Jean-Claude Messant calls himself “one of the luckiest GMs in the world” – and it’s hard to disagree: Messant joined the Royal Mansour in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2014 after stints at Saint James’ Hotel & Club in London, Le Fouquet’s and Hôtel de Crillon in Paris and the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo. The hotel had been running with a 60-person staff rather than the usual 500; Messant expects it to re-open fully in September.
HOTELS: How do you see hotels changing in the time of coronavirus?
Jean-Claude Messant: I think it’s exciting. For the past couple of years I’ve been telling my team here … I mean, we went from being a nobody to one of the best hotels in the world and I said ‘You know, this is now the time to reconsider and think about how we can again progress, change, and make sure that in two years, five years, we’re still number one or within the top 10.’.. So, we’ve always looked at ways to do it differently and this virus, this crisis, unfortunately, it’s a great opportunity to say ‘OK, how can we change? What can we do differently?’
H: What about places like the spa?
JCM: That’s something we’re looking at to make sure that the guests and staff will be protected. But at the same time, when I speak to my guests now they say, ‘We are going to come back and we are going to be pampered.’ Even if they want to make sure it’s safe, they are looking for people to look after them… We are looking at various ways to make sure it’s safe. But, still with emotion, still with a smile. When I charge US$5,000 or US$10,000 a night I have to give some services.
H: What else are you reconsidering?
JCM: Here it’s a proper butler service, so the butler will be with you from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed. So, how can we make sure we still carry on, in the villas, proper service without the guests feeling that the butler is too close to them, too involved? So, we are reducing some of the protocol, we are reducing or removing some of the services. The guests are still dying to come back and see the butler and to recognize the butler and to say ‘Mohammed, how are you? How is your family? Was it OK? Were you scared? I’m so happy to see you. We need some interaction.’ We are thinking ahead. We know that when we open we have to adjust. But, I’m fairly sure within the first five or six months we will keep some of the key, new services, some of the new hygiene standard. But, somehow, people will forget a little bit within six months and in January, February some of the things we will be stopping now I’m sure will be somehow reappearing.
H: Do you have a plan around the timing of re-opening?
JCM: The vision is to open August 1 and to use the month of August, which is usually a very quiet month, to make sure that we try, we test, we implement, and we improve, this is our new standard. To make sure that by September 1 or September 15, when we are fully operational, whatever we’ve done in terms of guests and staff, is actually working.
We are looking at Asia. We’ve been looking at Paris and London, because they will be opening before us, to see what they do. So, we’re looking at the new standards to protect customers and staff. We’re looking at how they’re going to communicate. How are they going to promote and sell?
H: How has your work changed as a result?
JCM: I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it but I have to reinvent myself as a GM. I think it’s a really good experience and a really good exercise. It’s like … I’m not sure if I should say this, but it’s like going to the war. People you’re happy to go to the war with and people you don’t want to go into the war with because you don’t trust them, or with the guy who’ll save your life if needed. For me, it was a good experience to see, within my team… They don’t get depressed and they’re fighters. For that, it was a good experience… We are doing now, as a GM, what we should have been doing or what was done maybe 50 years ago. We are the father of the family, we are the leader. We lead, we show the way, we share the vision, we look after the one who is sick, not well, or the one who needs help.
So, that’s why I said it’s exciting. In my mind, it’s not reopening, it’s opening. We have the big chance to open the hotel from scratch and that’s what I say to (staff). ‘Look at how you operate, look at your frustration for the past few months or few years. Look at the constraints you had. Try to, during this time, to think about what was frustrating you and how can we correct it? How can we do better?’ It’s not like I go back to my office one day and I start again. No, no, you don’t start again, you start from scratch. We are opening a new hotel in Marrakech.
H: How else do you think things will change?
JCM: The way we operate has to be leaner and smarter and easier and quicker. The digital aspect has to be number one because we will save time and often save money as well, in the long run.
H: How are you coping personally through this? Are you doing anything differently?
JCM: Not really. (Laughing) Yes, a little bit. I do a lot of sports and so I keep fit. The sports I do, they allow me the time to think. A lot of my creativity, ideas, would come out from the time when I’m cycling or swimming… But I don’t drink more, I don’t eat more, I don’t have an argument with my wife… I speak every day with my parents, and both of them are 90. When, usually, I used to call on Sunday night at 7 p.m. and it was the 15-minute Sunday call. Now, I call them every day. It’s quite nice actually.
I’ve always done here a lot of charity work. So, we haven’t stopped. We’re delivering 200 meals to the local hospital tonight so, that hasn’t stopped. It’s refreshing and it’s very good for the team, very good for my people, to see that we are a family. We are not forgetting anyone. (Morocco is) an Islamic country, so this is part of the religion. You don’t leave anyone on the side of the road in Islam. You look after everybody. It’s a great philosophy of life. I would certainly miss it if I was not able to do what I do here today.
Yes, we’re losing money, everybody is losing money. Yes, it’s sad and yes, it’s a disaster. But, we are alive, we’re happy, we will be opening soon. We will be back in a couple of years to where we were. Let’s make sure we take everybody with us and make sure we look after them and make sure we give them the right tool, we protect them, and in two years we will … I don’t say we will forget, but we move on. I think it’s important to help now.