Accor Launches New Hotel Brand: greet
Travelers’ expectations have changed. Customers are now increasingly focused on hotel experiences that respect people and the world around them. Alert to new trends, Accor is rewriting the rules and presents greet, a new alternative hospitality and sustainable tourism offer that combines environmental considerations with a socially responsible approach for travelers seeking authenticity. The latest addition to the Group’s economy segment, greet is a community-based, responsible and non-standardized brand, that is in keeping with current trends and seeks to serve travelers who are looking to add meaning to their purchases and are aware of their impact on the planet.
greet sets itself apart through its name and its unique identity within Accor Group’s brand portfolio. Celebrating a philosophy of donating and giving a second chance, greet hotels invite their guests to share moments and experiences. It represents a return to meaningful essentials, to enjoying being and having fun together while shaking off formalities.
greet, a unique economy brand within Accor’s brand portfolio
Created in early 2019, the greet brand brings a distinctive touch to the hotel Group. Following the success of its recently launched lifestyle brands, with greet Accor is continuing its plan to expand its brand portfolio in order to stay in tune with its partners and offer memorable and ever-evolving experiences to its customers. greet was created in response to a single observation – today, more than ever before, travelers want a high-quality and affordable hotel experience, while simultaneously seeking to add meaning to their purchases and reduce their impact on the planet. The greet concept addresses this dual challenge through a flexible business model for partners, and a totally new hotel experience for customers.
An attractive brand for customers and investors
greet breathes new life into today’s economy hotel landscape. Embodying our company’s values, the brand serves consumers as well as partners and investors in search of an alternative adventure incorporating non-standardized hospitality that is open to the world. Although diversity is the hallmark of its design approach, greet retains its own unique identity – one of the brand’s key strengths is the freedom and great flexibility it offers to hotel owners under its banner. The only guidelines are that greet hotels must include a number of the brand’s key features, including its logo in the common areas, a large table d’hôte for sharing special moments, and ensuring that 20% of rooms can accommodate between 4 and 6 people. Each hotel owner is free to express himself while staying true to the 3 ways of being greet: by salvaging objects sourced via second-hand networks or from eco-responsible suppliers; by upcycling unusual decorative items, and by revisiting these objects to repurpose them and give them a second lease of life.
At greet, spaces are no longer standardized, instead the focus is placed on second chances and optimizing what already exists to give new life to hotels and create warm and friendly locations.
For Franck Gervais, CEO Europe Accor, “Since its creation, Accor has always been attentive to the needs of its partners and franchisees. Through our plan to expand our portfolio of brands, launched by Sébastien Bazin, we are upholding our commitment to always offering unforgettable experiences to our customers while simultaneously supporting our network of franchisees. With the launch of greet, our aim is simply to provide an ideal solution to independent hotel owners by offering a brand that combines the regeneration of existing hotel structures with cost control, both in terms of renovation and redevelopment of the spaces.”
Partnerships serving franchisees and upholding a lasting social commitment
The radical shift in consumer trends is now accompanied by high expectations in relation to brand commitment, sustainable development, and corporate responsibility. By granting greater flexibility and freedom to hotel owners, Accor is seeking to support its franchisee partners and create positive and virtuous hospitality that is attentive to customer needs and to society’s new considerations. An eco-system has therefore been introduced to assist hotel owners in their policy of renovating and upgrading their assets. Partnerships with key organizations will enable each hotel to turn their approach to giving second chances into a reality, and it is totally in line with this socially responsible brand. greet has joined forces with several leading charities, including Emmaüs, which will enable owners to source second-hand furniture and designs made using recycled items, as well as Valdelia (an eco-organization providing a comprehensive solution to collect, recycle and re-use old furniture from all types of organizations) which will strengthen the connections with these networks.
Another flagship partnership has been launched with “L’atelier Consommateur & Citoyen” (“The Consumer & Citizen Workshop”, launched in spring 2019 by C’est qui le Patron?! to expand the initiative). The aim of this partnership is to work with a group of consumers to create avenues for progress in order to fine-tune the greet concept and make it the leading sustainable hospitality model.
“These partnerships are essential as they help to turn our commitment to giving second chances into reality, both for our franchisee partners and our customers. greet is an inclusive brand, where the community genuinely plays a key role. We firmly believe that it is by working together, by creating synergies at both national and local level, that we will be able to have a positive impact on our society,” said Franck Gervais.
greet is the first hotel brand to sign up to this ambitious approach, which questions traditional marketing models to allow consumers and citizens to work alongside leading manufacturers to create their own products, thereby accelerating the vital and urgent environmental transition that society must undergo.
The brand’s development outlook
With the opening of its very first hotel in the heart of the Burgundy vineyards in April this year, the brand that offers a second chance has displayed a real desire for growth. Many locations will open their doors in the near future, notably in Marseille (St Charles et Aéroport), Lyon Perrache, Paris, St-Witz, Rennes, Bourges and St-Germain-en-Laye.
Accor Group hopes to open 300 greet hotels throughout Europe by 2030. The greet network will quickly extend to various European destinations, with the German city of Darmstadt welcoming the very first greet hotel outside France in the coming months.