The luxury French brand and a Monegasque hotel are forming a partnership in the establishing a 1,700 square metre space in the palace, representing the brand’s third such venture in the world.
After Joël Robuchon, Jacques Garcia and Karl Lagerfeld, the hotel Métropole Monte Carlo is forming a new alliance in the form of a spa with Givenchy, a name synonymous with prestige. In 2017, the palace will be receiving a Givenchy endorsed spa. The fashion house known for their design and cosmetics (part of the LVMH group) has signed an agreement with the Monegasque hotel owned by the Boustany family. It is an exclusive agreement, keeping with the spirit of the establishment. “We choose to align ourselves only with the big names,” notes Serge Ethuin, who took over the reins at the palace one year ago and who has been working on this new spa project for the past several months.
“The current spa (established with Espa N.D.L.R.) has already been in place for seven years. We would like to reposition ourselves and add some glamour. At the time of its opening, Espa was quite exclusive, but now there are 257 locations in the world.”
With Givenchy, the Métropole can thus offer a rare and exclusive luxury experience, as the brand only has two other such establishments: one in Geneva, Switzerland and the other in Fez, Morocco.
Treatments developed just for Monaco
The signing of this agreement has boosted the project. Beginning with the idea of simply updating the space, the team at Métropole have now chosen to go for a complete renovation of the spa, with a budget of several million euros and whose precise price tag they prefer to keep discrete.
“We appreciate Givenchy’s strategy of not opening more than about ten spas in the word,” continues Ethuin. In Monaco, the Spa Métropole by Givenchy plans to offer a global experience including a cosmetics space, which will be an area for the sale of exclusive products. There will also be an à la carte offering of treatments, some of which will have been developed specifically for the Principality, undoubtedly with a splash of Mediterranean inspiration.
This new establishment, within the jungle of luxury spas in Monaco, will have its debut on 15th March next year. Above all, the team hopes to seduce its Monegasque clientele within a sumptuous 1,700 square metre remodelled space.
Hotel lobby to be completely redesigned in early 2017
“We are going to change everything, without changing anything,” smiles Serge Ethuin, who in December will celebrate his first year as the Managing Director of the Monegasque palace. He is a Director with many projects in the works, in particular a small “revolution” planned for 2017.
The interior decorator Jacques Garcia, who in 2004 conceived the cosy atmosphere of the hotel, will embark on a full reimagining of the textiles in the lobby, the bar and the adjoining rooms of the hotel reception. Rugs, cushions, sofa fabric: everything will be replaced with new designs. The marble on the floor and the woodwork on the walls, however, will not be touched. But the Director promises that some surprises are in store: “The tones will be based on the blue chosen by Jacques Garcia, alongside shades of fuchsia and pastel beige to retain the pleasant atmosphere of our shared spaces.”
Slightly lower numbers
In order to avoid disturbing the activities in the spaces, the construction work will be undertaken every night in order to improve the space between the months of January and March. The aim is “to create surprises and different atmospheres for the continued enjoyment of the Monegasque clientele.” This local clientele remain the primary consumers in the Métropole’s restaurants and bars. In terms of number of visitors, the Director announced that this year 2016 would likely end with “slightly lower” numbers when compared with the previous year 2015. “The month of August was quite complicated, due to the attack in Nice. The off-season was average, but we cannot complain when compared with the rest of the Côte d’Azur. The impact of the international situation has particularly affected the arrival of our American, British and Russian clientele, who are usually among our most loyal clients at the hotel. At the same time, there have been more clients from the Middle East in the past few months.
Between the offerings of the lavish Givenchy spa and the beautiful new textiles planned for the Métropole’s interiors, guests of the hotel have much to look forward to in 2017.
