In 2009, Olivier Devys envisioned an innovative, high-end hotel chain that would be attentive to its customers and staff, but above all committed to sustainability. Eleven years and ten hotels later, this ecological commitment remains at the heart of OKKO HOTELS' concerns.OKKO HOTELS. Since 2018, CASTALIE the company in its green and virtuous approach. Solenne Devys, Product and Communications Director, created OKKO HOTELS alongside her father. We spoke with her to learn a little more about their vision of the hotel industry and their eco-responsible commitments.
How did you develop your environmental and social approach at OKKO HOTELS?
When you start your own company, you want to be your own boss, you want to embark on a human adventure, and you want to bring a new product to market. And deep down, you want to do things right for your customers, your team, and society by giving meaning to what you do, rather than changing the world, which is a bit pretentious. The topics of sustainable development and CSR have been part of the project since its inception in 2010. We may have been ahead of our sector, but we made a conscious decision:
- Only install showers in our rooms. It's a bold decision, but travelers are willing to accept having a shower in a 4-star hotel.
- Eliminate individual cosmetic products by offering large sizes of shower gel.
- Avoid leaving any small items (cotton pads, bathrobes, slippers) in the rooms, as we are obliged to throw them away or clean them as soon as the blister pack is opened, which is far from environmentally friendly.
- From a societal perspective, we strive to integrate ourselves as best we can into the local economic fabric and to consider what we can contribute as a company.
It's interesting to see that in the field of CSR as a whole, there are lots of new developments and start-ups launching. We try to be pioneers and drive projects forward!
The big challenge is not so much doing things as communicating them, so that they are well understood by our customers, who are increasingly attentive to this, and at the same time, we sometimes need to do a bit of educating. This approach is interesting because we can always go further; there is never a stopping point.
What other solutions have you chosen to limit your impact on the planet?
In the hotel industry, there are several stages where we can take action to better control our environmental impact:
- In the eco-construction of the building, by choosing to consume less non-renewable energy, especially since it is much simpler to build. We include all these elements in our specifications.
- In terms of operations, by ensuring that we consume less as an operator, but also by encouraging our customers to consume less and be more reasonable.
- Within our teams, we promote a CSR approach to ensure our staff feel good. For example, we offer training courses, both internal and external, to ensure that this training program can bring out talent and help employees progress.
- When choosing partners, we select local producers for catering products, but also for florists, for example, which helps to boost the local economy. There are lots of hidden gems out there! Short supply chains now account for 20 to 25% of our purchases (in value), i.e., less than 100 km from the hotel. Tomorrow, it will be even more!
What motivated you to remove plastic water bottles from your hotels?
Our establishments have an average of 100 rooms, so they are large structures. In terms of the volume of plastic water bottles, the impact was enormous. Across the group, we were using almost 100,000 plastic bottles, which is colossal! Not only were we not at all committed to sustainable development, but our teams had to constantly transport pallets to restock the refrigerators. The logistics were complicated, especially since it was not at all comfortable or healthy for our staff. We absolutely had to find a solution.
Why did you choose the CASTALIE solution CASTALIE
The water fountain was still relatively uncommon at the time, but many people were starting to use their own water bottles to avoid buying large quantities of plastic bottles. We looked for a solution and found CASTALIE, which we knew well through its restaurant customers. We installed our water fountains in 2018 in all our hotels, particularly in our lounges. What sets OKKO HOTELS apart is that we offer our guests a club that is accessible 24 hours a day, like a lounge but better, with more style and decoration. This space allows our guests to work, relax, have a drink, grab a bite to eat, and feel at home. This is the big trend in lifestyle hotels: design, decoration, and cool spaces that enhance the guest experience. We have installed refrigerators that are accessible at all hours, offering guests the freedom to help themselves to a glass of still or sparkling water, a cake, or something else whenever they feel like it. We provide everything!
How did your staff and customers react when you introduced our water coolers?
It was harder to convince our internal team than our customers! They were totally on board. However, we sensed some reluctance on the part of our hotel colleagues and staff. But when we changed solutions, it was like night and day for our teams! Before, the logistics were insane. We always had to anticipate restocking, we were afraid of running out of bottles if the supplier didn't deliver, and managing heat waves with two people per room was a huge task. By changing our water solution, we simplified all these logistics and significantly improved the comfort of our staff. They immediately embraced the product. As for our customers, not one has ever said, "This is terrible, I don't have my water bottle." They immediately embraced the change and the feedback has been very positive!
What are your CSR plans for the future?
Our major project for the coming years is to develop our employer brand by integrating people in difficult social situations or with disabilities. We would also like to make a greater contribution to the community. In terms of sustainable development, we would like to go further on the issue of catering. This is not always easy. For example, we committed to eliminating individual packaging in favor of bulk packaging. Today, we are being forced to backtrack for health reasons, which is exactly what we didn't want! We are trying to find alternatives because we have fought hard for zero plastic in recent years and we don't want to go backwards.
Interview: Anne-Laure Brouillat and Jeanne Favas Credits: Jérôme Galland
