Luxury Palace Hotels in the Era of Event-Based Dining

To win over local customers, many Palaces have reshaped their food and beverage offer by providing less gastronomic, more contemporary experiences. Le Prince de Galles is betting on modern Japanese cuisine, Hôtel Lutetia is showcasing its brasserie, and Le Château de la Messardière, through its restaurant Zetta, offers ?pizzetas? and antipasti to share in a convivial spirit...

At the same time, to meet the expectations of new consumers in search of experiences and entertainment, the Palaces are showing creativity in reinventing their event offer by:
- organizing events and partnerships that help revitalize the image of the property: Le Cheval Blanc Saint Tropez and Le Château Saint-Martin & Spa in Vence hosted festive evenings during the summer season 2022, called ?Soirées Rivieras? and ?Les Estivales? respectively, built around local, shared cuisine (around braziers, a convivial buffet, etc.) and live musicians; Hôtel Plaza Athénée launched a pop-up ?Cinéma Club? concept in 2022, an open-air cinema run by the film group Mk2 and chef Jean Imbert, etc.;
- focusing on spectacle and entertainment through culinary shows, thereby helping to create more contact, sociability and visibility. Since 2017, Francis Mallmann, the Argentine chef, has set up at the heart of Château La Coste, where he offers cuisine cooked around a wood-fired oven and a fire dome in a setting reminiscent of Argentine haciendas, etc.

Finally, with a view to maintaining an attractive image among younger generations, the Palaces are now betting on new chefs, with numerous announcements made over the past two years:
Amaury Bouhours is succeeding Alain Ducasse at the restaurant Le Meurice (2020), while Jean Imbert has settled in at Hôtel Plaza Athénée (2022), Eugénie Béziat is the new head chef of the Ritz Paris (2022), and pastry chef Maxime Frédéric has joined the kitchens of Cheval Blanc Paris (2020), etc. These new chefs do not hesitate to innovate by offering new concepts. Maxime Frédéric opened a pop-up chocolate shop at Cheval Blanc Paris in 2022, and Cédric Grolet opened his own pastry shop within Le Meurice in 2019, a concept he exported to London at the Berkeley Hotel in 2022, etc.

Information taken from the study ?The French Hotel Industry in 2022? conducted by KPMG SA