The terrace with a panoramic view is still under construction, but Didier Quinot can already see himself there. “We would like people to come from all over Paris for our evenings”, says the manager of the Zoku hotel, which is due to open in April. It doesn’t matter that we are a few meters from the flow of cars from the ring road, Porte de Saint-Ouen, in Paris, in a not really attractive neighborhood. Installed on the upper floors of the Stream Building, a brand new office building designed by architect Philippe Chiambaretta, Zoku is betting on becoming a trendy destination, by capitalizing on the new metro line 14 stop, just below.
Like the Zoku in Amsterdam, its parent company, this new hotel incorporates all the codes of fashionable hybrid places: cocktail bar, restaurant with open kitchen and communal tables (on the menu, braised pork belly, ceviches, platters to share ), coworking lounge with sofas and, on the roof, a vegetable garden. Here and there, small spaces allow you to organize meetings, play on the Switch console, have “inclusive” table football (with female characters) or karaoke.
The 109 rooms (from 160 to 200 euros per night) particularly target those executives who come to Paris a few days a month: they all have a kitchen and a space to work or receive colleagues. In short, a highly marketed product, right down to the yoga mats in the rooms and the anecdotes served on a tray. Here’s one: the hops that cover the green façade are used to make the beer served at the bar… and brewed in the building.
“Good post-crisis resilience”
In Paris, the surroundings of the northern and eastern ring road have long been the playground of the so-called “budget” hotel industry, and in particular chains such as Ibis, B & B or Campanile. Recently, a new generation of luxury hotels, such as the Zoku, has been developing on either side of this expressway, driven by the revival of these districts bordering Paris, by the availability of land… And above all, by the good health of the hotel sector.
“At the moment, all types of investors are interested in the hotel industry. This is a sector that has shown good post-crisis resilience [liée au Covid-19] : in 2022, the turnover of hoteliers increased by 9% compared to 2019 », explains consultant Olivier Petit, from the firm In Extenso. And this, despite a significant price increase. His firm anticipates a continuation of this trend in 2023, with the return of Asians and a strong presence of Americans, attracted by a favorable exchange rate, and thanks to events such as the Rugby World Cup.
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