DEVELOPMENT - RICHARD MARIA, CEO, MAYA COLLECTION: "OUR STRENGTH LIES IN OFFERING A QUALITY EXPERIENCE ACCESSIBLE TO A DIVERSE CLIENTELE" (Monaco)
Opening of MayaBay West Palm Beach in Florida in September and Maya Hotel in Courchevel in December... the CEO tells us all about the Monegasque group's transformation, combining international ambitions with controlled expansion
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DEVELOPMENT - RICHARD MARIA, CEO, MAYA COLLECTION: "OUR STRENGTH LIES IN OFFERING A QUALITY EXPERIENCE ACCESSIBLE TO A DIVERSE CLIENTELE" (Monaco)
Opening of MayaBay West Palm Beach in Florida in September and Maya Hotel in Courchevel in December... the CEO tells us all about the Monegasque group's transformation, combining international ambitions with controlled expansion
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Catégorie : Europe - Monaco - Économie du secteur
- Interviews et portraits
- Gastronomie
- Ouvertures d'hôtels - Gastronomie - Interviews
Interview de Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine le 18-04-2025
 Richard Maria to head Maya Collection from 2021
Crédit photo © Pascal Lattes / Maya Collection
Founded in Monaco with the opening of MayaBay in 2007, the group has developed around immersive experiences, where gastronomy and a refined yet uninhibited atmosphere play a key role. Under the leadership of Jean-Victor Pastor, founder of the collection, and Richard Maria, its CEO, the group is now undergoing controlled international expansion, with locations in Monaco, Dubai, Porto Montenegro, Méribel, and soon Doha, West Palm Beach, Courchevel and Mykonos. Each opening follows a systematic approach: choosing destinations where the group's loyal guests are accustomed to going and offering them an experience that is both exclusive and accessible.
At the head of this development, Richard Maria brings expertise forged by a rich and diverse background. Trained at the Nice hotel school, he began at SBM, where he quickly rose through the ranks of Cafe de Paris. His ambition then led him to Moliflor Loisirs, where he specialized in the management and creation of hotel properties and casinos. He then managed several projects in the Principality before returning to SBM, with the mission of developing the Café de Paris brand internationally. After several years in the wine trade between Monaco, London and Moscow, he finally answered Jean-Victor Pastor's call in 2021 to structure and accelerate the growth of Maya Collection.
In this exclusive interview with Journal des Palaces, Richard Maria discusses the group's DNA and the strategy guiding the expansion of Maya Collection. He gives us a behind-the-scenes look at upcoming openings, including the Maya Hotel in Courchevel at the end of 2025, as well as the group's ambitions for the coming years.
Journal des Palaces: What is the origin, the values and the DNA of Maya Collection?
Richard Maria: Maya Collection was born with the creation of MayaBay, which remains the group's flagship today. It was originally set up in the Roccabella building in Monaco, with the aim of offering residents a quality restaurant. Mr. Pastor, who is passionate about the hotel and restaurant business, also wanted to bring something new to the Principality. During a trip to Asia, he had the idea of launching an Asian restaurant in Monaco, and that's how MayaBay was born.
In 18 years, the establishment has built up a loyal following of demanding guests by offering an experience based on attention to detail, quality products and impeccable service. Then, in 2018, we took the next step with the opening of Refuge de la Traye, our first hotel, followed by the creation of Maya Mia and then Maya Jah.
Le Refuge de la Traye was the group's first hotel. Could you talk about this decision to diversify your offering?
Le Refuge de la Traye is indeed classified as a refuge, and as such, it includes a room for hikers looking to spend the night. It is therefore marketed as a refuge while being a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH). The difference with other French refuges is that ours offers a level of luxury that you would expect to find in countries like Switzerland.
What activities and brands does Maya Collection bring together?
Today, Maya Collection brings together several properties:
• MayaBay, our flagship, dedicated to Asian gastronomy, in Monaco, Dubai and Porto Montenegro.
• Da Valentino and Maya Mia, two Italian addresses in Monaco, one more gourmet, the other more casual.
• Le Refuge de la Traye, a luxurious mountain refuge and member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), in Méribel.
• Maya Altitude, perched at 2,400 meters in Méribel, accessible only by ski, in a strategic location at the crossroads of the slopes between Méribel, Courchevel and Les Ménuires, and the commune of Les Belleville, where around 10,000 skiers pass through every day.
• Maya Jah, our oriental restaurant concept, which is now being developed as a franchise with a first opening in Doha.
• And our artisanal and French manufacturers: Maison Vertueux for chocolate with a very specialized range and Maya Moki for iced mochis with a collection of 18 exclusive, healthy and tasty flavors that will be marketed in the spring of 2025.
What do your guests come to your properties for?
Each property has its own identity, inspired by its gastronomic or hotel culture. Our restaurants and hotels are lively places, where the atmosphere is important, but without being excessively festive. We want our guests to enjoy a lively atmosphere, while putting culinary quality first.
Above all, we want to offer them quality products. For example, in Montenegro, we were not fully satisfied with the fish. Since then, we have been sourcing our fish in Monaco, to control the quality.
What is your international development strategy?
We have a simple guideline: we set up shop where our guests travel and live. Monaco is a microcosm where the world's great fortunes meet. Naturally, we follow them to their favorite destinations. That's how we opened in Dubai and Porto Montenegro, and we will soon be setting up shop in Doha, West Palm Beach and Mykonos.
But we are not rushing. Finding the right location takes time. For Mykonos, for example, we turned down several proposals before settling on the ideal location, in the heart of the biggest international hotel brands such as One&Only, Aman and Four Seasons. We will thus be opening MayaBay Mykonos in 2027 within the One&Only. The Kerzner group placed its trust in us because we were able to demonstrate that the guest experience is unique and atypical and that we are capable of uniting guests around the MayaBay brand.
In Courchevel, it took us five years to secure the perfect address, right in the center of the village, an exceptional site.
We take a surgical approach to development: we prefer to open a few properties, but to ensure that the guest experience is perfectly mastered.
What is the profile of your guests?
We have a wide range of guests, from families to young professionals, including regulars at the destinations where we are located. In Monaco, for example, we welcome teenagers who have just left school as well as senior citizens over the age of 80, even if the majority of our guests are between 30 and 60 years old. What they all have in common is their demand for quality and their search for excellent value for money. With us, you can have lunch for 30 euros as well as for 2,000 euros per person.
Our guests are not necessarily found in festive properties where the atmosphere takes precedence over gastronomy. We favor a premium experience, with attentive service and refined cuisine.
Can you tell us about the Maya Hotel, your future property in Courchevel?
The Maya Hotel will open next December, with 14 rooms, and will become our showcase hotel. It is a luxury boutique hotel that embodies the group's know-how, with a design by Sylvestre Murigneux and an identity marked by our Asian DNA, which remains the common thread running through each of our properties. Each room has been designed to reflect this inspiration, while fitting in with the contemporary, Alpine spirit of Courchevel.
We are almost at the delivery stage, and yet we are continuing to develop the design. I also believe strongly in brand collaborations in the development of the Maya Hotel and for our other brands. When brands come together, there is a notion of guest experience and shared values. It is in this context that we have formed a partnership with Lalique, which has designed an exclusive Suite and Apartment in the property.
The hotel will also offer a Medi-Spa treatment room, equipped with state-of-the-art devices such as Hydrafacial and Microneedling, and treatments with the Japanese brand Forlee'd, specialized in non-invasive cosmetics.
In terms of food and drink, MayaBay Courchevel will offer continuity with our Monegasque establishment, under the leadership of executive chef Christophe Dupuis. The menu will be a veritable book, faithful to the MayaBay experience, and as in each of our properties, we have dedicated a year to training our teams, to guarantee the same quality as in Monaco.
Finally, the hotel has already joined the Small Luxury Hotels of the World network, which is an excellent booking channel and a guarantee of visibility among our target guests.
How is the recruitment campaign going for this new property?
We have already recruited some key people, including the general manager, Alex Remichi, a Savoyard who already runs the Refuge de la Traye and who is very familiar with the Courchevel hotel industry. In total, we will have 52 employees, divided between the hotel and the restaurant.
The recruitment of seasonal staff will begin in August, and we will be looking for a variety of profiles: chefs de rang, commis, bartenders, chambermaids, valets, receptionists, etc. We are fortunate that Maya Collection is now well-known, which facilitates recruitment, but we remain very attentive to training. With us, it takes an average of one year for an employee to be fully operational.
What are Maya Collection's other projects?
In the short term, we are going to open Maya Jah Doha in the spring, followed by MayaBay West Palm Beach in September, located within the Biba Social Club, then MayaBay Courchevel in December and MayaBay Mykonos, which will open in 2027.
Then we have projects in London, where we are still looking for the right location.
We are also looking towards the United States, with ambitions in New York, Aspen and Las Vegas. But as always, we will take the time to choose the best locations.
Our goal is to grow while maintaining a high level of quality and service. We are not opening for the sake of opening, but to offer an experience true to our DNA, with constant attention to detail and to the well-being of our employees.
Could you describe the project to open in Miami?
The notion of a club is important in England and the United States. Our MayaBay restaurant will be part of the Biba Social Club, which will open in September 2025, located in West Palm Beach and will include a 26-room hotel, a format that suits us well, in an extremely luxurious but not elitist spirit.
With only 55 seats, the restaurant will be intimate. We will find a design evoking Miami, with iconic decorative references of the brand, such as pieces designed by Sylvestre Murigneux, our architect, including our teardrop-shaped chandelier that adorns each MayaBay.
 Maya Collection's first hotel, Maya Hotel, to open in Courchevel in December 2025
Crédit photo © Maya Collection
 The suites, like the Maya Hotel as a whole, will be decorated with a blend of Asian and mountain influences
Crédit photo © Maya Collection
 A MayaBay, the group's flagship restaurant, will be set up at the Maya Hotel in Courchevel
Crédit photo © Maya Collection
 Maya Collection has already made a name for itself in the luxury hotel industry with its Refuge de la Traye offering
Crédit photo © Maya Collection
 The group is best known for its food and beverage offer, which it is extending internationally, as in Mykonos in 2027
Crédit photo © Maya Collection
 Maya Collection recently launched a range of artisanal products, including Maison Vertueux chocolates and now a brand of iced mochi, Maya Moki
Crédit photo © Maya Collection
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