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Accor is hardly the first name you associate with luxury. But with a radical overhaul of its Sofitel brand, that’s exactly what the hotel juggernaut (4,800 rooms in 90 nations) is angling for. Just don’t expect to hear the A-word anytime soon. “We’re not really a recognized player right now,” Sofitel’s new COO, Robert Gaymer-Jones, told globorati today, at the official opening of the Sofitel Wanda Beijing. “But we want to take people by surprise as a stand-alone brand.”
With fresh independent gusto, Sofitel kick-starts its $2.5 billion makeover here in the Olympics host city with a touch of French flair — enough, at least, for President Sarkozy when he lodges at the Wanda next week. The hotel’s main restaurant is born from a new partnership with Michelin three-star Lenotre. Guestrooms feature the hottest bathrooms in the business (think flatscreens over the faucets and a glass-wall digital “curtain” separating your bath from your bed). The huge indoor pool has a shifting, twinkling constellation of lights above, while gentle music is piped in under the water. And unlike some of Beijing’s new premium hotels, the service staff speaks English. Well, most of them seem to, anyway.
Amid the global five-star showdown, Sofitel’s plan of attack is to strip itself down and posh itself up. Among its 202 hotels, over 60 are to be snuffed out (sold off or rebranded), while two new flavors are being primed to recast the portfolio: “Sofitel Legend” will restore seven of the group’s heritage properties, starting 2008 with the Metropole in Hanoi (think old-world uber-luxe on par with Orient Express). “So by Sofitel,” meanwhile, aims to target design junkies and hotel-bar hipsters with a new line of upscale boutique properties. “We’re going to create rooms that don’t just look trendy but actually have high-end furnishings,” Gaymer-Jones says. “Unlike some hotels that have a life span of 18 months.”
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