For those who’ve never stayed at one, what makes a Relais & Châteaux experience so different?

Laurent Gardinier. — “Most of the time, guests discover the local culture through the establishment itself. The art of hospitality must reflect the local culture, and the cuisine must showcase the very best it has to offer. Our standard is to have no standard. Between a Japanese ryokan, a South American hacienda and a château in France, you won’t find the same rules of hospitality, the same gardens or the same cuisine. And this goes much further; a chef may well have a very personal style of cooking, inspired by their travels and emotions. What we look at is where the ingredients come from, how they relate to the local cuisine, and whether there is an interpretation of that cuisine by a creator, or even an artist. If it is cuisine that makes sense, that has been transformed, we have no objection. But it must be meaningful.

We believe that luxury should be experienced rather than proclaimed.

Laurent Gardinier, president, Relais & Châteaux

Relais & Châteaux: 70 years in existence, with 580 members across 65 countries. What does that actually mean today?

“It is a membership-based model, designed to enable its members to benefit from the power of the brand and the services associated with it. We are quite unique in the hospitality sector, as we are one of the few organisations operating under this type of legal structure. This model is part of Relais & Châteaux’s DNA: seven founding members who decided to come together to share a set of values under a single banner. And this model has remained unchanged for 70 years. What is important to understand is that the only power we have over a member is to admit them to the association or to expel them. And we never view a member at head office as a source of profit; they are a member, and we owe them services. That is the associative—I was going to say friendly—aspect, which is very strong within our organisation.

Ultimately, what is Relais & Châteaux’s definition of luxury?

“It’s not a word we use in our marketing materials, because we believe that luxury should be experienced rather than proclaimed; there’s a certain arrogance in calling oneself a luxury association. The perfection of the décor, the quality of the service and the cuisine, the beauty of the architecture around you—all of this must come together to create a very unique, deeply emotional experience, one that is entirely personal to each individual. But we do not feel we need to proclaim this at every turn.

Who are your customers? Is there a typical profile?

“We need to distinguish between two things: the source market—that is, where our customers come from—and the destination market, where they are going. The majority of our customers come from the United States. Next comes France, followed by the United Kingdom. Once you’ve covered these three countries, you’ve accounted for roughly 70% of our customers’ nationalities. As for destinations, the top market is the United States, followed by France and then Italy. This means that our American customers mainly travel within their own country, where we have very high-end establishments; with average prices roughly twice as high as those we see in Europe. And the average spend of an American customer when travelling abroad is also roughly twice that of any other customer. This explains why the United States is number one, both as a source market and a destination market.

Luxury does not preclude environmental performance; the two are by no means mutually exclusive.

Laurent Gardinier, president, Relais & Châteaux

Some people see a contradiction between luxury and environmentalism. What about you?

“Of course not. Luxury does not preclude environmental performance; the two are by no means mutually exclusive. The only thing that needs to be acknowledged is that luxury is linked to volume and therefore to space. But that does not preclude a very strong commitment. We have added 90 additional questions relating to sustainable development to our inspections, and a third dedicated assessment criterion, alongside the emotional and technical criteria. We have made a platform available to all our members to measure their carbon footprint. And we have set 2040 as our target date to align with the Paris Agreement [gradual decarbonisation of activities, reduction in water, energy and waste, and the elimination of single-use plastics, ed.].

Aren’t you worried that Relais & Châteaux might be starting to look a bit dated?

“Not at all; well, do we consider that this might be a risk? Of course, like any risk factor. But it would be a failure if the brand, which is currently in such strong form, was no longer in this position. We mustn’t confuse the brand’s modernity with the nature of our clientele. We can remain very modern whilst having a clientele that, by nature, isn’t primarily targeted as being young; the Relais & Châteaux’s target audience isn’t 15–25-year-olds. We aim to be the best, and the best attracts everyone.”

A few Relais & Châteaux hotels nearby

In Luxembourg

Le Place d’Armes Hotel/La Cristallerie Restaurant • Villa Pétrusse/Le Lys Restaurant

In Belgium

Heritage Hotel/Le Mystique Restaurant, Bruges • Kasteel van Ordingen/Aurum Restaurant, Sint-Truiden • Le Chalet de la Forêt Restaurant**, Brussels • Zilte Restaurant***, Antwerp

In Lorraine

Château d’Adomenil, Lunéville • Le Domaine de la Klauss/Le K restaurant, Montenach • La Merise restaurant, Laubach

This article was written for the May 2026 issue of Paperjam magazine, published on 29 April. The content is produced exclusively for the magazine. It is published on the site to contribute to Paperjam’s comprehensive archive. Click on this link to subscribe to the magazine.

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