French flare in Suzhou SIP hotel
Print Edition
FRENCH hotelier Stephane Barbazan is dedicated to introducing his country’s famed hospitality to Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province just outside of Shanghai known for its rich history and ambitions to become a leading MICE destination.
Barbazan is general manager of the 307-room Novotel Suzhou SIP (Suzhou Industrial Park), the first Novotel hotel in Suzhou. Novotel is the four-star international mid-scale brand of AccorHotels Group, one of the biggest hospitality companies in France.
“The first financial results are very encouraging, and even beyond our expectation. It is a successful hotel opening,” says Barbazan, 45.
The GM attributes the hotel’s success to its location and brand identity. Suzhou combines a wealth of business and leisure resources, and local authorities are working to build the city into a leader in the MICE market. The hotel itself is located inside the Jinji Lake International Convention Center, one of the biggest facilities of its kind in Jiangsu Province.
“The hotel is five minutes’ drive from the train station and within walking distance to Suzhou Culture and Arts Center, and Moon Harbour (a local dining and shopping destination), making it ideal for both business and leisure travellers,” emphasizes the GM.
The hotel’s emphasis on dining and service further helps explain its early success, he says.
“French hospitality is all about elegance and well-being. Elegance refers to the food and ambience, while the latter refers to caring service focused on interacting with guests,” the general manager elaborates.
The hotel has several dining options, including all-day and al-fresco dining at The Square, and barbecue at Times Garden.
“The barbecue restaurant, which opened in April, features an a la carte menu mixing Chinese and French flavors. Our signature French dish is probably foie gras, which comes from my personal recipe,” says Barbazan, who was formerly Executive Chef and Food and Beverage Director at various Club Med resorts.
Even as general manager, Barbazan is still dedicated to maintaining top-quality French culinary standards.
On the day of his interview with Shanghai Daily, he sampled the nicoise salad served in the hotel’s all-day-dining restaurant. The salad is composed of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, olives, anchovies and tuna. The fish, he believed, was seasoned with too much pepper.
“In France, if a dish is over seasoned, we say that the chef is in love. I will check with my Executive Chef to see whether he’s met a lady,” he jokes.
Breakfast at the hotel includes a good balance of Western and Chinese dishes, and yes also authentic French croissants style and some organic welcome juices full of energy. It is a French tradition to welcome friends with drinks, the general manager adds.
The hotel will launch Sunday brunch this month and Wednesday jazz nights with live band performances soon. Oktoberfest will be celebrated in September.
Barbazan believes that mid-tier hotels targeting middle-class travelers in east and south China are the next big thing in the country’s hospitality industry.
The experienced hotelier previously worked in both north and south China. He was the General Manager at Novotel Beijing Xinqiao two years ago and General Manager at Grand Mecure Shenzhen Oriental Ginza from 2009 to 2011.
Barbazan moved to Suzhou 16 months ago and has been much impressed by its open-minded friendly locals, who put him in mind of his early days in the industry.
“I started my hospitality life at the age of 16, when I attended a student fair and found that hospitality people were very friendly,” he recalls.
He started off in small independent hotels, where each employee worked in more than one department, from the front-office to room-service, to sales and marketing.
“Independent hotels are good places to study. For example, when I worked at Hotel Le Saint Laurent, there’s a huge park close to the hotel accommodating five tennis courts. Big parties are held there nearly every week. That allowed me to study banquet arrangement and management skills quickly,” says Barbazan.
He joined resort operators Club Med at the age of 29.
“I worked in different places during my five years in Club Med, including Italy, Switzerland, America and Morocco,” says the general manager.
A Club Med resort in the US state of Florida left perhaps the deepest impression on him.
“It was in 2009, when Florida suffered from hurricanes 14 times within four months. The resort I worked for became the shelter of the city. When the biggest hurricane came, my resort successfully fed 1,500 people without electricity for three days,” the general manager recalls.
A hotelier’s life is all about travelling. He says his dream city would be anywhere with many friends. When he’s not at work, he enjoys doing sports such as swimming and tennis with his wife.
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