Accor outlines luxury brands strategy for 2025

Raffles & Fairmont Hotels CEO Omer Acar has recently stated that Fairmont hotels are “intimately tied to the social fabric of a destination” with accessible luxury and venues that can host large groups. “If it’s a landmark wedding or peace conference, it’s most likely going to happen at a Fairmont,” he said.

Fairmont is “a larger-scale brand,” with “close to 90 hotels open” and “30-plus hotels in the pipeline.” This year, Fairmont will promote expanded services on the “Gold Floor” of each hotel, a floor reserved for VIPs who receive more personalized service from staff in a kind of “hotel within the hotel.” Because of the overlap in customer bases, Fairmont Hotels will this year deepen its partnerships with professional golf events. Golf is often a favorite pastime of its guests, and 40% of its resorts have golf courses.

Raffles has smaller properties focused on intimate gatherings by families and executives.  “Raffles stands for a service culture that attracts a city’s best,” Acar said. “We opened our 147-room Raffles in Boston in 2023, and it’s been a huge success. Most importantly, if you go to the dining room or the long bar, you’ll see that everyone in the city of Boston is there. That’s what we aim for at every location.” Acar would like to expand Raffles selectively in key markets, such as Miami and top U.S. ski towns.

In 2023, Bazin appointed Maud Bailly CEO of the luxury hotel brands Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, MGallery, and Emblems. Bailly faced some turnaround work at the flagship Sofitel brand, which has 124 open hotels. Bailly spent the past two years traveling to gather feedback from owners, guests, and staff. She has aimed to revitalize the Sofitel brand by working on renovations, service culture, and brand positioning.

Bailly focused on enhancing staff culture. For general managers, she encouraged the development of leadership principles she calls “humble excellence, distinguished presence, and emotional intelligence.” For front-line staff, she and colleagues rolled out an interactive training program called “I Love, I Live, I Lead” to help employees improve their skills. She also relaxed previously rigid protocols so that staff feel empowered to provide customized, creative service based on their best instincts for a situation.

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