On 14 June “in-crowd” of the Chablais area came to Evian for the re-opening of the recently renovated Ermitage hotel, which is part of the Evian Royal Resort alongside the famous Royal. Renovations began at the end of 2009 and have just finished. “We spent a total of 8 million euros on the renovation, with the objective of making the most of the property’s existing charms whilst retaining its traditional character,” clarifies Yannick Le Hec, the resort’s managing director.
“We wanted to give it an even more homely feel by using wood, stone, pebbles and foliage in the bedrooms and public areas. We’ve reduced the number of rooms from 91 to 80 in order to make them more spacious. We also wanted to make the two properties, the Ermitage and the Royal, very different in character because they both have different client bases and identities although they obviously share the golf course, entertainment, facilities, good food and wine as well as seminar rooms. The Ermitage is part of the Châteaux et Hôtels de France network, and is classified as a 4* property whilst the Royal is a 5*”.
Yannick Le Hec’s other intention is to promote the Ermitage more as a business tourism property, in the knowledge that when a large event comes along it actually involves the whole resort. “Half of our bookings are made by corporate clients, because we’re very active on the conference and incentive market. Even in 2009, which was a difficult year for that type of activity, we still managed to retain our business, suffering only a 8-9% drop thanks to Danone’s support for its own meetings, whilst other similar properties suffered a 40% drop in booking”.
In parallel to this, the hotel is firmly committed to supporting the Chablais area: it provides 60% of the area’s employment (both direct and indirect) divided between the Ermitage, the resort, the casino, the thermal centre and the Eaux d’Évian over an area covering Saint-Gingolph to Thonon ! The resort alone has 600 permanent employees, rising to 1100 in high season…
The Ermitage also benefits from the various big events that come to Evian, such as the Evian Masters held every July. Enhanced by its proximity to the famous golf course, which also boasts the amazing Evian Masters Training Centre, the property is particularly well placed to appeal to companies who want to consider their future plans within a beautiful site on the French side of Lake Geneva. Companies can use any of the 20 function rooms for their meetings, ten of which are located at the Ermitage itself, with capacity for up to 500 people.
For groups of up to 1000 people, there’s also the Grange au Lac. Clients are spoilt for choice when it comes to restaurants and they can also enjoy the Maison des 4 Terres, which is the Ermitage’s spa centre offering Tellutherapy treatments inspired by Native American, African and Oriental therapies where the earth is a symbol of rejuvenation. The hotel has a range of tarifs for seminars: the bed and breakfast package costs 190 € per night including continental breakfast, mineral water available in the meeting room, two coffee breaks, fruit juices and pastries as well as free access to the site’s sporting and relaxation facilities; the full-board option costs 260 € including an additional lunch and dinner; the one day work session with half-board is 80 € and with full-board (ie, lunch and dinner) is 130 €. The cost of a half-day’s incentive activities starts at 75 €.
HĂ´tel Ermitage, in Evian (Haute-Savoie)
Tel.: 00 33 (0)4 50 26 85 00
