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PRESENTED BY ESSEC BUSINESS SCHOOL

‘It really feels like a dream come true’: working in a Paris palace hotel

"It's a huge source of pride for me to work at a Parisian palace hotel," says Amel Ziani-Orus. The Director of Talent and Culture at the 5-star Le Meurice has hotels in her blood. “I moved with my family from Algeria to France when I was 18. My parents owned a boutique hotel.”

Published: 22 December 2020 08:00 CET
'It really feels like a dream come true': working in a Paris palace hotel
Photo: Amel Ziani-Orus at Le Meurice, Paris

Amel says she did not always plan to go into hotel work herself and first worked in project management. But eventually she changed course to study for an MSc in Hospitality Management at ESSEC Business School. Now, she is the head of HR at one of France’s most luxurious and prestigious hotels – and one with an integral place in Parisian society and culture. 

“Thinking of my ambitions during the time I spent at ESSEC, it really feels like a dream come true to be working here now,” she says. “I’m very happy.”

Here, The Local kicks off a series of articles on the theme of #MyParisianLife by speaking to her about the joy of working in such a place and how she got there.

Luxury and a rare artistic history

“Le Meurice is one of the first ‘palace hotels’,” she says. “This is a unique designation to France. It means beyond five stars, and describes a hotel with the highest standards of service.“

Opening its current location in 1835, Le Meurice is the oldest Paris hotel awarded the palace distinction and has hosted many luminaries. “It was the hotel used by European royalty, but perhaps our most famous guest was Salvador Dalí.”

The surrealist painter was a frequent guest, staying at the hotel for one month every Spring for 30 years. Pablo Picasso also hosted his wedding lunch at the hotel in 1918, and to this day the hotel has a close association with art. 

 
Amel Ziani-Orus at Le Meurice, the hotel bar, and a glimpse of its luxury interiors. Photos by Jesse Wallace for The Local.

Masked employees at Le Meurice during the pandemic and the hotel’s lobby (bottom left). Photos by Jesse Wallace for The Local.

For the last 20 years, the hotel has had a prize for contemporary artists,” Amel tells us. The winning artist receives a grant of €10,000, with another €10,000 for the gallery involved in the project. The luxurious interiors of the hotel are filled with previous prize winners, making it a highly desirable location for magazine photography shoots. 

It’s not just art that Le Meurice is famous for, however. Amel is also very proud of the hospitality offered – in particular the gourmet cuisine. “Cédric Grolet, one of the greatest pastry chefs in the world, has a patisserie at the hotel – La Pâtisserie du Meurice par Cédric Grolet”.

The award-winning pastries and cakes on offer are a major drawcard for the hotel. Indeed, even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the patisserie remains open, with Parisians flocking for their daily fix of Grolet’s amazing creations. Despite the pandemic, hotels and luxury establishments continue to survive. “There are of course challenges, but we’re able to overcome them,” says Amel. 

The value of problem-solving networks

So how did she find herself in such an esteemed role? “I did my MSc in Hotel Management at ESSEC!” One of the ‘trois Parisiennes’ of management schools, the École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales has been producing some of the world’s most celebrated hoteliers since 1907. 

 
Ornate interiors, high ceilings, and works of art at Paris’s original palace hotel Le Meurice. Photos by Jesse Wallace for The Local.

The hotel offers modern design and comforts, as well as tradition. Photos by Jesse Wallace for The Local.
 
The school’s vintage – in operation for over a century – doesn’t stop it from offering a top-class education for the digital age. “One of the greatest things the school gave me was the ability to use modern software tools to help operate the hotel,” says Amel. “Many hoteliers underestimate its importance, but it makes a huge difference.”

It’s not just the application of modern technology that distinguishes ESSEC from other management schools. Amel credits ESSEC’s alumni networks and expert teachers as being hugely useful even today.

“I can still ask questions of the networks that I made while at ESSEC if I have a problem that needs solving. I can also contact my teachers for their point of view. ESSEC also organises student visits, so students can see how a luxury hotel works from the inside”. 

From her beginnings working in her parents’ boutique hotel, Amel now finds herself at the top of her profession – and able to enjoy some of the most enviable views in the world. “One of my favourite places is the Belle Etoile Suite terrace of the hotel, with amazing views across the iconic Paris cityscape, towards the Eiffel Tower,” she says. 

Studying hotel management has taken Amel from a family business to the penthouse suite of one of the world’s premiere luxury hotels. As she tells us: “ESSEC was a huge step for me in order to get where I am today.”

Want to pursue your own Parisian dream? Find out more about ESSEC’s MSc in Hospitality Management

All photos by Jesse Wallace for The Local.

LIVING IN FRANCE

Explained: What to do if you leave your belongings on a train in France

Here's a look at the steps you should take if you discover that you have left an important or treasured item on a French train.

Published: 3 July 2024 14:59 CEST
Explained: What to do if you leave your belongings on a train in France

We’ve all done it. You get home, or to your hotel or office to realise that, when you got off the train, you forgot to pick up your wallet, laptop, or tablet or sometimes even items of luggage.

Or – every parent’s nightmare – one of your children has left behind their beloved cuddly toy, and only realises as the train you’ve just got off leaves the station.

The good news is that all is not, necessarily, lost. 

The first step is to report the missing item to SNCF. You can do this at the station, but if you’ve got home before you realise something is missing, you can report lost property online (you can change the language of the website).

You will need to describe what you’ve lost, when you lost it, and which train you were travelling on – as well as giving your contact details. 

What happens next

First of all, you will be given a declaration number. Keep it safe – it allows you to track the progress of SNCF’s search for your lost property.

Even so – we have to be honest – the investigation relies a fair bit on good fortune. If your lost property is found on the train by a member of staff, or handed in at a station, then there’s a good chance you’ll get it back. 

It may be that your lost property has already been handed in. If so, it will be registered on SNCF’s national lost property database and kept for 30 days at the station where the item was picked up or, for items forgotten on a train, at the station where they arrived.

Deadline

The database is monitored in real-time matching found items with reports of lost property. When your property has been located, you will be informed, and can go to the station where it is stored, or have it sent to your home address, subject to a shipping charge.

If you do collect it from the station, take along proof of ID – and expect to pay a fee of up to €10, depending on the value of the property you have reported missing.

And, after 30 days?

If items of lost property are not claimed after 30 days, it may be handed over to the government’s Administration des domaines, sold to a charitable organisation or destroyed.

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