Opening a hotel is like giving birth, and the subsequent joy is seeing it mature, according to Michel Jauslin, general manager of the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme.
“Yes, some GMs are perceived as technicians; they open and then move on,” said the Swiss-born GM. “But I am a true hotelier. I want to see Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme become a successful teenager.”
The 153-room hotel, an expansion and conversion of the 1891 building that was the long-time house of the Paquin couture empire, opened August 20, 2002. It had 256 employees and has been boosted to 376 staff as prized “Palace” status requires more staff per room (the extra number allows additional personnel in guest-facing roles).
In 2002, globalization was dominant compared to today’s focus on local uniqueness. One of the hotel’s outlets was a grill, as if copying the eternally popular New York Grill in Park Hyatt Tokyo.
“But we should have done more homework,” Jauslin admitted. “Parisians think of a grill as a downmarket eatery, and we needed local support. Now our dinner-only Pur, which has one Michelin star and is rated number three on TripAdvisor — above many 3-star outlets — requires reservations far ahead, and, of course, when locals like a restaurant, hotel guests follow.”
In 2002, hotels had no asset or revenue managers, and social media had not been heard of. “Today, customers tell us how we should evolve,” Jauslin said.
Ed Tuttle, the designer from the start, is continually tweaking, giving more golden touches to bedrooms and removing built-in desks.
As Tuttle has evolved the look, so Jauslin has seen his management team move on and up. Former team members include now-GMs Gorka Bergareche, Park Hyatt Milan; Fanny Guibouret, Hotel du Louvre, a Hyatt Hotel in Paris; Christophe Lorvo, Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro; Philippe Roux-Dessarps, Park Hyatt Tokyo; and Arnaud de Saint-Exupéry, Andaz Tokyo.
And how has he managed to stay here 13 years? Jauslin believes that the more luxury a product, the greater advantage a GM’s longevity becomes.
Jauslin also oversees the other six Hyatt-family hotels in France, but after traveling around he is always pleased to come back to the hotel he actually runs. “No corporate office role for me,” he said firmly. “I am merely a passionate hotelier.”
After studying business in his native Switzerland, Jauslin was set to study law. But a chance meeting with a friend, already at Ecole Hôtellerie de Lausanne — and a bit of goading from his uncle, legendary IHC hotelier Alex Furrer — diverted him to Lausanne.
Jauslin has been with Hyatt since 1977, including helping with previous openings in Montreux, Delhi, Jerusalem and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle.