View from the Back
Ramblings of a retiree in France
French Fancies: OKKO Hotels
This relatively new chain of four-star hotels is springing up in cities across France. With its cool concept of smallish rooms balanced with a large central area known as The Club, there’s plenty of space to relax. One of its main attractions is that the room price has no hidden extras and includes an aperitif, snacks, wifi, international phone calls (up to €10), videos on demand and access to the fitness suite (gym and sauna).
We’ve stayed in a number of their hotels which are always in quieter locations but still handy for everything and represent great value for money. The staff are very helpful and we love their late weekend checkouts. We do however prefer their larger-sized premium rooms.
OKKO HOTELS is an urban four-star hotel concept that has turned the traditions of the hotel sector upside down. Set up by Olivier Devys, an alumnus of Accor¹, who wanted to prove there was still room in the French hospitality business for modern 4* lifestyle hotels, with a contemporary décor. The chain’s motto is:
Four stars, no cloud
The hotel group is centrally managed by a very small team, building together with Olivier Devys a stronger, more innovative, more agile and more ambitious brand. The chain’s founder and president is a engineering graduate of the Ecole Centrale Paris, so it’s surprising he ended up working in hospitality.
He joined Accor, after the group acquired his company, where Devys then spent 16 years honing his experience in the hotel industry. A co-designer of the Suitehotel concept alongside Paul Dubrule, Accor’s founder and CEO, he demonstrated that an innovative and modern concept could also be a commercial success. So, he decided to go it alone and develop OKKO, hotels that are modern, sustainable, personal and fairly priced. Devys claims:
We don’t think that you need to have a screw loose in order to be an entrepreneur in today’s France, just a bit of courage.
Devys’ daughter Solenne has worked alongside him on this venture since 2011, firstly on brand management and communication, now as deputy CEO. She has a particular interest in CSR and has ensured that the group has developed in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
The first hotel opened in Nantes in 2014 and it was an immediate hit with customers who loved its urban design and unbeatable value for money. The group has grown apace and there are now 12 hotels. The two most recently opened are in Lille and Nice. The former was a redevelopment of an old Galeries Lafayette store rather the usual new build.
In addition, the group is working on the development of its bar and catering business, with the opening of several bars and rooftops within the group and the development of a catering offer within the Clubs. It is also creating a training school so as to offer real development paths within the group. CSR is still on the agenda, with the development of local and organic purchases, as well as waste reduction measures.
Give it a whirl next time you’re visiting France, you won’t be disappointed!
All images courtesy of OKKO
¹Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties in many segments. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest worldwide. Accor operates in 5,199 locations in over 110 countries. Its total capacity is approximately 762,000 rooms. Accor also owns companies specialized in digital hospitality and event organisation. The company is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, and is a constituent of the CAC Next 20 index on the Paris stock exchange.
View from the Back 
These rooms look so clean and fresh. You know when you walk in a room and it’s like ‘ah, I can breathe again.’ That’s how I feel looking at these photos. This looks like a wonderful place to stay.
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They’re great hotels Lois
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These hotels look fantastic, I will keep the name in mind.
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Do Sue, you won’t be disappointed
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I’m sure I won’t thank you.
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Your French Fancies write-ups are always wonderful. Do you write professionally like that?
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That’s most kind of you but I only write for pleasure.
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And it’s a pleasure to read them.😉
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Thank you
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We’ll definitely bear this chain in mind. Thanks.
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Pleasure Margaret
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I’m going to get to France one of these days. I’d like to stay in one of those!
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I hope you get to visit
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Oh yeah, I’ll get there one day. I retired once 7 years ago. I plan to fully retire in about 10 years, and treat myself to a train ride across Europe. But you mentioned the fitness centers there. Funny, I was staying at a very nice hotel in Scotland (first time over there), and they had a contract with a really nice, full size gym next door. I went over to workout. I went to grab a couple 25 POUND (I thought) dumbbells to do some bicep curls, and they were unbelievably heavy for 25’s! Took me a bit to realize all the weights were in Kilograms.
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Great idea! European trains are fab, a wonderful way to get around and see the countryside.
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I know the hotel in Nantes and of course worked with directors of Accor in a hotelier assoc in Paris… Those were the freebie days lol!!
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Lucky you!
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😎
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Very elegant, stylish, a classy hotel!
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Thank you Jerome
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Elegant and stylish. ❤️
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Aptly put, thank you.
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Smart. Would enjoy a visit.
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Better get planning then
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Looks very inviting Sheree!
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Thanks
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Looks very nice! We stayed in a hotel with a similar concept to that in Scotland and I loved it.
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I would enjoy staying there. Our smallest room experience was staying in a hotel with a lovely lounge with view across the road of Lincoln Cathedral. But the room was so small we were convinced the bed was extra short to fit it in the room!
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I know what you mean. I’m not overly fond of either small hotel rooms or bathrooms but aplaud good design which makes them feel larger.
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Every time I leave feeling jealous, lol
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😎
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I hope they survive
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Me too
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Thanks, will keep in mind when we’re booking our next trip to France. Always a challenge to find a comfortable, clean and modern hotel in Paris!
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😎
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Sounds good and looks good, the sort of place I would stay in on a future visit to France. But …… we recently had a short break in Winchester staying at a Mercure hotel, part of Accor. The whole experience was a nightmare, poor service and disgusting rooms which we changed twice. We left a day early! Just awful.
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Sorry to hear about your poor Mercure experience. I generally avoid that class if Accor hotels because they are acquired existing hotels not developed from new. OKKO nothing like that at all!
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It was a big mistake, we only picked them because they were in the centre of town, next to the cathedral, with private parking and we were eating out each evening. The OKKO look a different class.
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Wow😲
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Thanks
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Thanks for your like of my Revelation 22 article; you are very kind.
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