He has just arrived from Saint-Barth with a quiet smile, a slight accent in the words tinged with English – “connection economy”, “member club” – and a very studied prudence. Fabrice Moizan, new president and CEO of Bristol Paris, already knows the virtues of luxury without stiffness: for more than a decade, he managed the Eden Rock, a legendary hotel in Saint-Barthélemy, within the same Oetker Hotels constellation. He supported the reconstruction of the resort after the passage of Hurricane Irma, and participated in its development, from the villas to the activities and collaborations that extend the experience beyond the rooms.
A few days before taking up his official duties, the young fifty-year-old began with a “life my life” tour in the various departments of the hotel. A way to meet the teams, understand the businesses of a century-old house and take the pulse of its faithful. His first goal: not to reinvent Bristol, but to help it write the next chapter, without undermining what makes it unique, this rare loyalty of customers and staff.
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This handover also has a more intimate dimension for him. Pierre Ferchaud, who directed the Bristol for nearly twenty years, was his mentor. Fabrice Moizan says he learned from him “unfailing attention to detail” and the imperative to always place himself from the customer’s point of view.
Also read Le Bristol is 100 years old: behind the scenes of the most secret of Parisian palaces
LE FIGARO. - You started with a “life my life” in the different departments. What did you discover about Bristol when you arrived?
Fabrice Moizan. - I don't want to jump to conclusions or be presumptuous in saying what works or what doesn't work. But I immediately felt the loyalty and the feeling of belonging of the teams. Everyone wants to continue to keep this house alive. This spirit of service is embodied in particular by Jean-Marie Burlet, present at the lobby reception for more than thirty-five years. He doesn’t just greet customers: he remembers them. This memory cannot be scripted; you can feel it as soon as you walk through the door.
The Bristol is a hundred years old, with very strong authenticity and classicism. It is not a question of reinventing it, but of awakening certain things to write the next twenty years, so that what we are building today will, in twenty years, be part of its history and its classicism. What also struck me was the teams’ ability to create a bond with customers. It’s very differentiating. This relationship must be deepened before the stay, during the stay and after, in order to create a real community.
After twelve years at Eden Rock, what idea of luxury do you want to bring to Bristol?
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What brings Eden Rock and Bristol together is the same conception of luxury hotels: a spontaneous, humble hospitality, in which excellence is felt, but never imposed. There is sincerity, benevolence, kindness and spontaneity.
The Bristol naturally has more protocol codes. But protocol should never take precedence over sincerity and spontaneity. If I had to send a message to the teams, it would be: attention and kindness rather than protocol. In Paris, there is an expectation for a certain form of protocol, this Parisian classicism; provided that he is never haughty or snobbish.
Beyond the construction site of the 114 Faubourg restaurant, what first concrete change could allow you to recognize your mark at Bristol?
I believe in visible attention, in these details that make you smile and surprise: “They thought of that”, “It’s beautiful”. It is not simply a question of replacing parasols, but of constructing a real aesthetic gesture. Our jobs are made of surprise and smiles, but also of non-aggression. Everything we look at must be elegant, non-aggressive and pleasing.
114, closed after the fire in March, constitutes in this regard a fantastic opportunity to reinvent oneself. Without prejudging what will be done there, it is an opportunity to rethink this place, but also, more broadly, the restoration of the Bristol for the next ten or fifteen years. We need to listen to what customers tell us, not to follow trends, but to anticipate their needs.
“We will never be the Hôtel Costes”
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Should the Bristol remain a refuge or become more of a place to live in Paris?
That’s the whole point: finding the right balance. The Bristol is already a Parisian place. At Café Antonia, there is life in the morning at breakfast, at midday, with business, fashion or entertainment meetings. It is a refuge, particularly in the French garden, but it is also a place of life.
We will never be the Hôtel Costes. But we must offer a lively atmosphere, without ever becoming aggressive. You have to be attentive to all customers, while bringing this Parisian life, its cosmopolitanism, laughter, sometimes light music, perhaps also some more disruptive elements. The evenings which animated the Bristol bar were stopped a few months ago. Since then, some of the clientele have expressed an expectation: they liked to find, at the end of the week, a bar a little more lively than that of a classic palace. It may be necessary to imagine another concept to answer it.
Le Bristol (01 53 43 43 00; Oetkercollection.com), room from €1,431.
