VOICE OF LUXURY
VOICE LUXURY Ů Laurent Gardinier president, Relais & Châteaux
Sustainability and quality are key focuses for the luxury hotel and restaurant association, which has 580 members and 370 Michelin stars to its name. Erica Rich reports
Q. How did you become involved with the association? I was a member of Relais & Châteaux for 18 years before becoming president. I have a family business, so I am the co- owner of a Relais & Châteaux property in Champagne called Domaine Les Crayères, which is a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, boutique hotel and brasserie. We also have a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris called Le Taillevent. We were in the wine business for more than 20 years so I have an F&B background.
Q. You became president in January 2023. How has the wÀÃÌ Þi>À Liin¶ What I’ve tried to achieve focuses on two aspects: first, the quality of the network and second, sustainability, because that is something we absolutely must address. It doesn’t mean it is not addressed by members, but as we operate in 65 countries we are not at the same level in every destination. So we need to be sure that we advise, monitor and address the sustainability points in each of our properties, which is not an easy task. I have met with most of our members over the last year and there is not a single one who has said to me, I don’t want to go into sustainability.
+° >ÃÌ Þi>À ÞoÕ «ÕLliÃhi` Ìhi >ÃÃoVi>Ìion½Ã wÀÃÌ ÃÕÃÌ>in>LiliÌÞ report. What were the key takeaways from this? This was started by the former president [Philippe Gombert] and it has been a very good initiative. Why? First of all, you cannot act if you don’t measure. When you have the data, you start understanding what major issues you need to address and how you have to address them. The report is very interesting: we see that we have good points and areas we need to improve. [The report found] 48% of those working in Relais & Châteaux are women and 52% are men so we’re quite well balanced in terms of inclusion. We are also very good when it comes to the ecosystem and gastronomy. Hardware of the properties [is an area we need to work on]. Electricity, carbon footprint, water management systems, sewers, compost – all of these things need to be addressed.
Q. How was 2023 for the Relais & Châteaux network? We have had a very good 2022 and 2023. We have not seen an increase [in revenue] between the years. It means that in the core network, we are at a plateau, but the plateau is at a much higher level than 2019, which was already a record year. We’re still at
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