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Interview de Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine le 26-07-2024
 Anne-Louise Pothier, International Director Hospitality & Spa, Dior Beauty
Crédit photo © Dior Beauty
Anne-Louise Pothier comes from the world of beauty, and has built solid relationships with her hotel partners, with whom she shares a dedication to excellence. She defines opening strategies, designs partnerships, builds business plans, and crafts unique guest experiences.
In this exclusive interview with Journal des Palaces, Dior Beauty's new International Director Hospitality & Spa shares her vision of the DNA of Dior spas and the evolution of the world of wellness, as well as her ambitions for international development.
With an approach focused on excellence and innovation, Anne-Louise Pothier shows us how Dior Spa transforms every visit into an unforgettable sensory experience, bringing dreams and reality together for the most demanding clientele.Journal des Palaces: What is the DNA of Dior spas?Anne-Louise Pothier: The philosophy of Dior spas is rooted in the concept of High Wellness, based on three pillars: High Technology, Integrative Programmes, and Social Wellness.
Each of our spas embodies a particular “Sense of Place”, inspired of course by the House’s codes, but also from the different places in which our spas are located.
The aim is to make women, as Christian Dior dreamed, “more beautiful and happier” by offering our guests not only expertise and results, but also a holistic experience of well-being, with the excellence in detail that is the hallmark of the House of Dior.What exactly is Social Wellness?A few years ago, wellness had a very personal dimension. We went to the spa to take a moment for ourselves, often to celebrate an occasion, to recover from a period of intense work... And wellness, more generally, consisted of individual meetings with specialists in an often aseptic environment.
Today, well-being is an integral part of many people's routines, and is seen as a necessity, a way of life, that we want to share with those who have also adopted it. People with whom you can talk, learn, share best practices and network, and above all have a pleasant time. This is what we call Social Wellness.
What's more, just as the profession of chef has totally changed, with chefs becoming true ambassadors, the world of wellness is following the same trend, and wellness professionals have become real personalities followed and praised by many people.
As part of our retreats, hosting the star facialist, the star of lymphatic drainage, the star of Pilates and the star of meditation is a considerable honour. I'm lucky enough to be able to work alongside experts such as Hadda Akrim, Rose Ferguson or Bryony Deery in my job. When you're at their side, you want to keep moving forward and learning with them. There's a bond between the participants of a Wellness retreat and the coach or therapist. That's a giant part of the Social Wellness phenomenon.What are your ambitions for international development?The first Dior spa opened 15 years ago at the Plaza Athénée. Spas have long been part of Dior's history, but our international development ambitions have taken on a whole new dimension since the opening of the Dior Spa Cheval Blanc Paris in 2021. At the time, we were spacing out the openings by about ten years. We therefore thought that the opening of a third spa would respect this timeframe. The reality was quite different, as hotels around the world quickly contacted us. They were both surprised to discover that Dior was making spas, and keen to be associated with the power of a house like Dior, with an international reputation and a very strong clientele. We now have seven permanent spas, and we plan to have around twenty by 2030, while also continuing to open ephemeral spas, on boats, trains, etc. What are the main criteria you consider when selecting new locations for Dior spas?The challenge lies in developing our international network while maintaining the exclusive character of our spas.
To achieve this, we are extremely selective in our partnerships. We only partner with iconic luxury hotels and palaces whose history, reputation, and excellence enrich our projects and whose location makes sense for Dior's clientele, whether urban or resort.
We obviously give priority to projects within the LVMH Group properties (Cheval Blanc, Belmond, etc.), but we also open up the field of possibilities to certain carefully selected external projects, as was the case for the Plaza Athénée and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Could you describe the process of creating a unique concept for each Dior spa?Creating a spa is a long and exciting process.
It always begins with an analysis of the identity of the place and its founding myth to extract an exclusive and consistent concept.
Once this concept has been identified, comes the part that I, personally, find the most stimulating: working on the plans, the guest journey and the design with our Dior architects. Imagining how to reinvent our codes according to the history of the place, while retaining our DNA to create a spa with a soul.
Then comes the creation of the treatment menu, which is essential. Highlighting its icons, while nourishing the menu with new products, signature treatments and integrative experiences.
We want to create a guest experience 'à la Dior': where dreams and reality meet; the most luxurious linens, the most avant-garde post-care snack menu, special Dior attention…
And let's not forget the heart of Dior Spas: the recruitment of our teams. The attitude, the expertise, the Dior Hands as we like to call them.How do you work on the post-care snack menu with the hotel teams?We work closely with the hotel's F&B team.
For example, at the Plaza Athénée, we worked with the pastry chef, Élisabeth Hot, to create a gourmet after-care snack, with no added sugar, gluten-free… She created a bite-sized apple and celery cake and a small cake using the Dior cannage, which, both visually and in terms of taste, is extraordinary and very healthy.
We also work with the hotel's barmen to develop recipes for juices, infusions and so on. We went to the United States to source brands of food supplements, and we now distribute three brands, Arrae, Agent Nateur et Anima Mundi, each with a particular speciality: digestive comfort, collagen, anti-stress, etc. These supplements are both organic and natural. These are both on sale and on our drinks' menu, in our 'Wellness drinks' at the Plaza Athénée.Why did you choose to develop Dior spas in cruise and train formats, in addition to luxury hotels?These nomadic locations are a Dior Spa signature. They allow us to modernise the image of Wellness and reach a highly exclusive clientele.
With the Dior Spa Royal Scotsman, or the Dior Spa Eastern & Oriental Express on board Belmond Trains, we are creating an extraordinary experience. Enjoying a treatment while admiring the Scottish Highlands or the Malaysian jungle... for some, it's a dream come true.
In the same way, this year's Dior Spa Cruise, which takes place this year from 30 July, will allow customers to sail on the Seine, right in the middle of the Olympic Games, for the time of a treatment, a yoya/Pilates session, a Cold Plunge and a healthy meal at the Monsieur Dior sur Seine restaurant orchestrated by chef Jean Imbert. More than just an experience, we try to create stories and emotions that the most demanding of guests will remember for a long time.
This year, we also opened our first airport spa, in Doha, with the ambition of creating “The Art of Well-Travelling” by offering the opportunity to enjoy a treatment, manicure, barber service or an experience in our VIP Suite between flights.How have hoteliers evolved in their approach to the spa in their properties?For a long time, the spa was deemed to be the poor relation of the hotel industry. It was just a service needed to obtain 5-star or Palace status and keep certain customers happy.
Since COVID, the spa has become an essential part of the hotel, in the same way as the restaurant. Hotel guests are incorporating the spa more systematically into their itinerary, and local guests consider the spa to be a non-negotiable part of their routine.
A very interesting marker of this evolution is the location reserved for the spa, traditionally in the basement, but recently moving towards more prestigious and strategic locations with views, natural light and sometimes garden access. This is particularly true of our latest opening, Dior Spa The Lana, located on the penultimate floor of the hotel, with a breathtaking view of the Burj Khalifa and its Marina.
The development of ephemeral spas is also a sign of guests' enthusiasm for Wellness. This summer, the Dior Spa experience will take place in Beverly Hills, Aspen, Portofino and Taormina.How do you manage your team to ensure a consistent quality of service in all Dior spas around the world?The Dior Spa team is like a start-up in a big company. It's a young team, ultra-flexible, and above all passionate about its projects. We've put many processes in place, of course, to guarantee the consistency of the experience at an international level.
We travel a lot to provide training, coaching, and updates in each of our spas. And we're lucky to be able to rely on local contacts with our various international teams.What have been the greatest challenges you've faced in developing Dior spas in luxury hotels, and how have you overcome them?I would say that our greatest challenge today is recruiting and retaining our teams on the ground. To this end, we have created a partnership with the Terrade Group to create a pool of talent that we train in their final year of studies so that we can then integrate them into our spas.
We are also creating international career paths so that we can develop our talents and offer them a varied and always motivating career.What are the next exciting projects or innovations we can expect from Dior Spa?The first Dior Wellness Retreat, open to the public at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, will take place from 14 to 17 October, a fully personalised programme of spa rituals, mindfulness workshops and appointments with our Dior Wellness Experts Rose Ferguson and Bryony Deery. Reserved for a very limited number of participants, this event will be an opportunity to combine well-being, beauty and a holistic experience in an extraordinary location.
Next year will see new international openings, including, without revealing too much, the first Dior Spa in the United States.
We love breaking new ground, as we've done with our spas, and we're going to be focusing more generally on the experiential aspect and the art of hospitality around wellness.
 The Dior Spa Dubai, located on the penultimate floor of The Lana hotel, is the latest addition to the Dior spas
Crédit photo © Pierre Mouton /
 The view of the Dubai skyline from the Dior Spa Dubai illustrates the new place occupied by spas in luxury hotels
Crédit photo © Pierre Mouton /
 The luxurious Hôtel du Cap Eden Roc in Cap d'Antibes will be the setting for the first Dior Retreat in September
Crédit photo © Matthieu Salvaing /
 Anne-Louise Pothier's first project for Dior spas was the Cheval Blanc in Paris, created in 2020
Crédit photo © Dior Beauty
 Since then, she and her team have developed Dior spas in a variety of forms, including the Dior Spa Cruise
Crédit photo © Dior Beauty
 Or as with the Dior Spa Eastern & Oriental Express
Crédit photo © Dior Beauty
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