PORTRAIT OF MYRIAM KOURNAF-LAMBERT, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE HÔTEL DU COUVENT IN NICE (France)
From her first steps in Marrakech to her recent achievement at Le Couvent, Myriam Kournaf-Lambert's career has been built on encounters, passion and generosity. |
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PORTRAIT OF MYRIAM KOURNAF-LAMBERT, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE HÔTEL DU COUVENT IN NICE (France)
From her first steps in Marrakech to her recent achievement at Le Couvent, Myriam Kournaf-Lambert's career has been built on encounters, passion and generosity. |
Category: Europe - France - Industry economy
- Interviews and portraits
- Hotel opening - Interviews
Interview made by Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine on 2024-11-04
 Myriam Kournaf-Lambert, now General Manager of the Hôtel du Couvent in Nice - Photo credit: Hôtel du Couvent
Photo credit © David Atlan / David Atlan
She flew to Nice to study business administration and American civilisation, driven by a dream of entrepreneurship. “I love imagining things from a business perspective, drawing up a business plan, planning the structure of the company, thinking about its structure and its teams…” she says. It was during a year's internship at the Four Seasons in Atlanta that the hotel business became an obvious choice. This revelation would mark the beginning of her rise.
From Nice to Los Angeles: a career on two continents
Back in France in 1994, Myriam started in the Bay of Angels in the sales department of four stars hotels, but her taste for the international soon led her back to the United States. In Los Angeles, she became a head-hunter for Ritz-Carlton. “This experience taught me a lot about human resources, but office hours didn't suit me,” she explains. After this Californian interlude, Myriam decided to return to the French Riviera.
In 2000, she joined the team at the Garden Beach in Juan-les-Pins, where she took part in the “meridionisation” (changeover to the Méridien brand) of the hotel. “It was a fantastic experience,” she recalls. She met her first mentor, a man who would change her professional future: in 2003, Valéry Grégo, then co-shareholder of the Beau-Rivage in Nice, recruited her to lead the renovation of the hotel. She played a crucial role alongside architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. “We were the first urban hotel in Nice without a sea view, a daring gamble,” she says proudly.
Exacerbated creativity at the Hôtel Montalembert
If audacity is one of the traits of this young hotelier, creativity is just as important. In 2005, she took charge of the Hôtel Montalembert in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, owned by the Majestic group and the Soldevila family. The young woman from Nice had no network in Paris and was starting from scratch. “I had to start from scratch”, she explains. Myriam devoted all her energy to this mission, and very quickly built up a dense local network in a Paris that was previously unknown to her. She drew on the identity of the area's literary scene to create the first Montalembert literary prize, with the neighbouring Gallimard publishing house. This cultural enthusiast quickly blossomed. “Literary lunches were a magical time”, she recounts.
Her unstinting commitment and the affection she shows for her guests and her team soon enabled the Montalembert to regain its place in the closed circle of Parisian luxury hotels. “We had 52% loyal guests in our rooms and 90% in the restaurant,” recalls the leader. For her, who loves her job as much for the challenge of achieving results as for the powerful human links she can forge, the experience was a success. “I had a fantastic team and clientele, and an exceptional relationship with the owners. Affect means a lot to me, as I'm all about emotion and people. When they decided to sell the hotel, I would rather not stay,” she recalls.
Coppola's call: an unforgettable experience
After nine years at the head of the Montalembert, Myriam marked her departure by saying goodbye to her closest guests. Then she received an unexpected email from Francis Ford Coppola. “He wrote ‘What's next?’” This message marked the start of an exceptional adventure with the famous director, who offered her the chance to become president of The Family Coppola Resorts collection. “It was an incredible opportunity. I spent three years overseeing his properties in Belize, Guatemala, and Napa Valley.”
As well as meeting Francis Ford Coppola and managing the hotels, this assignment gave her the opportunity to broaden her cultural horizons. “I learned an enormous amount, particularly by working with local teams in Spanish. It was a very enriching cultural and human exchange”, she recounts.
Back in France: between leadership and transmission
In 2018, Myriam took on a new challenge when she was asked by Lorène Martel, owner of the Caravelle group, to head up their hotel division. “This project allowed me to put down my bags while continuing to structure and professionalise the hotels,” she explains. She took charge of the group's hotels, including Le Cinq Codet in Paris, the Château de Fonscolombe in Aix-en-Provence and the Château d'Audrieu in Normandy. She focused her attention on structuring the teams, appointing managers for each hotel and affiliating certain properties with Relais & Châteaux. “People are at the heart of my work. Before opening a hotel, you must build a solid team,” she asserts with conviction. A philosophy that she quickly applied to the most ambitious project of her career.
The rebirth of the Hôtel du Couvent, her return to her roots
Throughout her career, her love of Nice has remained unshakeable, and when, in 2014, Christian Estrosi, the Mayor of Nice, discussed with her his desire to transform the convent of the Poor Clare sisters into a luxury hotel, Myriam didn't think twice about it. She immediately thought of her mentor, Valéry Grégo, founder of the Perseus group. Together, they would devote ten years to the rebirth of this historic site. A relationship of admiration binds her to Valéry Grégo and fuels her determination daily: “I listen to him a lot, he's fascinating. I need to be inspired. My job is much more than a job, it's a considerable part of my life,” she says. In addition to this need to be inspired, Myriam has to immerse herself in every detail of her property, share her values with the members of their team, and invest herself, beyond what is reasonable, to guarantee the success of her hotel and the satisfaction of her guests. It's a success she is happy to attribute to the team she cherishes so dearly.
At the Couvent, which opened last June, Myriam has turned her attachment to Nice into a strength. As at the Montalembert, the woman federates, brings people together, and seeks to make the Hôtel du Couvent a unique place where travellers and locals meet. By creating synergies between her two worlds, she has transformed the place into a close-knit community and an essential reference point in Nice's hotel industry. “What I love most about this job is giving pleasure. Whether it's my teams, my guests or my nearest and dearest, seeing others happy thanks to my attentions is my greatest satisfaction,” she confides.
It's a vision of service and excellence that continues to guide her day-to-day actions, but one that she combines with a heightened sense of anticipation, particularly when it comes to choosing her colleagues: “I like things to be well put together. I always think about the next move. Before the opening, I held plenty of interviews to put together a team as I imagined it, with shared values, enthusiasm and determination,” she describes. And we succeeded because three months after its opening, this jewel of the luxury hotel industry is already a symbol of history, innovation, and conviviality.
As the young mother of Louis, Myriam Kournaf-Lambert is a model of female leadership in the luxury hotel industry. While she is now an accomplished mother and manager, she never forgets to pass on her knowledge to young professionals. “I often advise young people not to specialise too early, and to keep an open mind. Hospitality can be a choice, but you must make sure that it's really what you want”, she advises.
With such a personality, Myriam Kournaf-Lambert continues to inspire those lucky enough to work with her. Her values of caring, quality and personalised service resonate not only in her managerial approach, but also in her vision of the luxury hotel industry.
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