Constance Hotels to target younger market with new brand

Chief executive Jean-Jacques Vallet said he will expand and reposition the company’s portfolio with the addition of C Hotels by Constance and by separating out its golf product.

The new concept will soft launch in Mauritius this November with the 52-room C Hotel Palamar, 10 minutes from Constance Belle Mare Plage.

An official launch, with three properties, is planned for 2018 with Indian Ocean locations considered initially, although Vallet revealed future sites could be in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Africa.

Head of sales and marketing, UK, Ireland and North America, Jonathan King said the new all-inclusive offering, described as “upper upscale”, had “a different personality but the same roots [as Constance Hotels]". “It’s younger, and more curious,” he added.

Vallet explained the rebranding and realignment of the brand portfolio would pave the way for expansion with a new tagline “True by Nature”.

“We want to grow to 20 hotels in the next five years but still keep the human scale,” he said. “The new brand defines who we are and that means it is going to be easier [for the trade] to sell it.”

C Hotels by Constance will feature “shabby chic” decor and open, convivial areas where guests will have the option to “dine together with others on one table”.

It will sit under the Constance, Hotels, Resorts and Golf banner along with the existing Constance Hotels brand and a golfing brand.

King said: “For the first time we will separate golf out from the rest of the portfolio as we actively look for courses to manage on behalf of asset owners.”

The Constance Hotels properties, previously categorised as Unique and Ultimate, will now be divided into Gold and Silver.

Updated contracts have also been issued to trade partners with amendments including extending the age of children staying free to six years old, which King suggested would “hopefully help [you] sell to younger families.”