Working Together, To Remain One of a Kind

Working Together, To Remain One of a Kind
Overview
Jean-Louis Bottigliero
Chief Executive Officer
Relais & Chateaux Association

Since its foundation in 1954, Relais & Chateaux has become a premier hotel association, promoting and marketing independent hotels and restaurants around the world. Currently consisting of 450 members located in fifty countries on all five continents, the association has gone from strength to strength, whilst continuing to reflect the original concepts of its founding fathers. They were established by a small group of hoteliers who owned properties along the road from Paris to Nice known as the "Route du bonheur". They decided to combine their efforts in order to become a major force in the luxury hotel market, and to share information, ideas and promotional tools.

The Relais & Chateaux Association has achieved international status in terms of both its presence and reputation. The association celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2004 and we attribute the long-standing success of our organization to firstly, the excellence and quality of our members who strive to provide the highest level of service for our guests and secondly, to the fact that we are an association. There is clearly a real sense of our members working together in order to achieve a common goal. The Association’s promotional and marketing strategies, which include the distribution of one million copies of our international guide in four different languages; our internet site, www.relaischateaux.com, which now has more than 10 000 visitors per day; our central reservations office; and our gift certificates, have all been vital in establishing our brand around the world. Nevertheless, we believe that these individual elements are incomplete without the soul and spirit of the association, which continues to be the driving force behind all out work.
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Exceeding Expectations
Relais & Chateaux hotels offer our guests a level of service which has to exceed all expectations. Our guests are made to feel truly welcome from the moment they arrive, when the owner or manager greets them personally, until they leave. Throughout their stay, our guests are looked after with the utmost care and attention, in the beautiful and elegant surroundings which all our properties offer.

Even though our members all belong to the same group, under the one name, Relais & Chateaux, we are unlike other traditional hotel chains in that our properties remain individual in style and character. Being different means taking a risk but our association considers that this statement of individuality and the variety of our establishments make us unique in the hotel market.

Our association is the only one of its kind which holds to a Quality Charter consisting of the "5Cs": the common values and standards which our members strive to uphold in addition to the traditional quality standards expected from fine hotels:

Courtesy is a vital service for the client and draws together discretion, attention, and kindness. With this in mind, our modest size properties, which have an average of twenty-nine rooms, are able to offer a higher level of courtesy and personal attention to a smaller number of guests.

Charm is the intangible and dream-like quality that gives a property its general feeling and ambiance. Though the elegance and sophistication found in all Relais & Chateaux properties is essential, they would be nothing without charm, which captures the human spirit quality.

Character, as we have already mentioned, can be a choice, style, or singularity. Our properties are defined by their character.

Whether a former chateau, manor house, abbey, post house, or ranch, they are all in harmony within their natural settings.

Calm is used to describe the environment in which our guests can relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings. Our properties promote a sense of serenity, and since calm has become a true luxury much sought after by people with hectic lives, we believe that it must be protected and upheld.

Cuisine is the link between taste and civilization. It is a rite and something to be shared and, therefore, an essential part of every Relais & Chateaux property. We ensure that all our hotels have a first class restaurant and that the cuisine is of a quality which our guests expect and enjoy. Our restaurants, which carry the Relais Gourmands label, are of the highest quality and boast truly brilliant Chefs.

Relais & Chateaux is the only association which combines courtesy, charm, character, calm and cuisine in this distinctive manner. They have been the core of our philosophy for many years but are still considered up-to-date, even today.
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Maintaining Quality Standards of our Properties
The Relais & Chateaux brand is a benchmark in the hospitality industry and the quality standards that our association has set must be upheld.

Every year, owners of beautiful properties around the world, attracted by the Relais & Chateaux brand, submit their applications to become members of our association. New properties are always welcome as the association develops and evolves. Their distinctive styles and situations add even more diversity to our image and make our chain more attractive to guests. Of two hundred applications last year, only twenty-two properties made the grade and were invited to join the association. Adequate financial resources alone do not qualify a candidate to become a member. In assessing the suitability of potential members, our Board of Directors uses several criteria. Firstly, the candidate must fulfill the “5 Cs”, for hotels this includes having less than 100 rooms, a restaurant, and an owner or manager who has held the position for at least twelve months. Then, the dossier of the establishment is carefully reviewed, an in-depth survey is carried out and anonymous quality control inspections are carried out.

One of the most important rules, which has been in place since 1996, is the ban on dual membership. This rule aims to prohibit a Relais & Chateaux property from also becoming a member of another hotel chain, helping us to avoid the dilution of our brand name and to and confusion within the spirit of our clients.

Current members are also monitored so that our quality standards are upheld and defended. In 2003, over 150 'mystery guest' quality inspections were undertaken, to give an objective, non-biased opinion on existing properties. They enable us to gather information from a guest's point of view and to make sure our properties are remaining true to the Relais & Chateaux standards and vision.

Quality control is not limited to anonymous visits: other tools are used at the head office, involving for instance, the 10,000 guest comment forms, 700 emails and 500 letters we receive every year from guests. Our customers therefore have the opportunity to make suggestions as to how we can make further improvements to properties, and we greatly appreciate their comments and advice.
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Dedicated Teams
Behind our 5Cs are exceptional people who have a passion for excellence and who are dedicated to upholding our standards. They always choose the best and never take the easy option. Their greatest asset is a warm heart and the ability to make guests feel truly welcome on arrival. Their property is more than just a business, and they take time and trouble to ensure that everything is in place to make their guests happy.

Personal contact is extremely important, and knowing how to receive guests and have a friendly and polite conversation with them, should be a natural quality of any hotelier. Getting to know guests and anticipating their needs is essential for maintaining a high level of personal service. Small details such as remembering clients’ names and their particular preferences can really make a difference to someone’s stay. Kindness, care and attention are vital characteristics, but interesting characters and personalities can also add a certain charm and ambiance to a hotel, encouraging clients to return and see familiar faces. Guests want to be made to feel special, and we at Relais & Chateaux do everything we can to make their stay unforgettable.

Though the association has no involvement in the management of our hotels or the employment of staff, we are privileged to have teams who provide the high quality of service required. Personal experience has shown that in order to have a team which works well together, there must be mutual respect between management and staff, and team spirit can be encouraged through group activities. This is important when many Relais & Chateaux hotels are situated in the countryside where staff are sometimes provided with accommodation by the hotel. A manager who is consistently present and who is prepared to do any task needed around the hotel, can motivate others to work just as hard through the example that they set.

The relationship between staff can make a difference to the quality of service and to the atmosphere for guests, and although all Relais & Chateaux properties are very different, our guests enjoy the same personal service whether in Italy, the United Kingdom or the United States. Our members are therefore able to keep our clientele within the association.
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The Status of Association
Relais & Chateaux has been an Association since its creation, both in terms of its legal structure and its spirit. Within it, there exists equality between members, each one having one vote, irrespective of size, nationality, or seniority. Our members therefore have an interest in working together for the common good and for upholding our values. We are far more than just a company whose main purpose is making money. Instead, as a non-profit making organization, we are able to concentrate on developing long-term projects and remaining true to our mission statement:

The mission of the Association shall be to further the cultural and economic stature of its unique hotels and restaurants throughout the world by collectively promoting its members, while recognizing their heritage and the soul and spirit of Relais & Chateaux.

Though Relais & Chateaux has experienced substantial growth over the last fifty years, its Association structure has stood the test of time. Moreover, this structure has been able to sustain extraordinary growth and development, including the establishment of subsidiaries in France and offices around the world.
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The Strength of the Brand
The Relais & Chateaux brand is the most important asset of our Association and constitutes our greatest strength. What the name and logo has come to symbolize, is the fruit of decades of promotion around the world, encompassing the distribution of more than twenty million copies of Relais & Chateaux Guides over 50 years!

Our guide is a true travel companion and the main key to the promotion of our properties as one group. It has a strong, visual identity with the simple and elegant Relais & Chateaux logo in gold and grey on a white background. It has always been the vehicle for the image of our brand, the association, and our properties.

1,000,000 copies of our International Guide are distributed free every year from our properties and offices. Available in four languages – French, English, German and Spanish – it offers clients images, descriptions and practical information on all our properties.

Relais & Chateaux is a yardstick, what our Anglo-Saxon friends call a “trust mark” rather than a trademark. It represents a luxury group of charming hotels and we continue to build on the strength of our brand. Successes in a Challenging Environment

In 2003, we conducted the largest survey of our international image. This study was carried out by a reputable, independent organization and focused on Relais & Chateaux's four key markets: United Kingdom, Germany, USA and France: which together represent more than eighty percent of our business.

The results show that Relais & Chateaux has achieved one of the best images on the international stage of luxury hotels. The study concludes that there are few other brands which have a stronger, more widespread or focused image.

Though the hotel industry is not exempt from current global economic challenges, Relais & Chateaux has been able to continue building on its past successes. As people's travel habits change and the industry adjusts to travelers’ demands, we have been able to cater to our clients needs. Clients now wish to take shorter but more frequent breaks and travel shorter distances. Since we have an international presence, our guests can continue to stay with us in properties closer to home.
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Technological Anticipation
Technological anticipation has always been at the heart of the Association's success. It has guided our investments and enabled us to reach a far larger target group. With more than 110,000 copies of our international guide downloaded every year and 10,000 hits per day on www.relaischateaux.com, it is vital that we continue to invest in technology which will enable us to further promote and market Relais & Chateaux.

The number of guest bookings and gift certificate orders made on-line also continues to grow. Over the last twelve months, thirty per cent of the total number of room reservations made through the central reservation system were carried out using the Internet. This constitutes a two-fold increase every year since its launch at the end of 2000.

Our next major technological development will be the creation of an online recruitment service entirely dedicated to our properties. We are constantly searching for new ways to improve communication and as we continue to invest in technology, we aim to be even more proactive and innovative.
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Greater Presence in the Market
Relais & Chateaux’s sale strengths are based on the reservation of rooms and restaurant tables. However, our gift certificates, which are now available in both euros and dollars, are also very successful. Presenting someone with a gift certificate means that they can redeem it at any participating property around the world. Our guests are therefore offered more choice, convenience and an opportunity to experience a Relais & Chateaux holiday, perhaps for the first time. Gift certificates can be purchased at any of our offices around the world, which are located in New York, London, Brussels, Barcelona, Berlin, and at the Maison des Relais & Chateaux in Paris, our first boutique which opened in September 2002.

The association will also continue to consolidate its commercial strengths through à la carte Relais & Chateaux itineraries around the world, theme programmes such as our unique Spa collection, our Esprit golf offer and our cooking classes for professionals and debutants. In the future, we will concentrate on promoting holidays specifically for the family. Our goal is to see continued growth in our business but growth which is in tune with the values of our association, described above.

At Relais & Chateaux, our success in the competitive hotel indust