Port-Cros National Park Stéphane Personeni, Director Hôtel « Lily of the Valley » – La Croix Valmer

Born in Haut-Doubs, 10 km from the Swiss border, Stéphane Personeni comes from an Italian family named after a small village near Bergamo, "Ca'Personeni"..

In my family, who came to France in the 50s, the tradition of hospitality is very strong, so there have always been a lot of people at home... And if, very early on, I wanted to work in the hotel trade, I think that's where it comes from.

He went on to attend a cookery school in Strasbourg, another for sommellerie, bar management, receptionist training, then maître d'hôtel..

Then I went to London, where I met an owner who was looking for a Frenchman to run his restaurant. At the age of 21, I spent 18 months in the south of England.

Returning to France for his military service, he went back to the USA where he worked on cruise ships; and then family life made him want to return. He joined the Barrière group at the Royal Hôtel in Deauville, where he rose from banqueting manager to restaurant manager. He then moved on to the Majestic in Cannes, then the Martinez, where he became manager in 2006. When the palace was sold, he was hired as director of the Byblos in Saint-Tropez, and oversaw the opening of other group establishments in Courchevel and Deauville. In 2018, he learned that Lily of the Valley was looking for a manager.

That's when I met a man, Alain Weil, and I made up my mind immediately. Firstly,because of one sentence, when he said to me , "Stéphane, we're going to build something, and whatever happens, we're going to see it through!"And secondly, because for the first time, we weren't renovating: we were creating! That's above everything else. Creating a place in the heart of nature, focusing on local products around the notion of well-being... I arrived on September 3, 2018 in an Algeco with my computer, I followed the whole worksite and it was a formidable challenge.

His credo today:

We try to do our best, to make it a beautiful, original home, close to nature where customers come to enjoy the beauty that surrounds them... We've developed a lot of things with respect for the place: we buy everything local, we treat our waste, we try to do as much as possible to get closer to zero impact... We try to live up to what nature offers us and it's not marketing or com' that only work for a while... It starts from a conviction. The owner has been coming here since 1963, and I know that preserving this place is crucial for him. That's the message he gave Philippe Starck from the very first brief. It's also why, when we discovered the Esprit parc brand, we said to ourselves: that's us! And not: what's in it for us? But rather: what can we do for the National Park, for our community? It's not a question of profiting from the flow, but of sharing, improving, participating in the dynamic... We're delighted to be joining the network of marked partners. And what I want is for the 400 summer employees to understand that they have to work for the place where they live and work. I want my children to be able to come to magical places, in the mountains or like here... So let's do things right! The luxury world has a duty to be exemplary and to act. And what I'd like is for the Esprit Parc brand no longer to be something exceptional, but to become the norm!