ÉRIC DARDÉ, FOUNDER, BEAUMIER: "WE'RE IN A PERIOD OF CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT AND REPUTATION"
With a clear vision, Éric Dardé is overseeing Beaumier's virtuous, progressive growth between the mountains and the sea, with a desire to offer a terroir-based hotel business, rich in both human and cultural resources
ÉRIC DARDÉ, FOUNDER, BEAUMIER: "WE'RE IN A PERIOD OF CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT AND REPUTATION"
With a clear vision, Éric Dardé is overseeing Beaumier's virtuous, progressive growth between the mountains and the sea, with a desire to offer a terroir-based hotel business, rich in both human and cultural resources
Beaumier has reached the summits. Or rather, it's what he started out to do. Up there, clinging to the snowy white peaks of the Alps. A physical and geographical summit from which to begin a singular adventure. With Les Hôtels d'En Haut, a name that had nothing to do with chance, Éric Dardé set out to fulfil a dream, his dream: to imagine a different kind of hotel, embracing its environment, its location and close to its customers.
It wasn't long before the small group came down from the mountains and set up shop on the shores of the Mediterranean, creating a seasonal diptych that would form the basis of its growth. One foot in the water, the other in the snow, always looking at nature and what it has to offer.
Over the years, Les Hôtels d'En Haut has been transformed, and its name, having lost its original one, has evolved to become Beaumier in 2021. The culmination of its founder's vision. A man of opportunity, he expanded his hotel offering by renovating old buildings and hotel complexes, exploiting their potential and history to bring his vision of hospitality to life.
With ten hotels under his management, Éric Dardé is delighted to be able to offer a real balance between mountain and seaside establishments from 2024, but he has no intention of stopping there, and is swarming with projects across Europe. Ambitious but thoughtful, the former waiter-turned-executive sat down with Journal des Palaces at the Paris premises of Studio Saint-Lazare, with whom Beaumier collaborates, to talk about the genesis of his group and its future.
Journal des Palaces: What were your original ambitions when you created Hôtels d'En Haut?
Éric Dardé: Les Hôtels d'en Haut started out as an opportunity. We had the opportunity to start in the mountains. For us, Hôtels d'en Haut was never a brand but a small group. What began to define it was the way we saw our hotel business (lifestyle, architecture, design…).
How does Beaumier mark a change?
Beaumier is the result of a global brand ambition. We were looking for ourselves and found ourselves through Les Roches Rouges, a project that made a lot of sense in our hotel business.
Why is this project so important to you?
Because of its location. When you open your window, you see the Mediterranean. You're right on the water. We've succeeded in drawing inspiration from the architecture and history of the site, with a coherent artistic approach, and in creating a simplicity of luxury around nature and well-being. We're into the idea of “less is more”, of doing less but better, but with a certain sincerity. That was the basis for the rest.
Let's get back to the emergence of the Beaumier brand.
When we launched Beaumier, our purpose was to get back to the essentials of life: nature, well-being, rediscovering people, spending time with family and friends, local life. For us, Beaumier is a culture of passionate people who see life in the same way. Involving people, listening to their visions, this way of looking at life is what makes us unique in what we do. Therein lies the evolution of Hôtels d'En Haut to Beaumier, which we launched in May 2021. Between Hôtels d'en Haut and 2021, we grew, making acquisitions in Provence, the Swiss Alps and Ibiza. We've gone from five to ten hotels, all of which we've renovated and repositioned. Three of them will reopen next summer:
Grand Belvédère in Wengen (Switzerland), which has been closed for a year and a half and will open in June.
Capelongue, which has been open for two years but which we have renovated in several phases, and which will reopen as a holiday village in May. We're no longer just a hotel, we want our customers to stay for a long time.
Does this repositioning of Capelongue imply a change of target?
We were aiming for the same clientele. They're multi-generational: grandparents with their children and grandchildren, friends, rarely single people. They can stay for a weekend or three weeks. What they all have in common is their approach to nature, well-being, and gastronomy. Our clientele is also international. We have 20% French, 20% British, 11% American, 8% Benelux, 5% Swiss…
What's the third project you'll be reopening in summer 2024?
It's Petunia. We're renovating it and opening it as a five-star hotel. We're going upmarket and opening it up to everyone because when we took it over, it was adults-only. We haven't changed anything structurally, but we have worked on the decoration with our Art Program, as well as the catering policy.
What does your “Art Program” consist of?
Our “art program” is all about attention to detail, the right photo, the right object, the proper book, the appropriate light, all in keeping with “our” localities. It goes beyond a simple painting and is handled by Atelier Saint-Lazare. Its members spend their time meeting local artists, looking for objects that make sense. They work closely with each of our designers, and in all our hotels you'll find different artists and objects.
How would you sum up summer?
You have to distinguish between the market and us. What we've observed from the market is that average prices have risen, but with lower volumes than in 2022 or 2019.
For our part, we maintained our 80-85% occupancy rate, with a period from June 15 to September 15 when we were full. On the other hand, we didn't raise our prices by 40%, but by an average of 7%. We were reasonable in our pricing and our approach. We saw a much more international clientele, particularly Americans.
Why this more sensible approach?
If Beaumier was 10 years old, we might have done what everyone else was doing, but it was more important for us to find the right balance, protect our occupancy rate, introduce our new destinations, and find our average price. We're in a period of construction, development, and reputation-building, with a medium- to long-term vision.
How are you looking ahead to winter?
We're sensing that our customers are getting back into the habit of booking in advance, with high levels for February and March, up 15% on last year.
How do you explain this trend?
First, there are customers who are getting back into the habits they lost because of Covid-19. There's a return to a kind of routine, balanced with the fact that booking in advance means a lower price than booking at the last minute. It's a kind of return to “normal” in a world that is no longer the same after all.
What's involved in creating a brand?
To create a brand, you have to do things simply, organically, with taste, sense, and honesty. Doing things sincerely isn't complicated; it just takes time, effort and a strong collective effort, between our in-house teams and our partners. Our sole aim: to take care of our customers every day.
How do you take care of your customers?
Taking care of customers doesn't mean that everything has to be squared away. Customers want friendly, smiling people who will help them. Sometimes, we overcomplicate things through processes… We discuss this regularly with Jean-Philippe (Kern). We've spent a lifetime writing service standards. Every time I have a new manager or hotel director, he systematically tells me that he's going to write the service standards. I've been in the business for 30 years and I don't write them any more. Instead, I focus all my energy on being close to my teams and customers. I coach, I make sure that my teams are motivated, and that the customer has a good time.
What are your plans for the future?
We'd like to continue expanding in the Alps and move into Austria. Overall, we want to continue in the mountains in resorts that also have a summer because we like this summer-winter balance.
In the Balearic, where we already have a hotel, we'd like to find two or three more, so we're looking at Mallorca and Menorca. We also intend to go to Italy, targeting the seaside and lakes. We're also looking at the UK. In France, we'd like to set up in Brittany, on the Atlantic coast.
Currently, we have 10 hotels, and we'd like to go up to 15-20, concentrating on Europe, at the rate of one or two hotels a year. And maybe one day, we'll do something outside the continent. We're under no pressure to buy hotels. We just take the time to find the place that makes sense for us and has real appeal for international clientele.
Are you planning to build or renovate?
We don't do pure development. We only take on existing locations. However, if an exciting project corresponding to our image comes along, why do development?
Why have you rebalanced your mountain-sea offering?
Economically, it made the most sense. What's more, it enables us to build loyalty among our teams, to rely on people who know us, and facilitates re-openings. In the future, we'll continue to evolve while maintaining this balance.
A journalist with many skills and an ever curious traveller, Christopher has a great attraction for carefully refined hotels, where characterful gastronomy, impeccable service and sincere elegance go hand in hand. A discreet and gourmet pen at the service of a certain idea of luxury.
