Interview de Sébastien Restagno, Directeur Développement Commercial du groupe Hôtelier SLIH

In this interview, Sébastien Restagno, Commercial Development Director of the SLIH Hotel Group, shares his commercial vision regarding the decision to work with the TERRAKÉ skincare brand. 

Given the current situation, how do you feel about the hotel and spa industry?
With the Covid episode, we realized that leisure is very important to our customers, especially since business has collapsed somewhat. Wellness has become a very significant part of our turnover, although its importance has remained the same as before Covid, meaning that our customers are just as enthusiastic about wellness today as they were before the health crisis. Business customers are staying at home or working remotely more often. As long as the measures put in place against Covid do not restrict the wellness market, it will continue to thrive because customers want to enjoy wellness experiences.

What are your goals for 2022?
We have some fairly specific goals for 2022, as we have just expanded the spa by more than 30% of its capacity. We have gone from 8 treatment tables to 18, and from 5 treatment rooms to 8, including 2 triple rooms and 3 double rooms. The Spa du Drap d'Or at the Hôtel de Bourgtheroulde, Autograph Collection in Rouen, with its swimming pool, sauna, hammam, reception area, balneotherapy and fitness facilities, is becoming a major attraction within our establishment. It's worth noting that the swimming pool is a real asset for the hotel. We have big ambitions for this spa. With this renovation, we want to continue to be “the largest indoor swimming pool west of Paris” and to be a major spa. To book a treatment on a Saturday in our spa, you have to wait 3 to 4 weeks, which proves the high demand we are facing. This expansion will enable us to satisfy our local and hotel guests and stay one step ahead, because we know that innovation is important in this business. We have a very loyal clientele thanks to our large 18-by-9-meter pool, but we also need to keep innovating and offering new things to our guests. 

How do you think having a spa affects the hotel's performance?
We are fortunate to have two types of customers at our spas: external customers, who are local residents, and customers staying at the hotel. We naturally try to prioritize the latter, as they have greater purchasing power.  This commercial positioning is the basis for negotiations between us as hoteliers and the spa manager in order to try to satisfy all spa customers, both external and internal. It is essential for us that the teams at the establishment work in harmony, as the spa is an integral part of our establishments and reinforces the “destination” aspect of our hotels. We have hotel guests who come solely because there is a spa and because they can sleep, dine, enjoy a wellness experience, and discover the city in the same place. The hotel feeds the spa and vice versa; the two activities are very complementary in our establishments. 

Why did you choose to work with a cosmetics brand in your spa?
We expect several things from a partner brand. First, we expect the brand to provide support through ongoing training on best practices to implement in a spa, the proper use of products, and the implementation of protocols. Secondly, working with a brand allows us to raise the profile of our establishment. It's a mutually beneficial exchange. It's important that the positioning of the chosen brand is in line with the establishment's target market, and that the brand image and values it conveys are in line with our vision and commitments. When choosing a partner, we select them for the quality of their products but also for their brand image, and we need to find a balance between the two. Working with a cosmetics brand provides us with multifaceted support. This means support in terms of training as well as communication and marketing. 

Why did you choose to work with the TERRAKÉ brand?
We chose the TERRAKÉ brand for two reasons. Generally speaking, sales managers are never involved in the decision-making process when it comes to choosing a brand for a spa. However, when we changed brands, the commercial vision was incorporated into the brand selection process, and we examined it from two perspectives. The spa manager saw TERRAKÉ as innovative, with effective protocols and high-quality products. My perspective was more commercial. When we met with Laurent Maudet (TERRAKÉ Sales Director), the technical issues had already been evaluated. I then analyzed what TERRAKÉ could offer us with its marketing expertise. That's also what convinced us to choose you. TERRAKÉ provided us with long-term marketing support and offered us tailor-made marketing assistance. What I see today is that our in-store sales are increasing. We are both small businesses and we help each other to grow our spa together.