Trailblazer in Italy and beyond

“In 2007, Georges Sampeur gave me the mission of launching B&B HOTELS in Italy. This was challenging in a country where building hotels is far more complicated than in France or Germany. However, where others saw obstacles, we saw opportunities. We transformed all kinds of buildings, from offices to supermarkets, into welcoming, functional hotels. The idea was very simple: If the building can become a hotel, we’ll take it! Being open to repurposing what already existed was one of our major strengths. Today, we have 78 properties in Italy.

At B&B HOTELS, freedom and trust go hand in hand for both managers and teams. This trust gave me the strength to encourage initiative, spark creativity and build a loyal, motivated team ready to take up any challenge. Within this kind of environment, innovation can really flourish. I’m convinced that if a company doesn’t innovate, it stagnates.

In this adventure, we had to be daring and take chances. We gave it a go, we went beyond the initial business model and took risks where others would have given up. And it paid off. Today, as the  co-group secretary, I’m proud to have launched B&B HOTELS in new countries and to continue fostering the audacity, simplicity and people focus that have united us for 35 years.”