Paris, one of hospitality’s greatest post-pandemic success stories, scarcely needed the Olympic Games to keep cashing in on its popularity. But a quirk of timing is set to super-charge the City of Light’s hotel market to never-before-seen levels this summer – before an inevitable correction, according to experts.
There are already anecdotal reports that it will cost visitors at least €1,000 a night to stay anywhere in the French capital on the evening of the Olympic Games opening ceremony. During the Games, which are being held from 26 July through 11 August, the city authorities are expecting over 15 million visitors. That also includes guests for the Paralympics (28 August - 8 September). To understand the scale of the challenge, there are around 160,000 rooms in the Greater Paris region, according to the Paris tourist office, many of which have not been released to market due to the needs of the Olympic Committee, athletes, and Games staff. For the regular tourist, meanwhile, average rates have surged by over 300% for the period of the Games.
Accommodation struggles
Some hotel groups have made it clear that they will not be associated with price-gouging practices. Accor, an official partner of the Games, reported that a third of its hotel inventory had been contracted out by the Olympic organisers and would have fixed prices. Antoine Dubois, Accor’s head of guest experience and loyalty for Europe and North Africa, said: “The prices must be consistent with the positioning of our brands and the location of the hotels. We are convinced that there is a price that should not be exceeded, even if the demand is great.”
Meanwhile, the French state captured headlines when it revealed it would be taking over 6,000 university apartments for the duration of the Games, to house firefighters, law enforcement and civil security officials. Minister of higher education Sylvie Retailleau said: “It makes sense that homes that are empty during the summer should help meet the housing needs of public officials during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
The city’s hotel stock will also see expansion thanks to a few key openings this year. Minor Hotels, with more than 530 hotels in 56 countries, has announced its debut in Paris with the upcoming addition of three four-star hotels. The group will launch three NH Hotels in Q1 2024, with one of the properties to be rebranded as NH Collection in 2025 following a renovation. Accor will open its first ever Handwritten Collection property near Sacré-Coeur in Paris towards the summer. The boutique property, whose name is still under wraps, will feature a sauna, 50 regular rooms and one suite. Meanwhile, also in the second half of 2024, Ennismore will unveil the revamped Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild in the 8th arrondissement.
The future of Paris
Once silly season in Paris is over, what is the future of the city’s hotel stock? With the French state’s legacy plans focusing on sports stadium and transport infrastructure, it will be largely left to the private sector to determine the city’s hospitality horizons. About a year ago, Dubai Holding bought out its joint venture partner, Henderson Park, on the Westin Paris Vendome for around €650 million. Dubai Holding said it would tackle the renovation of the asset once the Games were over. Italy's Statuto Group, the luxury hotel and retail specialist, meanwhile, picked up the high-profile Mandarin Oriental hotel in Paris for €205 million just weeks ago. With 135 keys, the five-star hotel will continue to be run by the luxury operator, which in turn has earmarked €50 million for a grand refurbishment of the property post-Games. Other luxury highlights in the pipeline include the opening of the first ever Louis Vuitton hotel, at 103-111 Champs-Élysées, which is scheduled for 2026.
France’s and Europe’s largest hotel group, Accor, has identified opportunities to build on a surge in domestic business and surf trends for further sustainable growth. Saskia Gentil, senior vice president sales - Accor Europe & North Africa, says that trends such as bleisure are here to stay. She adds: “For ibis, we are deploying innovative concepts adapting to the new trends of coworking and bleisure such as ibis Flexible and the Social Hub design.
“At Pullman Montparnasse, we are pioneering the future of meetings with the introduction of the C2 in Europe. The specially designed C2 space within the hotel redefines the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) experience, setting a new standard that goes beyond just physical space. Additionally, we are exploring the innovative concept of the 'All Purpose Room,' aiming to enhance versatility and utility within our properties.”
Accor will further its technology investments, including backing start-ups like Fullsoon, a solution addressing food waste, and Alltheway, a city-centre luggage check-in system which is now being deployed in Paris.
Disney’s business
East of Paris, meanwhile, there are ambitious plans afoot for Val d’Europe, the real estate and urban development tie-up between Disney and the French State. The agreement, which began 30 years ago with the opening of theme park Disneyland Paris, saw the French government entrust the American conglomerate with a total of 2,200 hectares of land to develop a new ‘city’ to the east of Paris. The total plot is equivalent to around a quarter of downtown Paris, fit to host thousands of residences, hotels, shops, restaurants, offices, schools, student and senior homes, industrial facilities and more.
Billed as one of the top tourist attractions in Europe, Disneyland Paris is already home to more than 15 hotels with some 12,000 keys, which it calls the second largest hotel capacity in France after Paris itself.
Yet Disney has many more hotels in the works, with plans afoot to expand the rooms to as many as 25,000 in the next few years. As well as the obvious leisure pull of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Studios Park, plus an adjacent golf course, the area benefits from year-round MICE business. Christophe Giral, real estate director of Disneyland Paris, credits Val d’Europe’s MICE trade to the perks of staying next to the theme parks and the area’s multiple amenities, plus easy access to Paris and other European capitals.
On top of this, the area is home to Villages Nature Paris by Center Parcs, operated by Pierre & Vacances. Featuring an urban farm and villas with individual waterfronts onto a private lake, the site, which was previously in joint venture with Disney, was bought out by Pierre & Vacances last year to further develop its potential.