Find more about our family resorts in the South of France

It all started with a couple!

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.

Our Passion

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.

Our Beginnings:

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.

“Hôtel Octroi: The Courage to Grow”

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.

“Get some fresh air, reconnect with customers”

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.

Improving Ourselves

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.

“Our Departure from Aigues-Mortes”

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.

Breathing new life into our family home

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 : Today, the changes taking place in the hotel industry are impossible to ignore. Following the Covid crisis and then the property market downturn, many investors turned their attention to hospitality, leading to the emergence of large groups treating hotels purely as a business.

Cécile : For us, hospitality has never simply been a business. It is our passion and our profession. We don’t see it as a way of making money, but as an opportunity to continue growing and evolving in a field that genuinely inspires us.

Stéphane : Yet the kind of hospitality we believe in, and the concepts we create, are gradually disappearing in favour of hotels that may be attractive, but are managed by large corporate groups. Often appealing properties, certainly, but lacking that personal, family-run approach, that charm, refinement and elegance which matter so much to us.

Cécile : This is precisely what makes us want to persevere and continue offering the kind of hospitality we have always believed in. As time goes by, it is increasingly what sets us apart.

Stéphane : But we have to move forward sensibly, still without substantial financial resources of our own. Each new project requires such a significant investment that we must wait many years, ensuring everything is running smoothly, before we can even consider the next one.

Stéphane : The trouble is, time is passing and we are getting older. We therefore need to move faster. This is where Louis plays a decisive role. Working in this very field, he has already built a strong network and has a thorough understanding of the investment world. He is the one encouraging us to take this new direction, towards more ambitious growth, by introducing us to financial partners who can help us move forward more quickly.

Our Vision for the Grand Hôtel

Stéphane : Currently rated three stars, the hotel is destined to become a five-star establishment, the first in the resort. Valloire currently offers mainly two- and three-star hotels, aparthotels and numerous holiday apartments. That is precisely what excites us: creating a kind of hotel that doesn’t yet exist in Valloire.

Stéphane : We don’t want a stuffy or overly formal hotel, nor somewhere that feels rigid and lifeless. We want hospitality driven by passion, relaxed and vibrant, remaining true to the spirit of the village.

Cécile : At the heart of the project will be an enormous bar opening onto a panoramic terrace, alongside spacious, intimate lounges, covering 400 square metres in total. There will also be an all-day restaurant, where guests can enjoy food at any hour in a relaxed atmosphere, and a 300-square-metre spa with an indoor swimming pool. It is an entirely new concept for the resort, and that is what excites us most.

Stéphane :The hotel will have 43 guest rooms, together with 26 staff bedrooms accommodating around forty members of our team on site, an essential benefit when working in the mountains.

Cécile : We will bring to Valloire the concept we have developed in our other properties. Our guests often move from one hotel to another without even realising that we are behind them all, yet they invariably recognise the same distinctive atmosphere. The interiors may change, but the spirit will remain.

Stéphane : What excites us most is introducing a concept that doesn’t yet exist here. We believe in it wholeheartedly, while remaining fully aware of the risks and knowing that nothing can be taken for granted. Our ambition isn’t to overshadow anyone, but to create an experience that enriches what the resort already has to offer.