A unique view of the Eiffel Tower, the MGallery in Issy-les-Moulineaux

More iconic than Airbnb. Just a few days before the opening of Paris2024, there are still a few rooms left in this peaceful, bucolic haven from which you can see the Eiffel Tower. La Reine Margot, an MGallery hotel, is the best place at the moment to get a front row seat and discover the magic of Paris? The organisers of ECTFF, the Customer Experience Forum, invite you to find out.

The customer, traveller and visitor experience is the key to repeat business.

The editors of En-Contact and the organisers of ECTFF, the French Customer Experience Forum, invite you* to enjoy Paris and the first days of the Olympic Games, close to Paris. Enjoy the spa, the garden and the unique view that this location has to offer (detailed conditions of participation on request by calling 01 75 77 24 00). 4-night stay, from 24 to 28 July 2024.

Camille Devaux, General Manager of Domaine Reine Margot

Meet Camille Devaux, General Manager of a secret estate…
…which will soon become a hot spot in the capital: the Domaine de la Reine Margot. In fact, we shouldn’t even be talking about it, as this type of venue must remain secret.

Escape from time and Paris, that’s the promise of the Accor group’s new hotel, the Domaine de la Reine Margot, which has sprung up just a few minutes from the capital, in Issy-les-Moulineaux. The promise has been kept. This new MGallery Collection establishment follows in the footsteps of Molitor.

Domaine de la Reine Margot opened its doors on 24 October. Overlooking Paris from Issy-les-Moulineaux, the place stands out for its bucolic, discreet approach, steeped in history. Its director, Camille Deveaux, is taking up her position as manager for the 3rd time in her career, having already helped launch several hotels, including Molitor. Her international career began in her youth: from the Indonesia of her childhood, via the Switzerland of her studies, she took her first steps in the hotel business in New York in 2001. Working as a receptionist at The Pierre, she witnessed the collapse of the Twin Towers. ‘It made an indelible impression’, she says succinctly. Almost immediately afterwards, she returned to France and joined Hyatt, where she was for the first time part of a team in charge of opening a hotel, the Park Hyatt in Washington. On the strength of this experience, she joined the Accor group, which marked her definitive return to France. She moved energetically from job to job, from hotel to hotel, often in the context of a rebranding or opening. Eventually, she was entrusted with the management of the Domaine de la Reine Margot.

What makes this hotel unique, especially for someone who has been involved in a number of openings?
Camille Devaux: An opening is always an opportunity to give shape to a vision shared by management and staff alike. It’s an extraordinary opportunity and a moment full of emotion and creativity. Writing a book from a blank page is a good comparison. That’s also what’s difficult, because you’re learning to live in a new place, which you have to understand. There’s always a gap between your initial imagination and reality. As far as this hotel is concerned, it’s absolutely incomparable because it’s steeped in over four hundred years of history. It allows us to tell our customers something extraordinary. We’ve even created a podcast to show guests around the hotel through storytelling. We have also been daring in mixing modernity with it. The best example is the bar in a former chapel on the site. You can drink and chat there. It’s a naturally atypical place that arouses a lot of curiosity. And it’s this combination that attracts our customers.

Who are they exactly?
CD: Many of our customers are Parisians who come here to recharge their batteries. They spend between twenty-four and forty-eight hours here to discover this historic heritage, the marvellous view of the Eiffel Tower and our vegetable garden. This leisure clientele is reminiscent of the staycations launched by the Lutetia during the COVID. They enjoy the spa and yoga classes. They read books. Their motivation is simple but difficult to transform: to rest. We make sure that customers can escape from their daily lives in our little bubble of freshness.

We also have three seminar rooms, each of which can accommodate around ten people. At the moment, they are mainly used by management committees.  With the end-of-year festivities, many people came here for their last meetings. Thanks to the garden, we’ll soon be able to host cocktail lunches and dinners.

There’s very little competition to organise events in this area. So the locals also come for birthdays or special family occasions. Our greenhouse is very popular with this type of clientele. That’s another reason why this place is such an opportunity. It allows us to offer a mix of family and business activities.

The Eiffel tower

This opening is a major challenge for the Accor group. Is it a way of testing a new concept?
CD: It’s a huge challenge, but not just for the Accor group, as there has also been investment from other bodies including the town of Issy-les-Moulineaux and SOAD (Seine Ouest Aménagement & Développement). The Domaine de la Reine Margot is owned by Accor subsidiary MGallery, but it is now the closest hotel to Accor’s head office, so the symbolism is strong. Especially as the last hotel to open in the Paris region was Molitor, almost ten years ago. We’re working hand in hand with the various partners and investors to make it a success.

Staff recruitment is often a source of concern when opening a new store.
CD: We’ve done a lot of hiring in Issy-les-Moulineaux. We organised recruitment days with the support of the town council and that worked out very well. Post Covid, we’ve had an influx of people who are fed up with telecommuting and want to walk or cycle to work. The opening of a 5-star hotel attracts a lot of people. We’ve been lucky in that we’ve managed to recruit some talented people. Many of them are still here, forming a great team.

What does a good 5-star employee look like? Someone who has already worked in the hotel industry?
CD: No, there are a lot of people who haven’t worked in hotels before. In fact, it comes down to a feeling. First and foremost, it’s a desire to do well and to get involved. It’s also about kindness and goodwill. Everything else can be learned.

What are the high-voltage jobs in the hotel industry?
CD: The kitchen and reception, of course. These are jobs that require a wide range of skills: language skills, computer skills and the ability to adapt quickly to a wide range of situations.

Let’s talk about a subject that concerns a lot of people today: incivilities. Do you observe any of this among consumers today?
CD: I’ve experienced a few in my life, but most of the time it was outside my workplace. There’s a daily stress that we all feel. It doesn’t particularly affect hotel staff. Our managers are trained and know how to take care of their teams and their customers to avoid this kind of situation. Sometimes there are unhappy people to deal with. It’s great to get good feedback, but bad opinions can help us to evolve. The customer’s eye can see things that we’ve overlooked.

Maud Bailly is the director of MGalleryShe is inspiring, say those who have met her and work alongside her. Here at the Domaine de la Reine Margot, photographed by Roberto Frankenberg.

What does the day-to-day life of a hotel manager like you look like?
CD: It’s a big commitment in terms of hours, but with the right support, it’s close to an executive’s schedule. You have to know how to organise yourself well, while setting limits. It’s important to plan ahead as much as possible, to stay ahead of the hotel’s schedule. You also have to be present on the ground. You obviously need to know your customers, as well as your teams. Delegating is an essential skill, but the details remain important, especially when everyone’s head is in the sand. It’s precisely knowing how to stand back that allows you to see the big picture.

Do you know who your customers are?
CD: Some hotels ‘google’ the names of their guests. For our part, we simply keep the legal data in Accor’s in-house CRM, so that we know where they’ve been and how their previous stays went. The group’s loyalty programmes help with this.

You trained at the Ecole des Roches. With hindsight, is it possible to learn the trade differently than through the grandes écoles?
CD: Yes, for me, motivation is the main factor. You have to want to fight because it’s a difficult profession. All jobs are tough these days. People who aren’t motivated don’t progress. Having mentors is an opportunity, and I’ve had some.

Managing reviews is now a strategic issue in the hotel industry.
Looking at the reviews left by guests at the Domaine, the vast majority of which are very positive, we note that the temperature in the pool area is sometimes disappointing. ‘But that’s because we go from a warmer zone to a colder one,’ says the manager, who takes the trouble to give customers a personal reply every morning. A certain Julie Cadalen really appreciated the hotel, but not so much the prices of the Rhums, despite the fact that they were highlighted in the sales communication.

‘The manager gave me a precise reply, and then again the receptionist. They really do take customer feedback into account,’ adds Ms Cadalen, who was positively surprised.  Julie is an expert in customer experience. She works at Concentrix +Webhelp. Careful attention to the expectations and voice of the customer is the future!

Nb: Ma nuit chez Maud is a film by Eric Rohmer

Who provides memorable experiences in France?
France’s 174,000 hoteliers enable millions of tourists and visitors to enjoy our beautiful country. For years they have had to contend with platforms such as Airbnb, which we are beginning to realise are not very fair and far from always offering iconic experiences. It’s time to put the church back in the middle of the village.

*To enter the competition.

The editors of En-Contact magazine and the organisers of ECTFF, the 1st forum in France dedicated to the customer experience, are organising a competition, reserved for registrants of the next and 12th edition of ECTFF: participants or sponsors. The winner will be selected at random from among the participants or sponsors who have registered for the Forum by Monday 22/07 and paid their registration fees. The winner will be notified on the evening of Monday 22 and will receive a 4-night stay at the MGallery hotel, Domaine de la reine Margot, for two people, in a room with an Eiffel Tower view!

The sponsors of the 2024 edition of the French Forum are companies, often French, that are champions in their field, in one of the items that contribute to the customer experience: hipto, Manifone, Callity, Ino Telecom, Dataventure, Opportunity. Some of them have been partners of ECTFF since its first edition in 2013.