Last week I was extremely lucky to talk to Thierry Teyssier. For those who for some reason don't know Thierry, let me say you will find in him exactly what you were missing in life.
Thierry is my hospitality idol, and I don't have many... you know I have a very critical eye towards luxury and hospitality, but Thierry is that one person that inspires me, grounds me and gives me perspective.
We had an amazing conversation about luxury, hospitality and purpose.
Thierry owns a hotel in Morrocco called Dar Ahlam. This is by no means a hotel you would expect. He has over 100 people dedicated to craft unique moments to his guests. There is no restaurant, no bar, no room keys, no rules... but they have a beautiful canvas for customers to be themselves, dream and have a completely personalize adventure. ''No one else is around…and no two days are the same.'' No 2 guests will have the same experience, no 2 guests will be surprised in the same way. ''Our only wish is for you to leave Dar Ahlam with memories more beautiful than dreams.''
I'm sure you have never been in a hotel like this.
Besides this, Thierry leads an incredible project called 700000 heures impact about regenerative hospitality. ''We make travel a force for good.
Regenerative Hospitality is a transformative journey inviting the traveler to discover and contribute to the preservation of local communities and the restoration of natural ecosystems.''
As I always say, Luxury for me is a vehicle for preservation, and this precisely what Thierry does. He seeks Local economic development, Women empowerment, Protection of endangered cultural assets, Restoration of fragile natural ecosystems, protect cultural heritage.
Through these projects he invites guests to experience the daily life of a community, to discover its rich heritage, the breadth of its culture and the ancestral knowledge of its inhabitants.
Visit his website, it's fascinating and is everything luxury stands for: https://lnkd.in/gzF9JC-5
Among all the topics we covered I wanted to leave you with a small thought:
For those thinking the guest is always right, and you have to be and do everything for your guests, remember that good hospitality is not this, and luxury either; when you are offering everything, then you need to be everything, and you will end up not satisfying everyone. You don't need to meet everyone's expectations, that's impossible, but you need to set the right expectations and make sure you always deliver on those.
Authenticity and uniqueness are the result of setting the right expectations, customers will not expect silver service in the jungle if you are clear about your offer, if they want silver service they can go to a palace hotel, as Thierry was saying, but if you want to experience something unique and different then you can come here. Standard Luxury hospitality is ruining the industry by perpetuating soulless locations filled with rules, restrictions and transactions. It's all the same...
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