What makes your hotels unique?
Olivier Devys: We are part of the "lifestyle" trend, which is producing a new breed of hotels that is trying to break with hotel industry traditions. The idea is to make sure that our guests feel at home. We have developed a concept that is unique in Europe: 4-star city-centre hotels that offer an all-inclusive service. Basically, you pay for your room, and you don't have to pay for anything else. That includes all in-room facilities (internet, telephone, video on demand, coffee machine etc.), but also 24/7 access to the hotel's Club. In the Club, hotel guests will find fridges full of soft drinks and snacks, and will be served breakfast or an aperitif and canapés depending on the time of day. They get all that for the same price as a standard hotel in the same category.
What is the secret to offering this kind of value for money?
O.D.: We do it mainly by simplifying the hotel process as much as possible. With us, there's no annoying check-in or check-out process, and we don't have to check minibars in guests' rooms because drinks are available in the Club. Things like this mean that we avoid a whole raft of operating costs. We drew a lot of inspiration from the simplification that has happened in the airline industry. We also looked very closely at what consumers' current expectations, in order to offer a service that is more focused on hospitality than traditional hotels. We now have the highest satisfaction rates of any French hotel chain judging by the scores given by our guests. The concept is equally popular among both business and leisure travellers.
Do you pay particular attention to the design of your hotels?
O.D.: Our approach is fairly similar to that used in the automotive industry. As well as having a broad "Okko concept", we create a new generation of hotels every five years. Each time, we work with a new interior designer, which enables us to keep up with new trends, use new materials and respond to our guests' new expectations. That way, we make sure that our hotels do not show their age too much. During each five-year period, all our new hotels' rooms are decorated in the same way. We design a range of furniture and accessories, making thousands of each item, and of course that helps us keep costs down.
What are your medium-term ambitions?
O.D.: We want to open 50 hotels, half in Paris and half in the rest of mainland France, while remaining very selective about their location. We are also starting to look at expanding into neighbouring countries. For example, we have made a lot of progress on a project in Brussels. At the same time, we are permanently innovating, enabling us to offer new features such as concierge services, a new loyalty programme and personalised offers.
Why did you choose Crédit Mutuel Equity as an investor?
O.D.: The hotel industry is very capital-intensive, particularly given the cost of real-estate investments. As a result, we needed financial partners to support us. CIC, our long-standing banking partner, put us in touch with Crédit Mutuel Equity (formerly CM-CIC Investissement), and it has already invested twice in our group in the space of less than four years. It first acquired a stake in 2013, which allowed us to get to know each other. Then in 2016, Crédit Mutuel Equity doubled its stake, confirming its commitment to our project. A hotel is a 20-year investment, so this kind of long-term approach is vital.
What the partner says
We have been working with Okko Hôtels since October 2013, just before the company opened its first hotels.
The management team was already solid, incentivised and dedicated to developing the company. Its pipeline of new locations was already substantial, showing the expertise of Okko Hôtels' management and its ability to find its niche in the market.
We were impressed with Olivier Devys as a person and convinced that he had the ability to freshen up the hotel industry with his concept, with its focus on service and hospitality. At Okko Hôtels, guests feel at home: for example, they can eat and drink what they like, when they like. It is a concept that clearly meets the expectations of today's travellers, as the company's customer satisfaction scores prove on a daily basis.
Less than three years after Okko Hôtels opened its first locations, it is a proven success and Crédit Mutuel Equity has again shown its confidence in Olivier Devys by increasing its stake in the company so that it can step up its growth.
Its next openings in France will be in the country's busiest regional cities and exclusively in city-centre locations, and the concept should soon expand internationally into Europe's main capitals.
€14m of revenue in 2016
75 employees
83% growth