April 9, 2025 • 22 mins
Join us for the latest episode of our Special Hospitality Series in collaboration with Forbes Travel Guide, where we shine a light on one of the "Leaders Behind the Stars"—Pierre-Louis Renou, General Manager of Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel. This legendary property, freshly reopened in March 2023 after a three-year transformation, has proudly earned a Five-Star rating this year.
Pierre-Louis takes us behind the scenes to explore the leadership and vision that brought this milestone to life. The Carlton Cannes stands as a striking example of how luxury hospitality continues to evolve, adapting to the expectations of today’s diverse and dynamic travelers. Pierre-Louis shares how affluent guests are breaking conventional molds—one day arriving by private jet, the next flying economy—creating a demand for unmatched flexibility paired with unwavering, top-tier service.
Aspiring hospitality leaders won’t want to miss Pierre-Louis’ insightful advice. He emphasizes the importance of staying curious about industry trends, fostering genuine care for people—including staff, guests, and suppliers—and immersing yourself in the success of your destination. He highlights the transformational power of assembling a team passionate about their local region, capable of turning a mere hotel stay into a rich, cultural experience through authentic recommendations and heartfelt hospitality.
Don’t miss this inspiring conversation with Pierre-Louis. Tune in every Thursday for fascinating insights from hospitality leaders across the globe, from Beverly Hills to the Seychelles.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Actually, wellness, as I said at the introduction,
is part of your entire journey.
It's not only when you're goingto spend one hour and a half at
the spa.
It's the full experience ofyour journey, in your travel, in
your transfer at the hotel, atthe restaurant, in your
entertainment.
Wellness is inside each of yourstep of the journey.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello everyone and welcome back to our special
hospitality series, season 2,the Leaders Behind the Stars, in
partnership with our friends atForbes Travel Guide.
All of these interviews, as youknow, were recorded live at the
Summit in Monaco this year,which was extraordinary, and we
had three hotels join us.
For the first few episodes, wewent from London to Beverly
(00:51):
Hills to New York to profileseveral hotel GMs that are
either new five-star rankedproperties or on their journey.
And then last week we broughtin Megan Torrance, the senior
vice president for Forbes TravelGuide, who oversees learning
and development and alsooversees the Academy, as I
thought it was an idealopportunity for myself and all
(01:12):
of our listeners to betterunderstand the standards and
ratings behind Forbes TravelGuide and what makes this
organization so special and whyall of these hotels around the
world are very keen to earntheir Forbes Travel Guide
five-star ranking.
And we're actually now going tofocus on three new hotel GMs.
We're going to travel fromFrance to Italy and to the
(01:35):
Seychelles over the next fewweeks and on today's episode
we're going to be going justdown the street from where we
were to Cannes, france, and wehave Pierre-Louis Renault who is
the general manager of.
We were to Cannes, france, andwe have Pierre-Louis Renaud, who
is the general manager of theCarlton Cannes Hotel, which is a
region hotel, and it isactually a new five-star hotel,
so I thought it was an idealopportunity to bring someone
(01:57):
into the conversation that ismore or less a local and that
really knows this regionexceptionally well.
I got some valuable travel tipsfor him for the weekend that I
was spending in France rightafterward.
So thank you again,pierre-louis, for that.
And I just wanted to highlightthat we post clips and
highlights on our socialchannels, so the Forbes Travel
Guide team are kindly posting onInstagram at Forbes Travel
(02:19):
Guide and on LinkedIn as well,and then our Travel Trends team
are posting on Instagram,linkedin and YouTube, which you
can.
Then our Travel Trends team areposting on Instagram, linkedin
and YouTube, which you can findat Travel Trends Podcast.
So thank you so much for allthe great feedback we've been
getting so far.
The Megan Torrance onecertainly really lit things up,
so that was great to see, and Ilook forward to continuing these
conversations.
Every Thursday, we release anew conversation, and we're just
(02:41):
at the midway point now, somake sure that you are
subscribed on the streamingplatform of your choice to be
notified when new episodes golive.
But now let's bring inPierre-Louis to the conversation
.
So, pierre-louis, louis,welcome to Travel Trends and our
special hospitality series.
It's great to catch up with youhere in Monaco.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Thank you, Dan.
Thank you for your invitation.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
For sure.
I'm so keen to learn more aboutthe property, your background
and history.
Let's talk about yourself first, because I'm keen to know a bit
about your background.
You have obviously been inhospitality for a number of
years and actually lived in theUS, as I understand, in
Washington for a number of years, so tell us a little bit about
your background and hospitality.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Well, you know, my parents were already in the
industry.
They were running a pastry shopand a catering company in Paris
, and then, thanks to this, Iended up at the hotel school,
worked in kitchen with MichelGuérard in Eugénie-les-Bains,
then went to.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Hotel de Crayon in Paris for my first job, and then
I went to Hotel de Criolles inParis for my first job.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Then I stayed with Concorde Hotel at that time
Concorde Hotel, ConcordeSaint-Lazare in Paris and then
the Martinez.
Then I moved to Hilton Hilton,Paris Hilton, London and
Parkland and then, thanks tothis, I went to Sofitel, Sofitel
London, St James and then theygave me my first GM roles in the
(04:00):
United States Los Angeles, SanFrancisco and Washington DC.
Then I came back to France atLe Majestique in Cannes as area
GM with Le Gré d'Albion and onehotel in Saint-Barthes and then
moved back to Accor withFairmont, where I was regional
VP for Fairmont in Monte Carlofor Southern Europe, and I
(04:24):
actually came back to Cannes ayear ago for the Carlton Hotel
with Regent.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Well, now it makes all the more sense to me why you
were able to achieve yourfive-star rating for Carlton
Cannes, given the pedigree, yourbackground not only obviously
by virtue of your family, butthe fact you actually grew up on
the kitchen side and understandcuisine, obviously.
And then you've worked withsome of the best brands in the
world in some of the most iconiclocations.
(04:49):
So, yeah, it's a real pleasureand an honor to sit down and
have this opportunity to speakto you.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe Carlton Conn Hotel.
I think most people are goingto be familiar with Conn from
the film festival and obviouslythere's many awards in Conn.
It is, in and of itself, a veryprestigious location.
But tell us a bit about thisproperty, how long it's been
(05:10):
around and your journey now inthe last year, to become a new
Forbes Travel Guide five-starproperty.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Well, the hotel went through a major refurbishment
during three years and reopenedonly in March 2023.
It's an iconic property,obviously, with an amazing
location in a stunningdestination.
It's a superb building,classified historic monument,
(05:38):
which is quite combining all theelements of a very nice resort,
but also of a business hotelbeautiful convention center,
amazing beach, variousrestaurants, various bars, great
pool scene, spa, amazingfitness, a lot of iconic suites.
So it's a hotel where you havea lot of freedom to explore the
(06:05):
property on different aspects.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Wow, that's amazing.
So the hotel itself, thejourney you went on just in this
past year.
Clearly, you've worked withForbes Travel Guide before and
understand the rating process,so how important was that, with
your background andunderstanding, with actually
bringing this property on thatjourney.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Well, actually it was very important the hotel, which
is owned by Qatar Hospitalityand which is managed by Regent.
It was an objective to, ofcourse, to be a member of force,
but, of course, to reach thefive stars.
Of course, to be a member offorce, but, of course, to reach
the five stars.
(06:42):
It has been a process, ajourney, but we planned for this
.
We decided to have theappropriate tools, to have the
appropriate trainings, to havethe appropriate investments in
order to be part of this veryexclusive hotel selection around
the world.
And you know, it happens and myteam is very happy, actually
very proud, and hopefully wewill be keeping this rating for
(07:06):
several years.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
For sure.
I guess that's always the onething.
It's one thing to achieve it,it's another thing to keep it,
which you now need to maintain,that which I'm sure that you
will.
But tell us a little bit aboutbeing here now in Monaco.
I understand it's your firsttime at a Forbes Travel Guide
event.
Clearly you didn't have far totravel.
You're one of the closest, it'swhat about an hour from here to
Cannes, or a little bit further?
(07:27):
One of the things that stoodout to me, pierre-louis, is that
this has really been aninternational conference,
compared to Vegas last year,where it was certainly more
US-centric, last year, where itwas certainly more US-centric,
and there's a lot of new faceshere and a lot of international
delegates that have come fromthe Middle East and from Asia
and even Australia.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
But tell, Our listeners, if you wouldn't mind,
what brought you here this yearand what have been some of the
takeaways and the highlightsfrom the summit to the Forbes
(08:06):
environment and to the Forbesevent sharing experience,
listening to other situations,meeting with the suppliers,
meeting with exclusive travelagents.
And I think he was right and Iwas glad to listen to his
suggestion and to accept hisinvitation.
(08:27):
So I'm actually very, veryhappy and very grateful for
being here.
That's fantastic One of the.
So I'm actually very, veryhappy and very grateful for
being here.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
That's fantastic.
One of the things I'm alwayskeen to ask leaders or captains
of industry, if you will is thetrends that you're paying
attention to, because obviouslyit's one thing to take this
amazing property and achieve aForbes Travel Guide five-star
rating and obviously anotherthing to maintain it, but part
of it is actually just stayingahead of the curve on customer
behavior and the trends,especially in luxury and
(08:51):
hospitality, which, in and ofitself, is a very unique space.
So tell us what you see as someof the big trends in luxury
hospitality in 2025 and what ourlisteners should be paying
attention to.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, first of all, I spend a lot of time to observe
what's happening.
I am very curious about what thecompetition is doing, not only
in the hotel industry, but inthe other luxury goods.
I think it's very important tosee what's going on and to
observe what the brands aredoing.
(09:22):
Also, I read a lot of theclient comments not only mine,
but also my competitors of theclient comments not only mine,
but also my competitors and Ialso look once again at the
entire luxury world on what theclients are saying and what they
are commenting about and whatthey are suggesting.
It's a very important way ofunderstanding and anticipating
(09:48):
situations.
So what I see today, in thesedays, is the need of freedom.
It's to give the client thechoice to decide about how they
want to explore their journey,to have the freedom of the time,
to have the freedom oflunchtime, the freedom of
(10:09):
checking, the freedom ofcheckout, the freedom of being
entertained or not, the freedomof getting personalized service
or not, the freedom to have arelationship with some of our
employees or not, and I see thissituation to the same customer
with different approachdepending on their trip.
(10:31):
I was recently speaking to oneof our customers.
He was staying at the hotel andhe actually flew private jet to
join his meeting and to extenda little bit, to enjoy Cannes
(10:51):
and to enjoy the hotel.
And speaking with him, I wasquite surprised that the week
after he was having a differenttrip with a different purpose
and he was flying easy jet andhe was staying in an economy
hotel in order to facilitate hisjourney, because this
(11:11):
destination was making a lot ofsense for the specific economic
property.
So you know it's quiteinteresting to have this kind of
conversations and to have thepossibility to understand that
the same customer is capable, inthe same months, of flying
(11:33):
economy airlines, cheap flightsand then, at the same time,
having suites and private jets.
So this is giving you thedimension and the size of what I
call freedom of choice.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, and I'm glad you mentioned that because I
think having your own autonomyand agency and freedom and
flexibility, certainly amongstaffluent clienteles, is so
important.
But in terms of the wellnesstrend, I'm keen to ask you about
that.
I mean people come to the southof France.
I understand Monaco is actuallywhere people apparently live
(12:10):
the longest on earth.
That was an interestingdiscovery in the opening session
.
I think the average age is 85for men and 92 for women in
Monaco, and I actually havefamily in the south of France,
in Rocquebrune Sur-Argent, andwhen I used to come down in the
summers when I was a kid, theywould take us to Saint-Tropez or
to Antibes and we would explorearound the south of France and
(12:32):
my aunt would always highlightto us about how it's the best
place in the world to live, andthey took us to Cannes.
We went to go see a film inCannes the first time, and so I
love the south of France, I lovethe Côte d'Azur, and so I'm
assuming that wellness is adriver, much like it is for
California.
They had highlighted to me thereason that my aunt chose to
live here and you'll appreciatethis is that there's a very few
(12:53):
places in the world where youget 300 days of sunshine a year,
and one of them was Californiaand one of them was the south of
France.
I've had the privilege to livein California and I've had the
privilege to spend time here,but you live here and you see
the guests.
So tell us from yourperspective in Cannes are the
guests?
Are they French nationals thatare traveling to the south coast
?
Are they international guests?
(13:13):
And then, how important doeswellness play a role for you in
the offerings at the property?
Speaker 1 (13:20):
You know, wellness is crucial and wellness is part of
every type of journey.
You're coming for a businesstrip, for a convention, for a
seminar.
Wellness is also part of yourfamily trip or your couple trip.
So once again, we're comingback on the importance of giving
the choice and giving thefreedom to the guests to decide
(13:42):
how they want to enjoy wellness.
For some of them, wellness issimply having a sunbathing on
the beach.
For some of them it's a retreat.
For some of them it'smeditation.
For some of them it's retreats,for some of them it's
meditations.
For some of them it's a kind ofa cure.
For some of them it's aboutsports indoor sports, outdoor
sports.
So for some of them it's aboutspa, it's about treatment, it's
(14:03):
about skin treatment, aboutmassage, so it's quite vague.
You know it's quite large, soit's quite vague.
You know it's quite large, soit's very important.
Once again, in your hotel andthat's what we're trying to do
at the carlton in can is to havethe the largest way of enjoying
what what you call wellness,and actually wellness, as I said
(14:24):
at the introduction, is part ofyour, your entire journey.
It's not only when you're goingto spend one hour and a half at
the spa.
It's the full experience ofyour journey, in your travel, in
your transfer at the hotel, atthe restaurant, in your
entertainment.
Wellness is inside each of yourstep of the journey.
(14:47):
One thing which is veryimportant to Carlton in Cannes
is that we have a 12-monthopening period.
We are open every day of thejourney.
One thing which is veryimportant to Carlton in Cannes
is that we have a 12 monthsopening period.
You know we are open every dayof the year and it's a very
important element because youcan enjoy the hotel on a very
different vibe, very differentrhythm and very different
reasons if you're coming forJanuary with this beautiful
winter light, or if you'recoming at the peak of the
(15:09):
entertainment season in May.
So this fact that we have a12-month opening period gives
you the possibility to create alot of activities, a lot of
choice, a lot of differentexperience to customers, and I
(15:31):
think that this is a very, veryspecific for the canton in
Cannes and specifically in ourregion.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
The way we started the conversation.
I think should be incrediblyinspiring for all of our
listeners to hear your journey,which is quite remarkable, and
so one of the things I wanted,pierre-louis, to make sure that
we covered is any advice fromyou to our listeners that are
looking to work their way up inhospitality, because I'm sure
you've learned a lot along theway and have some great mentors.
(15:58):
So if you could mentor ourlisteners, what are some of the
suggestions that you wouldrecommend to them to eventually
get that general manager roleand eventually be at a Forbes
travel guide conference, like weare together here in Monaco?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Well, you know, to be curious is very, very important
to observe what's happening.
Of course, you need to bepassionate about meeting people,
taking care of your staff,taking care of your customer,
being close to your vendors,being close to your suppliers,
taking care of your customer,being close to your vendors,
being close to your suppliers,being a part of the life of your
(16:33):
city, of your destination,helping the destination to
develop their marketing.
It's important to basically notonly take care of your brand
and your shareholders, but totake care of your people, to
take care of your guests and totake care of your local
(16:56):
environment and your local lifeof the village or the city.
The GM is not only to take careabout the business, it's to
take care of a social lifearound the hotel and, by the way
, that's what the clients wantto see.
My client wants to see thelocals.
They want to make sure thatwhen they are interfering with
our team at the bar, at theconcierge, at the reception,
with the room attendant, theywant to speak about, about,
(17:18):
about our team, about the region, about what they are doing,
what they are eating, where theyare going for their days off.
They want to know what'shappening in the region and they
want to live the real life ofthe destination, and so it's
important to make sure that, inyour recruitment as well, you
are focusing on finding expertsof your city and not only at the
(17:42):
concierge department, by theway in every department, and to
have people which are um, whichlike and which are passionate
about their, their, theirdestination, their country,
their region.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
It's, it's very important yeah, no, that's great
advice and it's interestingbecause I was speaking to uh
pradeep raman, who is one of theyour colleagues at the
corinthia Hotels in New York,and when I was asking him about
his experience in launching thehotel in New York, he was
highlighting to me theimportance of connecting to the
local community.
And what was a real standoutfrom our conversation and it
will be from ours as well wasjust the fact that the local
(18:17):
community because you'vehighlighted something different
than he highlighted fact thatthe local community, because
you've highlighted somethingdifferent than he highlighted he
was highlighting the fact thatthe local community they were,
they had their, their doormenwere feeding the local dogs
treats, and then the localsloved it and they were, you know
, and they've got to know theirdog's names and they would,
they'd give them treats andeventually even the locals would
bring flowers to the doormen toto say thank you for taking
(18:38):
such great care of our pets asthey walk by.
And one of the locals runs avery successful hedge fund and
said I'm going to now bring allof my clients here, so it
actually becomes a businessdevelopment opportunity.
Now you highlighted somethingdifferent, which is the fact
that guests want to see localsand it's almost like the idea of
a restaurant.
(18:59):
If you see locals are in therestaurant, you're going to go
there.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I mean, that's the dividends Our guests which are
buying very expensive iconicsuites.
They want to be in the hoteland to see the others.
They want to see the local atthe bar and they want to see our
family at the tea room and theywant to see the locals at the
beach and our guests which arecoming to the restaurant of the
(19:23):
hotel, which are going to thebar, going to the tea room,
going to the beach.
They want to see the beautifulcars and the very rich people
enjoying amazing sweets.
And this is your role as a GMto make sure that this, this
blending of various customers,are having a great life within
your property at the same time,Very interesting.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Now.
You've got so many valuableinsights here, pierre-louis.
You've obviously got greatadvice for people coming up in
the industry and you're clearlycontinuing to lead the way in
hospitality, and so I want tomake sure that anyone listening
to this that is interested ineither coming to Cannes 12
months a year, which youobviously you highlighted and
I'm going to ask you some otherrecommendations after we finish
(20:06):
up recording for my plans whileI'm still here in France, as far
as where I should go and whatelse I should do, because
clearly you've got a great dealof expertise, but that in terms
of being able to learn moreabout the Carlton con or to
connect with you directly,whether it be travel agents that
are listening to this that wantto book their clients at the
property or people in theindustry that want to connect
and partner with you.
I know one of the big trendswe've seen and heard a lot about
(20:27):
here is luxury brandspartnering with luxury hotels,
so I'm sure that's um, you'regetting lots of reach outs for
those as well.
But, yeah, let everyone know,please, how they can find more
about, uh, the Carlton Con andalso connect with you.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Well, you know, once again, it's about freedom.
You have the choice to connectwith me directly.
You can find the hotel on theweb.
You can find the hotel on thesocial media.
You can reach my team.
You can reach my concierge, theguest relation manager, the
reservation department, yourtravel expert.
You have all ways of finding usat the hotel.
My cell phone number is on myLinkedIn account and I will be
(21:05):
delighted to listen to yourquestions and facilitate the
preparation of your journey.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
That's exciting.
I'm going to post your privatephone number on RST.
We'll see how many calls youget.
We need to put in a traveltrends code so that then you
know that they have heard aboutyou from the podcast and then we
can compare notes next year tosee how many people reached out.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Hashtag I love Dan and I know it will be from you.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
There you go.
That's awesome, Pierre-Louis.
It's a great honor meeting you.
Thanks so much for making thetime and wish you great success
in the year ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Merci, Dan.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Thanks so much for joining us on our latest episode
of our special hospitalityseries, season two the leaders
behind the stars, with ourfriends at Forbes travel guide.
I certainly thoroughly enjoyedthe conversation that we just
had with Pierre-Louis Renaud,the general manager of the
Carlton Conn Hotel in France.
I certainly learned a lot fromthat discussion and got a number
of valuable tips for my weekendahead of me, and he said reach
(22:01):
out anytime, so I'll be sure todo that.
Thanks again, pierre-louis, andI also just want to acknowledge
the amazing Forbes Travel Guideteam that has worked together
to bring this series and make itall possible, and they're the
ones that are posting onLinkedIn every Thursday at 8 am
sharp Eastern time.
So make sure that you'refollowing both our social
channels at Travel TrendsPodcast and at Forbes Travel
(22:22):
Guide as well and, as Imentioned at the beginning, make
sure that you are subscribed tothe streaming platform of your
choice so that you're notifiedwhen new episodes go live every
Thursday.
And we're right now at themidway point episode five, going
into episode six next week ofour 10-part series.
So don't miss out on any of theremaining episodes as we
profile more incredible hotelGMs and some of the partners
(22:46):
that exist within this amazingluxury hospitality network.
Many more excitingconversations to follow until
next week.
Safe travels.
Actually, wellness, as I said at the introduction,
is part of your entire journey.
It's not only when you're goingto spend one hour and a half at
the spa.
It's the full experience ofyour journey, in your travel, in
your transfer at the hotel, atthe restaurant, in your
entertainment.
Wellness is inside each of yourstep of the journey.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hello everyone and welcome back to our special
hospitality series, season 2,the Leaders Behind the Stars, in
partnership with our friends atForbes Travel Guide.
All of these interviews, as youknow, were recorded live at the
Summit in Monaco this year,which was extraordinary, and we
had three hotels join us.
For the first few episodes, wewent from London to Beverly
(00:51):
Hills to New York to profileseveral hotel GMs that are
either new five-star rankedproperties or on their journey.
And then last week we broughtin Megan Torrance, the senior
vice president for Forbes TravelGuide, who oversees learning
and development and alsooversees the Academy, as I
thought it was an idealopportunity for myself and all
(01:12):
of our listeners to betterunderstand the standards and
ratings behind Forbes TravelGuide and what makes this
organization so special and whyall of these hotels around the
world are very keen to earntheir Forbes Travel Guide
five-star ranking.
And we're actually now going tofocus on three new hotel GMs.
We're going to travel fromFrance to Italy and to the
(01:35):
Seychelles over the next fewweeks and on today's episode
we're going to be going justdown the street from where we
were to Cannes, france, and wehave Pierre-Louis Renault who is
the general manager of.
We were to Cannes, france, andwe have Pierre-Louis Renaud, who
is the general manager of theCarlton Cannes Hotel, which is a
region hotel, and it isactually a new five-star hotel,
so I thought it was an idealopportunity to bring someone
(01:57):
into the conversation that ismore or less a local and that
really knows this regionexceptionally well.
I got some valuable travel tipsfor him for the weekend that I
was spending in France rightafterward.
So thank you again,pierre-louis, for that.
And I just wanted to highlightthat we post clips and
highlights on our socialchannels, so the Forbes Travel
Guide team are kindly posting onInstagram at Forbes Travel
(02:19):
Guide and on LinkedIn as well,and then our Travel Trends team
are posting on Instagram,linkedin and YouTube, which you
can.
Then our Travel Trends team areposting on Instagram, linkedin
and YouTube, which you can findat Travel Trends Podcast.
So thank you so much for allthe great feedback we've been
getting so far.
The Megan Torrance onecertainly really lit things up,
so that was great to see, and Ilook forward to continuing these
conversations.
Every Thursday, we release anew conversation, and we're just
(02:41):
at the midway point now, somake sure that you are
subscribed on the streamingplatform of your choice to be
notified when new episodes golive.
But now let's bring inPierre-Louis to the conversation
.
So, pierre-louis, louis,welcome to Travel Trends and our
special hospitality series.
It's great to catch up with youhere in Monaco.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Thank you, Dan.
Thank you for your invitation.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
For sure.
I'm so keen to learn more aboutthe property, your background
and history.
Let's talk about yourself first, because I'm keen to know a bit
about your background.
You have obviously been inhospitality for a number of
years and actually lived in theUS, as I understand, in
Washington for a number of years, so tell us a little bit about
your background and hospitality.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Well, you know, my parents were already in the
industry.
They were running a pastry shopand a catering company in Paris
, and then, thanks to this, Iended up at the hotel school,
worked in kitchen with MichelGuérard in Eugénie-les-Bains,
then went to.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Hotel de Crayon in Paris for my first job, and then
I went to Hotel de Criolles inParis for my first job.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Then I stayed with Concorde Hotel at that time
Concorde Hotel, ConcordeSaint-Lazare in Paris and then
the Martinez.
Then I moved to Hilton Hilton,Paris Hilton, London and
Parkland and then, thanks tothis, I went to Sofitel, Sofitel
London, St James and then theygave me my first GM roles in the
(04:00):
United States Los Angeles, SanFrancisco and Washington DC.
Then I came back to France atLe Majestique in Cannes as area
GM with Le Gré d'Albion and onehotel in Saint-Barthes and then
moved back to Accor withFairmont, where I was regional
VP for Fairmont in Monte Carlofor Southern Europe, and I
(04:24):
actually came back to Cannes ayear ago for the Carlton Hotel
with Regent.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Well, now it makes all the more sense to me why you
were able to achieve yourfive-star rating for Carlton
Cannes, given the pedigree, yourbackground not only obviously
by virtue of your family, butthe fact you actually grew up on
the kitchen side and understandcuisine, obviously.
And then you've worked withsome of the best brands in the
world in some of the most iconiclocations.
(04:49):
So, yeah, it's a real pleasureand an honor to sit down and
have this opportunity to speakto you.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe Carlton Conn Hotel.
I think most people are goingto be familiar with Conn from
the film festival and obviouslythere's many awards in Conn.
It is, in and of itself, a veryprestigious location.
But tell us a bit about thisproperty, how long it's been
(05:10):
around and your journey now inthe last year, to become a new
Forbes Travel Guide five-starproperty.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Well, the hotel went through a major refurbishment
during three years and reopenedonly in March 2023.
It's an iconic property,obviously, with an amazing
location in a stunningdestination.
It's a superb building,classified historic monument,
(05:38):
which is quite combining all theelements of a very nice resort,
but also of a business hotelbeautiful convention center,
amazing beach, variousrestaurants, various bars, great
pool scene, spa, amazingfitness, a lot of iconic suites.
So it's a hotel where you havea lot of freedom to explore the
(06:05):
property on different aspects.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Wow, that's amazing.
So the hotel itself, thejourney you went on just in this
past year.
Clearly, you've worked withForbes Travel Guide before and
understand the rating process,so how important was that, with
your background andunderstanding, with actually
bringing this property on thatjourney.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Well, actually it was very important the hotel, which
is owned by Qatar Hospitalityand which is managed by Regent.
It was an objective to, ofcourse, to be a member of force,
but, of course, to reach thefive stars.
Of course, to be a member offorce, but, of course, to reach
the five stars.
(06:42):
It has been a process, ajourney, but we planned for this
.
We decided to have theappropriate tools, to have the
appropriate trainings, to havethe appropriate investments in
order to be part of this veryexclusive hotel selection around
the world.
And you know, it happens and myteam is very happy, actually
very proud, and hopefully wewill be keeping this rating for
(07:06):
several years.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
For sure.
I guess that's always the onething.
It's one thing to achieve it,it's another thing to keep it,
which you now need to maintain,that which I'm sure that you
will.
But tell us a little bit aboutbeing here now in Monaco.
I understand it's your firsttime at a Forbes Travel Guide
event.
Clearly you didn't have far totravel.
You're one of the closest, it'swhat about an hour from here to
Cannes, or a little bit further?
(07:27):
One of the things that stoodout to me, pierre-louis, is that
this has really been aninternational conference,
compared to Vegas last year,where it was certainly more
US-centric, last year, where itwas certainly more US-centric,
and there's a lot of new faceshere and a lot of international
delegates that have come fromthe Middle East and from Asia
and even Australia.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
But tell, Our listeners, if you wouldn't mind,
what brought you here this yearand what have been some of the
takeaways and the highlightsfrom the summit to the Forbes
(08:06):
environment and to the Forbesevent sharing experience,
listening to other situations,meeting with the suppliers,
meeting with exclusive travelagents.
And I think he was right and Iwas glad to listen to his
suggestion and to accept hisinvitation.
(08:27):
So I'm actually very, veryhappy and very grateful for
being here.
That's fantastic One of the.
So I'm actually very, veryhappy and very grateful for
being here.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
That's fantastic.
One of the things I'm alwayskeen to ask leaders or captains
of industry, if you will is thetrends that you're paying
attention to, because obviouslyit's one thing to take this
amazing property and achieve aForbes Travel Guide five-star
rating and obviously anotherthing to maintain it, but part
of it is actually just stayingahead of the curve on customer
behavior and the trends,especially in luxury and
(08:51):
hospitality, which, in and ofitself, is a very unique space.
So tell us what you see as someof the big trends in luxury
hospitality in 2025 and what ourlisteners should be paying
attention to.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, first of all, I spend a lot of time to observe
what's happening.
I am very curious about what thecompetition is doing, not only
in the hotel industry, but inthe other luxury goods.
I think it's very important tosee what's going on and to
observe what the brands aredoing.
(09:22):
Also, I read a lot of theclient comments not only mine,
but also my competitors of theclient comments not only mine,
but also my competitors and Ialso look once again at the
entire luxury world on what theclients are saying and what they
are commenting about and whatthey are suggesting.
It's a very important way ofunderstanding and anticipating
(09:48):
situations.
So what I see today, in thesedays, is the need of freedom.
It's to give the client thechoice to decide about how they
want to explore their journey,to have the freedom of the time,
to have the freedom oflunchtime, the freedom of
(10:09):
checking, the freedom ofcheckout, the freedom of being
entertained or not, the freedomof getting personalized service
or not, the freedom to have arelationship with some of our
employees or not, and I see thissituation to the same customer
with different approachdepending on their trip.
(10:31):
I was recently speaking to oneof our customers.
He was staying at the hotel andhe actually flew private jet to
join his meeting and to extenda little bit, to enjoy Cannes
(10:51):
and to enjoy the hotel.
And speaking with him, I wasquite surprised that the week
after he was having a differenttrip with a different purpose
and he was flying easy jet andhe was staying in an economy
hotel in order to facilitate hisjourney, because this
(11:11):
destination was making a lot ofsense for the specific economic
property.
So you know it's quiteinteresting to have this kind of
conversations and to have thepossibility to understand that
the same customer is capable, inthe same months, of flying
(11:33):
economy airlines, cheap flightsand then, at the same time,
having suites and private jets.
So this is giving you thedimension and the size of what I
call freedom of choice.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, and I'm glad you mentioned that because I
think having your own autonomyand agency and freedom and
flexibility, certainly amongstaffluent clienteles, is so
important.
But in terms of the wellnesstrend, I'm keen to ask you about
that.
I mean people come to the southof France.
I understand Monaco is actuallywhere people apparently live
(12:10):
the longest on earth.
That was an interestingdiscovery in the opening session
.
I think the average age is 85for men and 92 for women in
Monaco, and I actually havefamily in the south of France,
in Rocquebrune Sur-Argent, andwhen I used to come down in the
summers when I was a kid, theywould take us to Saint-Tropez or
to Antibes and we would explorearound the south of France and
(12:32):
my aunt would always highlightto us about how it's the best
place in the world to live, andthey took us to Cannes.
We went to go see a film inCannes the first time, and so I
love the south of France, I lovethe Côte d'Azur, and so I'm
assuming that wellness is adriver, much like it is for
California.
They had highlighted to me thereason that my aunt chose to
live here and you'll appreciatethis is that there's a very few
(12:53):
places in the world where youget 300 days of sunshine a year,
and one of them was Californiaand one of them was the south of
France.
I've had the privilege to livein California and I've had the
privilege to spend time here,but you live here and you see
the guests.
So tell us from yourperspective in Cannes are the
guests?
Are they French nationals thatare traveling to the south coast
?
Are they international guests?
(13:13):
And then, how important doeswellness play a role for you in
the offerings at the property?
Speaker 1 (13:20):
You know, wellness is crucial and wellness is part of
every type of journey.
You're coming for a businesstrip, for a convention, for a
seminar.
Wellness is also part of yourfamily trip or your couple trip.
So once again, we're comingback on the importance of giving
the choice and giving thefreedom to the guests to decide
(13:42):
how they want to enjoy wellness.
For some of them, wellness issimply having a sunbathing on
the beach.
For some of them it's a retreat.
For some of them it'smeditation.
For some of them it's retreats,for some of them it's
meditations.
For some of them it's a kind ofa cure.
For some of them it's aboutsports indoor sports, outdoor
sports.
So for some of them it's aboutspa, it's about treatment, it's
(14:03):
about skin treatment, aboutmassage, so it's quite vague.
You know it's quite large, soit's quite vague.
You know it's quite large, soit's very important.
Once again, in your hotel andthat's what we're trying to do
at the carlton in can is to havethe the largest way of enjoying
what what you call wellness,and actually wellness, as I said
(14:24):
at the introduction, is part ofyour, your entire journey.
It's not only when you're goingto spend one hour and a half at
the spa.
It's the full experience ofyour journey, in your travel, in
your transfer at the hotel, atthe restaurant, in your
entertainment.
Wellness is inside each of yourstep of the journey.
(14:47):
One thing which is veryimportant to Carlton in Cannes
is that we have a 12-monthopening period.
We are open every day of thejourney.
One thing which is veryimportant to Carlton in Cannes
is that we have a 12 monthsopening period.
You know we are open every dayof the year and it's a very
important element because youcan enjoy the hotel on a very
different vibe, very differentrhythm and very different
reasons if you're coming forJanuary with this beautiful
winter light, or if you'recoming at the peak of the
(15:09):
entertainment season in May.
So this fact that we have a12-month opening period gives
you the possibility to create alot of activities, a lot of
choice, a lot of differentexperience to customers, and I
(15:31):
think that this is a very, veryspecific for the canton in
Cannes and specifically in ourregion.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
The way we started the conversation.
I think should be incrediblyinspiring for all of our
listeners to hear your journey,which is quite remarkable, and
so one of the things I wanted,pierre-louis, to make sure that
we covered is any advice fromyou to our listeners that are
looking to work their way up inhospitality, because I'm sure
you've learned a lot along theway and have some great mentors.
(15:58):
So if you could mentor ourlisteners, what are some of the
suggestions that you wouldrecommend to them to eventually
get that general manager roleand eventually be at a Forbes
travel guide conference, like weare together here in Monaco?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Well, you know, to be curious is very, very important
to observe what's happening.
Of course, you need to bepassionate about meeting people,
taking care of your staff,taking care of your customer,
being close to your vendors,being close to your suppliers,
taking care of your customer,being close to your vendors,
being close to your suppliers,being a part of the life of your
(16:33):
city, of your destination,helping the destination to
develop their marketing.
It's important to basically notonly take care of your brand
and your shareholders, but totake care of your people, to
take care of your guests and totake care of your local
(16:56):
environment and your local lifeof the village or the city.
The GM is not only to take careabout the business, it's to
take care of a social lifearound the hotel and, by the way
, that's what the clients wantto see.
My client wants to see thelocals.
They want to make sure thatwhen they are interfering with
our team at the bar, at theconcierge, at the reception,
with the room attendant, theywant to speak about, about,
(17:18):
about our team, about the region, about what they are doing,
what they are eating, where theyare going for their days off.
They want to know what'shappening in the region and they
want to live the real life ofthe destination, and so it's
important to make sure that, inyour recruitment as well, you
are focusing on finding expertsof your city and not only at the
(17:42):
concierge department, by theway in every department, and to
have people which are um, whichlike and which are passionate
about their, their, theirdestination, their country,
their region.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
It's, it's very important yeah, no, that's great
advice and it's interestingbecause I was speaking to uh
pradeep raman, who is one of theyour colleagues at the
corinthia Hotels in New York,and when I was asking him about
his experience in launching thehotel in New York, he was
highlighting to me theimportance of connecting to the
local community.
And what was a real standoutfrom our conversation and it
will be from ours as well wasjust the fact that the local
(18:17):
community because you'vehighlighted something different
than he highlighted fact thatthe local community, because
you've highlighted somethingdifferent than he highlighted he
was highlighting the fact thatthe local community they were,
they had their, their doormenwere feeding the local dogs
treats, and then the localsloved it and they were, you know
, and they've got to know theirdog's names and they would,
they'd give them treats andeventually even the locals would
bring flowers to the doormen toto say thank you for taking
(18:38):
such great care of our pets asthey walk by.
And one of the locals runs avery successful hedge fund and
said I'm going to now bring allof my clients here, so it
actually becomes a businessdevelopment opportunity.
Now you highlighted somethingdifferent, which is the fact
that guests want to see localsand it's almost like the idea of
a restaurant.
(18:59):
If you see locals are in therestaurant, you're going to go
there.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I mean, that's the dividends Our guests which are
buying very expensive iconicsuites.
They want to be in the hoteland to see the others.
They want to see the local atthe bar and they want to see our
family at the tea room and theywant to see the locals at the
beach and our guests which arecoming to the restaurant of the
(19:23):
hotel, which are going to thebar, going to the tea room,
going to the beach.
They want to see the beautifulcars and the very rich people
enjoying amazing sweets.
And this is your role as a GMto make sure that this, this
blending of various customers,are having a great life within
your property at the same time,Very interesting.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Now.
You've got so many valuableinsights here, pierre-louis.
You've obviously got greatadvice for people coming up in
the industry and you're clearlycontinuing to lead the way in
hospitality, and so I want tomake sure that anyone listening
to this that is interested ineither coming to Cannes 12
months a year, which youobviously you highlighted and
I'm going to ask you some otherrecommendations after we finish
(20:06):
up recording for my plans whileI'm still here in France, as far
as where I should go and whatelse I should do, because
clearly you've got a great dealof expertise, but that in terms
of being able to learn moreabout the Carlton con or to
connect with you directly,whether it be travel agents that
are listening to this that wantto book their clients at the
property or people in theindustry that want to connect
and partner with you.
I know one of the big trendswe've seen and heard a lot about
(20:27):
here is luxury brandspartnering with luxury hotels,
so I'm sure that's um, you'regetting lots of reach outs for
those as well.
But, yeah, let everyone know,please, how they can find more
about, uh, the Carlton Con andalso connect with you.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Well, you know, once again, it's about freedom.
You have the choice to connectwith me directly.
You can find the hotel on theweb.
You can find the hotel on thesocial media.
You can reach my team.
You can reach my concierge, theguest relation manager, the
reservation department, yourtravel expert.
You have all ways of finding usat the hotel.
My cell phone number is on myLinkedIn account and I will be
(21:05):
delighted to listen to yourquestions and facilitate the
preparation of your journey.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
That's exciting.
I'm going to post your privatephone number on RST.
We'll see how many calls youget.
We need to put in a traveltrends code so that then you
know that they have heard aboutyou from the podcast and then we
can compare notes next year tosee how many people reached out.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Hashtag I love Dan and I know it will be from you.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
There you go.
That's awesome, Pierre-Louis.
It's a great honor meeting you.
Thanks so much for making thetime and wish you great success
in the year ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Merci, Dan.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Thanks so much for joining us on our latest episode
of our special hospitalityseries, season two the leaders
behind the stars, with ourfriends at Forbes travel guide.
I certainly thoroughly enjoyedthe conversation that we just
had with Pierre-Louis Renaud,the general manager of the
Carlton Conn Hotel in France.
I certainly learned a lot fromthat discussion and got a number
of valuable tips for my weekendahead of me, and he said reach
(22:01):
out anytime, so I'll be sure todo that.
Thanks again, pierre-louis, andI also just want to acknowledge
the amazing Forbes Travel Guideteam that has worked together
to bring this series and make itall possible, and they're the
ones that are posting onLinkedIn every Thursday at 8 am
sharp Eastern time.
So make sure that you'refollowing both our social
channels at Travel TrendsPodcast and at Forbes Travel
(22:22):
Guide as well and, as Imentioned at the beginning, make
sure that you are subscribed tothe streaming platform of your
choice so that you're notifiedwhen new episodes go live every
Thursday.
And we're right now at themidway point episode five, going
into episode six next week ofour 10-part series.
So don't miss out on any of theremaining episodes as we
profile more incredible hotelGMs and some of the partners
(22:46):
that exist within this amazingluxury hospitality network.
Many more excitingconversations to follow until
next week.
Safe travels.
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