Luxury as seen by Geraldine Dobey, Managing Director of Mandarin Oriental Paris

“Luxury is hidden in the small details. And to arouse pleasure, a generator of memories, one must move the gaze, the taste, the olfactory, but also all the senses,” says Geraldine Dobey, Managing Director of Hôtel Barrière Le Fouquet's Paris and godmother of the 2014 Luxury Hotelschool promotion. “Luxury is elegance and refinement at the service of an emotion, a dream, an experience...”

“For a long time, luxury has been governed exclusively by products, materialism, opulence, money... Today, the appreciation of luxury is more subtle: time, silence, emotion and ultra-personalization take precedence. We adapt to each of our customers. Everything must be perfect in order to get ahead of their expectations. Sometimes the client feels good without even knowing why. It is the result of a mature reflection, a perfect knowledge of the client and the control of the tempo: the right service at the right time that causes enchantment.”

“All our processes are organized around the customer. We act and react with expertise, accuracy and discretion because our operations must be invisible. Human is paramount. The architectural heritage in France is extraordinary and, transformed into a luxury hotel, the places are all at once unique, beautiful and refined. But these cases are not enough if we do not add human beings. To showcase products, we need to create an alchemy between places and service. It is our passionate teams, who are excellent in the art of receiving, that create this harmony.”

“More than ever, in this post-Covid period that is beginning, our goal is to transport our customers into a magical world and adapt to their expectations: everyone wants to live a unique moment, with different appreciations, hence the ultra-personalization and the necessary adaptation to their desires.”