OPENING - OLIVIER RESTA, GENERAL MANAGER OF INTERCONTINENTAL CHANTILLY - CHÂTEAU MONT-ROYAL: “OUR HOTEL IS ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT, AND OUR TEAM IS FULLY PREPARED” (France)
Since opening its doors a month ago, the luxury hotel - which has undergone a complete renovation - has made its mark under the leadership of its friendly manager. |
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OPENING - OLIVIER RESTA, GENERAL MANAGER OF INTERCONTINENTAL CHANTILLY - CHÂTEAU MONT-ROYAL: “OUR HOTEL IS ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT, AND OUR TEAM IS FULLY PREPARED” (France)
Since opening its doors a month ago, the luxury hotel - which has undergone a complete renovation - has made its mark under the leadership of its friendly manager. |
Category: Europe - France - Industry economy
- Careers
- Interviews and portraits
- Hotel opening - Career - Interviews
Interview made by Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine on 2024-08-29
 Olivier Resta, General Manager of the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont-Royal hotel
Photo credit © IinterContinental Chantilly Château Mont Royal
At the heart of a season marked by the Paris Olympic Games, the opening of this five-star hotel could have been audacious. However, it proved to be a well-considered choice, offering the teams the opportunity to immerse themselves in their new surroundings before the start of the new season in September, which promises to be a flamboyant one. Meticulous preparation and the commercial strength of the IHG Hotels & Resorts group mean that the future is looking bright, with a carefully selected mix of clientele. Olivier Resta's varied experience within the group, ranging from catering to finance, also gives him a global vision, which he is using to position the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont-Royal as a key player in the luxury hotel industry in France.
In an interview with Journal des Palaces, the General Manager shares his vision for the hotel, his priorities for the coming months, and reveals the strategies he has put in place to ensure guest satisfaction from day one. In addition to the enchanting setting and excellent service combined with exclusive experiences, to ensure lasting success, he relies above all based on a solid, committed team.
Journal des Palaces: As the new General Manager of the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont Royal, what are your priorities for the opening period?
Olivier Resta: My priority is to raise the profile of our hotel, a real treasure nestling in the heart of the Chantilly Forest. We want to showcase this unique place to a wide audience, whether they're in the middle of the United States or in the neighbouring villages.
We also want to highlight the strengths of the InterContinental brand, which once again demonstrates its expertise in the five-star luxury hotel industry, while offering our guests an unforgettable experience.
How does the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont Royal differ from other InterContinental properties in France?
Our hotel is part of the prestigious group of InterContinental properties, alongside the InterContinental Marseille - Hotel Dieu, the InterContinental Lyon - Hotel Dieu, and the InterContinental Paris Le Grand.
It is in this category of properties that stand out for their historical heritage and rich past, while at the same time being able to modernize to offer a contemporary and refined experience.
What kinds of exclusive experiences and services will you be offering your guests to stand out from other five-star hotels in the region?
Our hotel is undergoing a complete refurbishment, which clearly sets us apart from our competitors and allows us to offer an authentic five-star experience. This modernization ensures a level of comfort and luxury that meets the highest expectations.
We pride ourselves on offering an exceptional quality of service, which fosters a real connection with our guests. The extensive training provided by the IHG group, owner of the InterContinental brand, has been proven in our five-star properties in France and internationally, and we apply it rigorously to reach this objective.
Our location in five hectares of beautiful parkland allows us to offer a wide range of outdoor activities, including tennis, picnics, cycling, and children's play, both on our estate and in the surrounding area.
We also have the pleasure of a Biologique Recherche Spa and a large swimming pool, which are much appreciated by our guests. Our spa offers a range of treatments, from the most specialized to the most relaxing, to meet every need.
What about catering?
In terms of catering, we are committed to offering cuisine based on seasonal and local produce, cooked to perfection. Our Sunday brunch, which is very popular with local guests, and our terrace, which can seat over 100 people, are major assets that enhance the gastronomic experience we offer, while respecting the cosy atmosphere expected in a five-star hotel. Our brunch, for example, is served in small areas, with show-cooking. We are working on a real scenography for this offer, to mark our difference.
We want to create a real story around our restaurants, with a culinary offer that will naturally evolve, both at the Stradivarius, our bar/restaurant open all day, and at the Opera, which offers a more refined and elaborate menu. Likewise, we have already unveiled our second menu at the Stradivarius since it opened. Our immediate aim has been to meet the expectations of an international clientele, with benchmark dishes. We are also working with the chef on the creation of several signature dishes.
What has been the profile of your guests since you opened?
Locally, we have three types of guests, including those from Paris who want to get away from it all for a family weekend. They stay for one or two nights and take advantage of our surroundings, our spa and so on. Another profile, that of Parisian guests who spend a day without an overnight stay, complements the hyper-local clientele, from Chantilly, Compiègne, Senlis, and all the beautiful surrounding villages, who come to enjoy our Sunday brunch. We need to demystify our offering for a large proportion of these guests, who are not yet familiar with it, to help them discover our new identity.
Our strength also lies in our MICE business. Seminars, which sometimes include the complete privatization of the hotel during the week, represent considerable potential for us.
Opening such a property in the middle of summer and the Paris Olympics seemed like a real challenge. What were the keys to the success of this opening?
We chose to open during a relatively quiet period for us. This allowed us to develop our restaurant and spa offerings, and gave us the ideal opportunity to fine-tune our preparations for the promising start to the new season in September.
One of our main assets has been the commercial strength of IHG. Thanks to its advanced tools, well-established commercial strategy and extensive network, we have been able to secure major transactions and ensure a solid programme through to September 2025.
How did the team prepare to offer exceptional service from the moment it opened?
We've invested a lot of time in training our team over the last few months. Opening a hotel is always a challenge, but we place a premium on transparency with our guests and staff.
We have maintained open communication with our teams through various channels without ever hiding anything. In particular, we have organized staff forums to review progress and remind them of the direction we need to take. Many questions have been asked and some have been extremely useful in improving our offerings, particularly regarding the choice of menus and services at our spa.
If a service is not yet available on the first day of our guests' stay, we are committed to offering an alternative. Our hotel is absolutely splendid, and our team is fully prepared to offer a service that lives up to the five-star standards we promise.
Have you completed your recruitment?
The recruitment process is underway, and the enthusiasm surrounding this project has attracted many high-quality applications.
What profiles are you looking for and what qualities are essential to join your team?
First and foremost, we're looking for genuine commitment and a deep passion for this profession, which is both rewarding and gratifying for those who give their all. We're in a play, perfectly illustrated by the old opera stage we've kept in our gourmet restaurant. Each performer must exude cordiality and good humour.
We prefer to work with fewer people, but with people who want to learn, develop and grow in their profession. Today, 70 people are working to run the hotel and its 109 rooms and suites. We hope to recruit another 30 people in the upcoming weeks.
What management style do you adopt to ensure cohesion within the team?
I adopt a team-building approach, based on a culture of transparency. The team is focused on creating this new identity and this new offer that we are unveiling at the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont-Royal.
During the morning meetings, the floor is open, I don't impose any specific subject, and we discuss both recurring themes and events specific to each department, moments of gratification as well as difficulty.
I operate on a principle of trust. For me, that's the key to getting the team to commit. This also involves organizing social events. We brought all our staff together for a Guinguette-style team-building event, which helped to forge links between everyone.
My aim is to make talented people want to stay. To achieve this, I make it a point of honour to work on the personal development of our employees.
How do you put this desire to develop your teams into practice?
A whole part is played during recruitment interviews, which take the form of an hour-long discussion.
The training provided by IHG plays an important role in the success of our development programme. We offer a wide range of training courses, both group and distance learning. The brand positioning programme, followed over three days, initially enables new employees to become familiar with the brand's DNA. This immersion in the spirit of the IHG group and InterContinental creates the opportunity to project themselves and visualize the future within the group.
We also offer quarterly or annual individual mini-coaching sessions lasting 20 to 25 minutes. The aim is to help employees make progress or understand why they are stagnating by giving them feedback on their work.
The personal development plan offered by IHG is the most sophisticated and complex of all. Employees are invited to put down on paper their desire to move from plan A to plan B, to challenge themselves, to aim for a goal and to take charge of their career. This requires a personal investment and enables them to look ahead to the following year by motivating their ambitions. This plan enables us to identify potential employees who will move on to the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont-Royal or other group hotels around the world.
 InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont-Royal
Photo credit © InterContinental Chantilly Château Mont Royal
 Lobby of the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont-Royal
Photo credit © InterContinental Chantilly Château Mont Royal
 Restaurant/bar Le Stradivarius at the InterContinental Chantilly - Château Mont-Royal hotel
Photo credit © InterContinental Chantilly Château Mont Royal
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