The CEO of Accor’s French inspired luxury hotel brand, Sofitel, has spoken frankly about the need to create brand consistency and filter member properties that avoid investing in refurbishments.
In Australia this week for the reopening of Sofitel Sydney Wentworth and the brand’s 60th anniversary, Maud Bailly, CEO of Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, MGallery and Emblems told media that Accor has been repositioning the Sofitel brand for the past 14 years because “somehow the brand became diluted and the network had lost consistency.”
Bailly, who has been with Accor for the past eight years and two years as CEO of the Sofitel brand, said “to me, a brand has to be consistent, especially in luxury.”
“You can’t pitch something very inspirational, if at the same time the network doesn’t match with a promise.”
“We had the huge first wave of cleaning the network,” Bailly said, triggered in early 2023 under Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor Group. The objective was to create a dedicated luxury lifestyle division, split into four Maisons – Raffles/Fairmont, Orient Express, Ennismore and Sofitel/MGallery/Emblems.
“This focus on luxury allows us… to get really into the nitty gritty of what makes a brand exist and last,” Bailly said, while highlighting the significance of brand pillars, purpose “and what makes us different”.
“There are so many brands in an ocean of sameness, why should we be chosen by investors, owners,” she said.
“Sofitel was also at the crossroads. We had a two speed network, and discrepancy is killing credibility and is killing luxury. Luxury can’t cope with any compromise in quality of the product or of the service,” the Frenchwoman explained.Bailly said there was a “lack of sexiness” for the Sofitel brand, and that “people looking at us as a bit old, French brand, dusty… and lacked global ambition.”
“My motivation has been to reignite the brand promise, but also clean the network,” she said.
Bailly explained that involved meeting with each Sofitel owner and “trying to convince them to renovate or rebrand, or to de-flag”. She was transparent, saying those conversations were tough but necessary. And by renovation, it was necessary for a complete overhaul, not limited to soft furnishings, or room and suites. It requires all aspects. Since the transformation, six former Sofitel properties have parted ways with the brand.
“26% of our Sofitel network is under renovation. We are elevating the brand positioning, the brand identity, and elevating the network,” she told media.
“Moving to a brand led organisation also allows us to have more consistency.”
Today, Sofitel is “fully rejuvenated,” Bailly said, with new pillars and brand platform, a new website, partnerships and a fresh brand campaign featuring Gillian Anderson and Dali Benssalah, released earlier this year.
Currently Sofitel has 120 hotels (31,000 keys) around the world, with 24% of the brand’s hotels and resorts located in Asia Pacific (where there are 29 hotels/7,600 keys).
The luxury brand has 30 new hotels in the pipeline, while the upmarket Sofitel Legend brand (which launched in 2009 and currently has six properties) has three further additions coming online in Cairo, Jaipur and Prague.
In Australia, Sofitel is the leading luxury hotel brand with 7 properties in Sydney (x2), Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Noosa, plus three in New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown) and Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa in the South Pacific.
Bailly shared that pre-COVID, Sofitel’s business was mostly business over leisure. “Then it became half/half, then after COVID it became 65% leisure and 35% business.”Australia is Sofitel’s second feeder market behind the USA (based on room revenue), with both markets sitting on 15%, followed by France (12%), the UK (8%) and Germany (3%).“Australia loves Sofitel and Sofitel loves Australia,” she added.
The top destinations for Australian guests staying overnight with Sofitel are domestic (61%), followed by Fiji (12%), then Indonesia and New Zealand (both 4%) and Singapore (3%). The most liked hotels in the region are Sofitel Melbourne on Collins and Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour.
Bailly concluded by revealing that Sofitel Noosa Pacific Resort would undergo a complete refurbishment in the near future.
Lead image – in Sydney for the joint relaunch of Sofitel Sydney Wentworth and Sofitel brand’s 60th Diamond Jubilee: Maud Bailly (centre) CEO of Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, MGallery and Emblems, with Qantas crews in fitting retro uniforms.
