Today is a new day for MySuiteblog as we are opening a brand new series of interviews. Why? Because we don’t always know the women and men behind Suitehotel and they deserve to be known as they are in charge of our well-being.
The first interviewee is Antonin, manager of the Rueil-Malmaison Suitehotel, who kindly accepted to answer to all our questions.
First of all, could you introduce yourself to the readers of the blog? We all want to know you a little bit better.
Antonin Carcagno, 27 years old.
One day I asked a friend of mine to describe me in a few words and that’s what he said: “you’re a bit of an agitator, you are not very formal either but you are extremely creative”. He mentioned heart, ambition and lots of energy as well. I don’t know if it’s entirely true but at least it’s not completely false.
What is your mission for Suitehotel? Since when are you a part of the Suitehotel workforce?
First of all, I want to say I don’t really like the word ‘workforce’. It seems very impersonal and cold to me.
And wow! The numbers are a bit frightening but I just realized I have been working for the Accor Group for 9 years now including 3 specifically for Suitehotel. I started with Mercure, Ibis and Novotel hotels. Then I settled down with Suitehotel…. I now have the great honor to manage the Rueil Malmaison Suitehotel.
My mission could be summed up in a few words: “I take pleasure in satisfying the guests and my team”. This is the core of my task. Oh and I almost forgot: you might catch me jumping on beds… maybe you saw some of my photos on the Suitejump page?
How would you describe the Suitehotel spirit? What do you offer that other brands don’t?
When I think about Suitehotel I immediately think “different but very close from the heart of hostelry”. In more details I would say that Suitehotel has a different idea of what a hotel really is. It’s very new in a way but at the same time it goes back to the roots of hospitality that other hotels don’t always remember. We like to provide our guests with the best innovative services we can find. In that perspective I would say that it is one of the nice traits the members of the Suitehotel tribe all share. Our minds usually go faster than what really is possible and it’s not a bad thing at all. We usually end up saying “yeah it’s a good idea, let’s try it! It probably won’t work immediately but we’ll innovate”.
To our guests we humbly offer a true sense of welcome. It could be considered as very commonplace but really think about it… how many times have you really felt welcomed, comfortable and were granted the importance you deserve at the same time?… Probably not very often.
You manage the Rueil-Malmaison Suitehotel? What are its special features?
The Rueil Malmaison Suitehotel is composed of 101 suites in the heart of the Rueil 2000 business district. It’s very close from Paris. 20 of my colleagues work hard every day to make your stay comfortable. Most of our guests are business men and women who stay with us for 4 nights (they usually arrive on Monday morning and leave at the end of the week, on Friday). We have to make sure they’re taken care of in the best way possible because they usually have a stressing work-environment. We make sure they can really relax once they’ve pushed the doors of the Rueil Suitehotel.
As a matter of fact Servane, our desk clerk, is a pretty good observant of the situation. She noticed that guests come in dressed in suits and ties. They go to their Suite and come back changed in casual clothes to lounge in the lobby, have a chat with us and spend some relaxed time. I like to think that people wouldn’t do that if they weren’t comfortable with us.
To conclude do you have a good tip for us?
If you go to Rueil you can’t miss the Malmaison Castle. A long time ago it used to be the lair of Viking invaders, who were frequently raiding the surrounding villages. At the time it was called Mala Domus, a latin expression for Bad House. In the 18th century after a complete redevelopment Napoleon offered the building to his precious Josephine.
Very close from Rueil is the Paris-Defense business district. It’s changing and slowly becoming a real touristic sight kind of like a contemporary stage.
I have many tips to find good restaurants in Paris as well. Maybe the next time you come to the Rueil-Malmaison Suitehotel I could share them with you. In between you can look for them on the Nomadsphere.com website where I post lots of them.
See you soon in Rueil then!
Thank you again Antonin for all your answers!
