performance of luxury brands. If you want your brand to be strong, recognized, and understood, you need to be consistent.
Repositioning a brand is extremely difficult. It takes time, humility, and hard work. The first thing we did was travel around the world to meet all the owners, GMs, and staff. I spent six months listening to their stories. Then we came back and asked ourselves the core question of a brand-led organization: “What do we stand for?” What makes us different? How can you keep your brand alive?
What new brand pillars emerged from these repositioning conversations?
First, we changed our original pillar of French touch to French taste. It’s more of a spirit than a fact. The French know how to live well. Being French is a hedonistic ability to embrace all aspects of life. French enthusiasm boldly surprises. It’s fun, free, and a little sassy. At the same time, it is a tribute to leadership in beauty, design, culture and fashion.
The second pillar is a heartfelt service culture. Sofitel relies on what we call “Cousu Main”, which values emotional intelligence and bespoke, unexpected touches. We also hold an annual contest to recognize the concierges and managers who create the most incredible bespoke experiences for their guests.
The third pillar is to shed light on the logo and its meaning. Two beautiful shapes intertwined and embracing each other, representing the magic of cultural connection. We are building bridges between cultures and forming a beautiful international community based on tolerance and mutual enrichment.
The fourth pillar is sustainability, which unfortunately is less evident in luxury hospitality. We don’t want to wait for regulations to be enacted that respect the planet, fight waste, and support luxury that promotes diversity. Currently, 60% of Sofitel hotels are environmentally certified. We are eliminating single-use plastics from guest rooms and the back of the house. Our pilot AI program has helped us reduce food waste by up to 70%. A deep commitment to sustainability has become imperative for us.
How do you think the demands of CSR programs are impacting the luxury hospitality space?
Luxury hospitality must lead the way as pioneers and prove that we can protect beautiful luxury experiences and be much more responsible at the same time. For me, there is no future other than sustainable luxury. That doesn’t mean we ignore the beauty of culture and luxury. You can have it all. It’s tougher, but you have to start now. It’s urgent.
Let’s take food waste as an example. A buffet is a delightful symbol of a hospitality experience. However, 30 percent of the world’s food production is wasted, leaving one billion people hungry or food insecure. CSR is not only important for the environment, but also for people. All of our brands are committed to giving back to our communities and promoting diversity. We are committed to promoting women, gender equality and diversity everywhere.
Click here to learn more about Sofitel.
This content was co-created by Accor and Skift’s branded content studio SkiftX.