With a rich heritage dating back over 60 years, Relais & Châteaux is a brand borne out of a love for French hospitality and French geography. The original eight hoteliers called it the ‘Route du Bonheur’ and it stretched from the capital to the south coast, taking in a handful of hotels offering exquisite standards of luxury hospitality.
Fast forward to today and travelling the ‘Route du Bonheur’ —which means ‘Route of Happiness’—, will take you around the world to 560 Relais & Châteaux properties in more than 50 countries. To understand how the company recruits for such a widespread and varied mix of roles, we caught up with Carolina Korody, Human Resources Manager, at a recent Career Day.
A worldwide association of luxury experiences
The Relais & Châteaux brand is, as Carolina describes it, an association, with all member restaurants and hotels remaining independent, but delivering equally luxurious experiences.
“They are unique, they are exclusive, they are not part of other big hotel chains and they want to have this label of quality standards that Relais & Châteaux provide.”
Why does Relais & Châteaux hire from Les Roches?
With colleagues around the globe, incredibly high standards to maintain, and the challenge of hiring for independent businesses, Carolina has a tough job. But when it comes finding the talented individuals she needs, Les Roches Career Days give her access to the very best hospitality graduates.
“We are here representing brand, the objective is to increase brand awareness and to engage the students to apply for our opportunities. We know that Les Roches has a very strict recruitment process, it is looking for the same qualities and skills that we, the business, are looking for as well.”
In addition to the expertise, real-world experience and leadership qualities, Carolina hires Les Roches graduates for their ability to adapt and excel across all departments.
“Our teams multitask, so we need to have very open-minded candidates happy to do a little bit of everything at the hotel. They will have an overview of all the departments, which is a great thing if they are not really sure about what their path is in the hospitality industry.”
‘Do what you love and love what you do’
When we asked Carolina for her career advice, she had a very clear message for anyone wanting to get to the top in hospitality.
[quote]To be successful in any kind of business the first thing is to love what you do.[/quote]
“If it’s kitchen, or pastry, or service, or human resources, go and follow your dreams. This is the only way to enjoy life and enjoy your work.”
Thank you to Carolina for taking the time to speak to us, her insight into the history of Relais & Châteaux and why she hires from Les Roches was truly fascinating. Discover why more of hospitality’s leading employers hire from Les Roches in our series of video interviews:
Why we recruit from Les Roches – The Doyle Collection
Why we recruit from Les Roches – Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts
Why we recruit from Les Roches – InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
Discover Carolina’s full interview
