(Bloomberg) -- Timo Gruenert, chief executive officer of the luxury hotel brand Oetker Collection, says he wants his company to be the Hermès of travel: The French design house is a study in careful, slow growth to only the most rarified global markets, attracting new clients by creating insider buzz among those who can afford its products.
It’s an approach that’s kept Hermès profitable while its luxury retail competitors slump. But Oetker—known for properties like the glamorous seaside retreat Hotel du Cap Eden Roc in Antibes, France, and the stylish Parisian palace Le Bristol—can one-up that. It’s on an unprecedented growth streak.
Last year it opened La Palma on the Italian island of Capri to much fanfare. In early 2025 it’ll open the Vineta in the moneyed enclave of Palm Beach, its first hotel in the US, bringing flavors from Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, in the south of France, to South Florida with its signature restaurant Coco’s.
Now Oetker is setting its sights on its next destination: the jet-set mainstay of St. Tropez, where its 13th hotel will makes its debut in 2027.
“We want to be where our guests want to go,” says Gruenert, speaking exclusively to Bloomberg Pursuits about the openings. For Oetker, the goal isn’t to mint new destinations but to raise the bar in already-glamorous ones.
Details on how the St. Tropez opening will do that are scant: The hotel doesn’t even have a name yet. But the 53-room property will sit on a hill with views over white sand beaches and azure waters, with the celebrity-favorite Pampelonne Beach a five-minute drive away. It’ll feature an oversize infinity pool with similarly expansive sea views and have a villagelike feel, made up of 11 two-story houses connected by rambling gardens.
“We want to keep this authentic Provencal atmosphere and not have it be over the top,” Gruenert says. “But we still want to have it represent what comes to your mind when you think of St. Tropez, which is elegant and glamorous.”
In terms of design, that means stone floors, warm colors, straw headboards and wooden beams reminiscent of farmhouses. It comes courtesy of Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier, the French design duo also responsible for the palatial Mandarin Oriental Ritz Madrid and the opulent Lana in Dubai.
“We want to create our own little village inside St. Tropez,” says Gruenert.
It wasn’t long ago that Oetker had little name recognition even among the jet set. When Gruenert started at the company in 2005, it had just four hotels to its name. But now that the collection has grown to have such iconic properties as Eden Rock, in the billionaire’s playground of St. Barths, and L’Apogee Courchevel, in the ritzy Alpine town, that’s starting to change—even if Gruenert says there’s still much more work to be done before Oetker is a household name for luxury seekers.
Still, he says, a decade-plus of building up brand recognition—in part through strong rankings in the World’s 50 Best hotels list—is now giving hotel owners the confidence to commit to lengthy, high-investment projects with Oetker, fueling the company’s growth. As a result, Oetker has been able to expand its portfolio by 30% since 2022 with new and newly announced openings.
“We met with the Reuben brothers for the opening of La Palma Capri, and for them it was a big decision to go with us and not with one of the big brands,” says Gruenert, referring to the likes of Four Seasons and Rosewood. “But after we built this hotel together, they realized there’s something here, so we did another one, and that’s why we will now open in Palm Beach with them soon.” Even though the distinguishing points of an Oetker hotel rely on hard-to-define qualities like high-touch service and exquisite design, Gruenert says, “people are becoming more familiar with our name and have trust in this approach.”
The company’s competitors, who define themselves similarly, are going through comparable growth spurts. Take Corinthia, a group of eightultra-high-end hotels that will nearly double its portfolio in the coming years. This fall it expanded to New York City with the opening of the Surrey; next year it’ll add properties in Rome and Brussels. Another five destinations are under development.
On the same trajectory is Maybourne Hotels Group, the owner of Claridge’s and the Connaught in London. After years of minimal growth as a group of just four hotels, it opened Maybourne Riviera in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, in 2022 and then the Emory, also in London, earlier this year. Already it’s hinting at a significant pipeline of openings to follow.
Add expansions for Dorchester Collection, known for properties like Hotel Plaza Athénée and the Beverly Hills Hotel, and boutique French brand Airelles, best recognized for its stunning Louis XVI-style hotel inside the Palace of Versailles, and the six-star hotel scene is heating up in a significant way.
Competition between these brands is fierce, as each races to plant its flags in jet-set capitals around the world. And they’re all chasing the same type of ultra-high-net-worth traveler, with Oetker saying 50% of its customer base is from North America.
“There are a lot of destinations out there, which from a hotel management point of view would be interesting. But our established clientele is not interested in these destinations,” says Gruenert.
As for what’s next, Gruenert says he’s looking at properties in Tuscany and New York City—a wish list he shares with his rivals. But it’s more important for the company to grow in a smart matter than to grow too quickly.
“Expectations are sky-high,” he says. “We need to get it right on day one and turn any new opening into another masterpiece.”
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