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Cécile: Stéphane and I met in high school, when we were about fifteen. We complement each other very well, both in our personalities and in our goals. I love meeting people, traveling, and discovering other ways of life to enrich my own. During our studies and school breaks, we worked at the Hôtel des Lices in Saint-Tropez, which Stéphane’s uncle and aunt have been running for fifty years now. That’s where we learned the basics of the trade: welcoming guests, paying attention to every detail of their comfort, listening to them, and anticipating their needs. We quickly realized that this was the path for us.
Stéphane: At first, I became passionate about the vineyard, its cultivation, and its products. My grandparents and parents passed on to me a love for this meticulous work, which requires so much patience. But I quickly realized that another path might suit me better. Being good with my hands and drawn to construction, I managed several projects from a young age, which allowed me to discover the trades of the building industry. When I take on a project, I strive for excellence: I hold myself—and the teams around me—to high standards.
That’s how the hospitality industry became a natural fit for me, combining both the management of renovation and construction projects with a holistic vision of bringing a space to life. And then, Cécile and I wanted to build something together. In this line of work, success often depends on a couple’s complementary strengths—something that was obvious to us.
Cécile and Stéphane: We started this adventure as a couple, without children, and, against all odds, they came along to brighten our lives over time, as if by magic. Nothing was really planned, and yet the births followed one after another with a gentle sense of inevitability. In the end, five children joined our family adventure. From a very early age, they were immersed in our world, getting used to living at the hotel’s pace and, each in their own way, accompanying the evolution of our business. With the exception of our youngest, who is still too young, they have all worked at our properties during the summer seasons. Today, we form a true clan of seven, living in perfect harmony within the world of hospitality, each of us contributing to building, together, this shared foundation that unites us.
Louis, our 25-year-old eldest son, is currently pursuing a Master 2 degree at Sorbonne Panthéon, specializing in hospitality management, as part of a work-study program. He has joined the development division of the B&B Hotels chain, while continuing to contribute his expertise at VINCI Immobilier, where he previously completed his end-of-studies internship in the hotel investment division.
After a 12-year career in competitive skiing, Louis worked at our properties every summer, holding various positions, and also completed an internship as an executive assistant at the prestigious Château de Bagnols, a 5-star hotel owned by the Lavorel Group.
Although he isn’t yet working full-time with us, he already devotes part of his day to us. His in-depth knowledge of our operations already makes him a valuable advisor.
Édouard, 23, holds a dual bachelor’s degree in international business from the University of Nottingham (UK) and the University of Valencia (Spain). After completing several internships in private equity in Paris, he enrolled at the University of Notre Dame in the United States to pursue his master’s degree in finance. He then joined Goldman Sachs as a financial analyst, becoming the first of our children to enter the workforce. Édouard lives in New York and works at the top of a skyscraper in Manhattan!
Cheerful and passionate, Édouard draws on his skills and knowledge to provide us with insightful perspectives and valuable advice. He has also spent several summers working at the Hôtel des Remparts, a formative experience that has strengthened his passion for the hospitality industry and teamwork.
Mathilde, 20, discovered the profession at a very young age at the Hôtel des Remparts, before spending a year in Australia.
Upon her return, she had her first experience staying at a luxury hotel at the Château de la Messardière in Saint-Tropez.
She then enrolled at École Vatel as part of a three-year international program, spending her first year in Bordeaux.
She is currently working on a seasonal assignment as an assistant F&B guest relations manager at the five-star Carlton Hotel in Cannes.
Next winter, she will head to Bahrain for her second year of studies, before returning to Bordeaux for her third.
Colomban and Adèle:
Adèle, 18, is currently in Australia, where she is improving her English. She is having her first enriching experience there, both as an au pair and working in hotels and restaurants. For now, she hasn’t yet decided exactly what she wants to do next.
Our youngestColomban boy, who is 14 years old and also a boarding student, is in the 9th grade at a middle school in Toulouse.
Cécile: Above all, we are passionate people and builders. What drives us is creating, innovating, and offering a warm welcome and comfort with attention to every detail. We steer clear of the standardized, soulless hotel industry. We welcome our guests as if they were an extension of our own family.
Stéphane: Above all, we’re entrepreneurs. Our whole lives, we’ve taken big risks and worked tirelessly. For more than twenty-five years, I’ve managed our construction projects myself—without an architect or interior designer—sketching the floor plans and selecting every material. It’s from this hard work, almost artisanal in nature, that our homes derive their soul.
Cécile: Nothing really pointed us in that direction. The studies we’d pursued didn’t align with what we wanted to do with our lives. And then we stumbled upon this hotel, at the foot of the Cité de Carcassonne. It was a very simple, somewhat outdated place, geared toward a clientele that wasn’t really our target audience. Perhaps that was our true destiny—the one we hadn’t yet realized.
Stéphane: We decided very quickly to turn it into a four-star hotel, one worthy of the exceptional setting that surrounds it. Then we threw ourselves into this project with determination. We worked day and night, taking on every role at once. We were young, happy, passionate, and already—without even realizing it—true entrepreneurs.
Stéphane: I often reflect on those early days of our career and wonder how we managed to get started. We were fortunate enough to convince our first bank, Banque Populaire, to support us in this venture. I don’t know if that would still be possible today. We started without any capital, with our modest background as our only selling point. But we’d both been working since we were sixteen, each with the same determination, and I think that’s what tipped the scales.
Stéphane: This **hotel** consisted of two parts: a main building and an annex. It took us ten years of hard work to separate them and create two distinct properties: the Hôtel du Château****, in the prime location, and the Hôtel Montmorency***, which occupies the annex. We made slow progress due to a lack of funds. Whatever little we earned, we immediately reinvested in renovations, room by room.
Stéphane: We did everything without hiring an outside contractor. I managed the construction site myself, hiring our own employees, and my familiarity with almost every trade allowed us to save a lot of money. But renovating these two hotels still required a lot of money—money we didn’t have and therefore had to borrow, over and over again. Looking back, I wonder how the banks could have trusted us back then, when we had nothing.
Cécile: Once again, it was undoubtedly our determination, our drive to succeed, and our ambition that made the difference. We took on every role, did every kind of work, and labored day and night. Those were the first ten years of our lives—and the most intense. Our children came along at the same time, and we had to juggle it all: family, work, and that energy that never left us.
Stéphane: After ten years, things are going a little better. Both hotels have been renovated, are open, and are starting to run smoothly. We feel like we’re really taking off. That’s when we hear, around the neighborhood, that the owners of the Hôtel de l’Octroi are nearing retirement.
Cécile: After nearly a year of negotiations, we finally managed to buy it. It was a two-star hotel in a great location, right near the Cité, and we were immediately charmed by it. It, too, needed a complete renovation. We bought it, and the renovations began…
Stéphane: And one thing led to another. In an area where the previous owners had never been able to expand, several attached houses suddenly came up for sale. We had no choice—we had to seize the opportunity. Within a year, we bought three neighboring houses.
Cécile: These acquisitions are completely disrupting our plans. A house is being demolished to make way for a swimming pool, while the reception area and common areas are moving to the main road leading to the Cité.
Stéphane: A project of unexpected scope, but also one in which we were best able to envision the end result. So much so that this hotel has been completely transformed.
Cécile: At the same time, while we’re in the thick of construction at the Octroi, things are moving quickly over at the Hôtel Montmorency. There, too, townhouses are being put up for sale.
Stéphane: We haven’t even finished work on one project, and now we’re already having to expand the other. We’re right in the thick of things, and we need to seize this opportunity without delay.
Cécile: That was undoubtedly the hardest time of our lives. We were a little too impulsive; we tried to seize two opportunities at once, and we ended up with far too much debt. That period will always be a difficult one. We had a really hard time managing our debt, simply because we were juggling too many projects at once.
Stéphane: This was also the time when I had to bring in outside contractors for the first time. The projects were too large, even though I still had several direct employees. It was a costly solution—and, above all, very complex to manage—because the quality wasn’t always up to par, leading to a host of headaches and, at times, having to switch contractors midway through a project.
The Quest for Well-Being: The Birth of the Spa
Stéphane: At that time, there weren’t any hotel spas in Carcassonne yet, and we were convinced that this was the right path to take. So we converted our company apartment, located in the basement of the Hôtel du Château, to create this space. This was possible because we had bought a house a few years earlier and had been renovating it little by little. Even though it was a bit uncomfortable, we were eventually able to move in permanently and free up that basement space.
Cécile: Since we’re already focused on the high-end market, we don’t want just a simple hot tub placed in a room—as was often the case back then—but a true wellness and beauty center. We envisioned an intimate space that could be entirely reserved for private use, featuring a pool, a hammam, and custom treatment rooms—a haven designed for relaxation and letting go. To ensure we met these high standards, we trained our practitioners at Carita in Paris, a leading name in skincare and beauty at the time. It was a resounding success. The launch was incredible, and the spa has never ceased to be a true driving force for our hotels in Carcassonne.
Stéphane: Between 2010 and 2015, we experienced a major upheaval: the rise of online booking platforms, led by Booking. That’s when we started losing a lot of money. Yet our hotels were in prime locations and didn’t need these agencies to fill their rooms. Overnight, guests who used to book directly started booking through these intermediaries, who took a cut of between 15 and 25 percent.
Cécile: But that wasn’t the hardest part. Little by little, we lost touch with our clients. The people who walked through our doors hadn’t read our story, hadn’t understood our philosophy, and hadn’t even really chosen the establishment they were visiting. This distance, imposed by the agencies, erased what was at the heart of our business: listening and advising our clients even before they arrived.
Stéphane: Around the same time, online reviews started appearing, and that was perhaps even harder. Every negative comment upset us, struck us right in the heart—often posted by a one-night guest, without any perspective or sense of proportion. I often compare it to a child who turns in a great essay only to be given a zero because of one or two mistakes. At one point, we even decided to stop reading or responding to the reviews ourselves, because it was so hurtful.
Stéphane: In Carcassonne, the clientele had also become difficult. There were a lot of passing-through guests—staying just for one night—tired from the drive, frustrated by the heat, or by the tight schedules they had to keep. Dealing with these guests really wore us out.
Cécile: This forced distance pushed us to rethink how we do things. We needed to get some fresh air, explore new places, discover a different clientele, and reestablish a direct connection with our customers. In short, we had to bounce back during a period that had become very challenging.
Stéphane: So we asked ourselves the real question: Should we stop and move on to something else? The answer was no. The hospitality industry is our passion; there was no question of giving it up, but simply of reinventing ourselves elsewhere. That’s how the Aigues-Mortes project came about shortly thereafter.
Cécile: Family has always been our foundation, and it’s to family that we return to start a new chapter. Taking the time to be together, regaining our balance, and living in accordance with our values.
Stéphane: We’re looking for an authentic place—with stone architecture and a rich history. The Hôtel des Remparts, in the heart of Aigues-Mortes, the city of the Crusades, stands out as the obvious choice, nestled between ramparts steeped in history and the light of the Camargue.
Cécile: In Carcassonne, we felt that most of our guests were just passing through—on their way from the coast to Spain—without taking the time to enjoy the break we were offering them.
Stéphane: People come to Aigues-Mortes to stay. Here, vacations unfold at the slow, sun-drenched pace of the Camargue, with its herds of horses, markets, and boat rides. Here, we take our time, and that changes everything.
Stéphane: We heard that the Hôtel des Remparts was for sale. At the time, it was mainly a large restaurant with a few rooms upstairs. We saw enormous potential for it as a hotel. We bought it at a reasonable price for the time, but it would require a massive investment in renovations. All in all, it was a major undertaking financially.
Cécile: Once again, we’re taking on a crazy challenge. Moving from our three-star hotel to a five-star one, without being sure we can fill it or pay back the banks. We’re investing without any capital of our own, relying solely on their trust. Once again, we wonder how we managed to pull it off.
Stéphane: The building is incredible. It’s all made of stone, though you wouldn’t know it. We’re the tenth owners. Formerly a barracks and then a gendarmerie, it had been ransacked over time—its walls torn open, its stones replaced with cinder blocks, and its wooden beams with iron or concrete.
Cécile: It took two years of hard work to restore it to its former splendor, with the help of a Portuguese stonemasonry firm that worked alongside us for a year and a half.
Stéphane: I have to admit that this project was incredibly difficult, took much longer than expected, and that I had a really hard time finding reliable contractors. It had a profound impact on me, to the point of testing me like never before and making me doubt, more than once, our ability to see it through. But the result was so spectacular that all of that was quickly forgotten.
Cécile: The opening of the Hôtel des Remparts was the culmination of what we’d always been doing without realizing it—what we now call “lifestyle.” Creating lounges, living areas, and lively common spaces—and recognizing that a guest doesn’t just come for a room, but to have an experience. Others, like Mama Shelter, have made this their signature. We were already doing it, albeit on a smaller scale.
Stéphane: In Aigues-Mortes, we’re fully embracing this—and in a much more pronounced way. The success has exceeded our expectations, to the point where the bar and lounges are taking precedence over the hotel portion. The result, after a few years, was quite different from what we’d anticipated, driven above all by the vibrant atmosphere of the place.
Cécile: During the festival season, we also created a Bodega that started from almost nothing and grew to be huge, welcoming thousands of people. It was a resounding success, a wonderful experience, made possible by extraordinary teams. We eventually decided to wrap it up, but it remains a vivid memory from our professional lives.
Stéphane: Even though the hotel had become extraordinary and our success exceeded our expectations, we decided to leave Aigues-Mortes after seven years. Not by selling the hotel—which we kept—but by moving back to Carcassonne to manage it remotely, visiting regularly. In short, we did the opposite of what we’d done before: living in Carcassonne and coming to Aigues-Mortes from time to time.
Cécile: This decision wasn’t due to weariness or a lack of enjoyment. Those were seven wonderful years—thanks to the climate, the beauty of the hotel, and the quality of the guests we hosted. But life within the city was another matter. As outsiders, we were never truly welcomed—neither by the residents nor by the local authorities.
Stéphane: Behind its ramparts, the city retains a strong sense of parochialism and often views non-natives with suspicion. During those years, we spent almost all our time with our customers—those at the hotel and the bar, tourists, shopkeepers, and residents who, like us, had come from elsewhere.
Cécile: Over time, that distance became too much to bear on a day-to-day basis. We decided to return to Carcassonne, while continuing to run the Hôtel des Remparts, and we’ll always cherish the wonderful memories from that time—of a place we love and of meaningful human connections, starting with our teams.
Stéphane: During the COVID-19 pandemic, we went through one of the most difficult periods of our professional lives. During the first two months of the lockdown, we were convinced we would lose everything. Since we started twenty years ago, we had never closed for a single day; our establishments were open 365 days a year. As an aside, nothing at our places ever really closed—not a single door was locked, no gates were closed; nothing had ever been planned for that. And now we have to shut everything down.
Cécile: The hardest thing to accept was the feeling that we could lose everything after a lifetime of hard work, because of an event that had nothing to do with our choices or decisions. Watching the fruits of so many years’ labor crumble away for a reason completely beyond our control was an immense ordeal.
Stéphane: However, unlike many of our colleagues, we chose to reopen as soon as the authorities allowed it. And we were absolutely swamped. We even let customers borrow our dogs for walks—the only permitted reason to go outside at the time. Our cocker spaniels were completely exhausted by the end of the day—they were in such high demand from morning to night. Despite the crowds, that first year of the pandemic resulted in colossal losses—enough to wipe out an entire business—that’s how severe they were.
Cécile: And yet, it was also a wonderful time. Even though there was no one around anywhere, our hotels were full. That was undoubtedly the time in our lives when we brought our guests the most joy—simply by inviting them to stay with us and making sure they were well taken care of.
Stéphane: Since we weren’t allowed to serve meals in the common areas, everything was done in the rooms. We sent out a huge number of meals, relying on restaurants that delivered to us. It required constant coordination—a real struggle to get everything out—and it was an extraordinary human experience.
Cécile: In the end, it was that period that gave us a new sense of momentum. Far from being at the end of our careers, we realized that we still had a lot to accomplish, and that we had to keep going. And even then, we could feel our children pushing us forward and cheering us on.
Cécile: For the first time, the lockdown had brought us all together—with children now old enough to understand and share their opinions. From our conversations, one thing became clear. Our family home, purchased in 2006, had watched our children grow up and been the setting for countless memories. But everyone had spread their wings, and it was gradually becoming empty. We needed to give it new meaning, breathe new life into it—and why not turn it into our next establishment? That’s how, in 2023, the project to transform the Domaine de la Jasso was born.
Stéphane: This place is one of a kind. Just 500 meters from the heart of Carcassonne, bordered by the Aude River—which serves as a natural rampart—it offers absolute tranquility amid nine hectares of unspoiled nature, nestled among vineyards, a wooded park, and a small farm. We wanted to turn it into a spacious, welcoming, and deeply family-oriented guesthouse, capable of accommodating an entire group under one roof. A timeless place, both intimate and spacious—just like what we love to offer.
Cécile: We have completely transformed the property, expanding the living space to 900 m² to accommodate up to 27 people, with eleven bedrooms, an indoor pool, and two outdoor pools. The project is based on a hospitality model we had never tried before: renting out the entire estate by the week, year-round.
Stéphane: In light of the boom in Airbnb-style rentals and the popularity of this type of stay, we seized the opportunity—but by offering something that didn’t exist in Carcassonne: an extremely high-end property with exceptional comfort and facilities. We chose to position ourselves well above the market average, with weekly rates that exceed anything else in the area. Once again, this was a significant risk, given that this market segment didn’t exist in Carcassonne until then.
Cécile: Since buying the estate, we’ve gradually built a real animal family—an adventure I’ve pursued with passion. We’ve taken in many abandoned animals that, over time, have reproduced. Today, the estate is home to horses, donkeys, a yak, llamas and alpacas, fallow deer, mouflons, goats and sheep, Vietnamese pigs, ducks, geese, and chickens, all gathered on four hectares in a shaded park where they live together. They bring joy to our guests, young and old alike. It’s a rather unique concept so close to the city, and a cherished feature of the estate.
Stéphane: The grand opening took place in July 2025, following two and a half years of exhausting construction work, complete with its share of delays and contractors backing out. That first season, which was inevitably cut short, was already satisfying, but it wasn’t until 2026—our first full year—that we truly gauged the success of the rental business. Today, La Jasso is, after Carcassonne and Les Remparts, one of the major projects of our lives.
What will our future be like? What will our new life be like?
Today, we divide our time between the Jasso estate and our three establishments in Carcassonne, as well as our hotel in Aigues-Mortes, where we’ve made another part of our lives.
We don’t yet know if—or which of—our children will one day choose to work with us. Maybe. Maybe not. The future remains open.
What we do know is that we have been severely weakened by the COVID crisis, which hit our sector hard. But we held our ground. We persevered. And today, we’re moving forward.
The hardest part now isn’t motivation—that’s still there. It’s funding. In our line of work, to take things further, you need resources, and finding them is a constant challenge. We make a living solely from the fruits of our labor.
The hotel industry is increasingly dominated by investors, pension funds, and the like… Hotels are being treated as speculative assets, just like any other financial asset. It’s no longer about hospitality—it’s become a business.
But we don’t work just to make money. We work because we come alive through every space we create. What drives us is the idea, the atmosphere, and the magic of a new place.
That said, if we don’t make any money, we’ll go under. And even though we have a lot right now, we don’t have any wiggle room. Every new project is a leap of faith, a double-or-nothing gamble. From one day to the next, everything can change.
Today, we’re opening the Domaine de la Jasso to our future guests… and we don’t even know where we’ll be sleeping. The house will soon be full of vacationers, and we’ll just wing it, as always.
So no, we don’t yet know what the future holds for us. But one thing is certain: our desire to create spaces, to envision atmospheres, and to design hotels with soul is stronger than ever.
To be continued…
