The essence of our business is to be human-connected
Since 1954, Relais & Châteaux has built its identity on the quiet conviction that true luxury is not accumulated but experienced — in a meal, a view, a moment of genuine human care. Under president Laurent Gardinier, the 580-property collection is now navigating the tensions of a changing world: the pull toward growth against the discipline of scarcity, the promise of technology against the irreducibility of human warmth, and the ambition of sustainability against the complexity of a global footprint. His strategy is less a plan for expansion than a philosophy of preservation — of standards, of memory, of the kind of travel that leaves something lasting behind.
- A luxury hospitality world hungry for scale meets a president whose defining instinct is restraint — Relais & Châteaux holds firm at 580 properties across 65 countries, with no appetite for mass growth.
- The path to membership runs through roughly 600 criteria and anonymous inspections, a gauntlet that has admitted only four Australian properties and that Gardinier defends without apology.
- A carbon-neutral target of 2040 sounds clear until you account for the gap between a lodge in Botswana and a château in Normandy — the organization is building individual sustainability tools for each member to bridge that divide.
- Rail affiliations in Europe and a new Singapore office signal careful geographic ambition, while AI is watched not as a threat to hospitality itself but as a disruptor of how guests find their way to it.
- Gardinier's own clock is ticking — his first five-year term ends next year, and whether he seeks renewal or returns to his Champagne hotel, the collection he has shaped will carry the imprint of his measured hand.
Laurent Gardinier came to the presidency of Relais & Châteaux in 2023 carrying seventeen years of board experience, co-ownership of a Champagne hotel and a Paris restaurant, and a studied belief that excellence and scarcity are inseparable. The collection he leads — 580 independently operated hotels and restaurants across 65 countries — was founded in France in 1954 with eight countryside properties. It has grown carefully since, and Gardinier intends to keep it that way. Membership demands roughly 600 criteria and multiple anonymous inspections. In Australia, only four properties have passed that test. "If you don't meet the criteria, you simply won't be included," he says, without softening the point.
Over two decades with the organization, Gardinier has watched luxury travel migrate from the ownership of things toward the ownership of moments — memories made with family, meals that linger, views that stay with you. Relais & Châteaux, he argues, has always been in that business. The shift in consumer appetite has simply brought the wider world around to its way of thinking.
Sustainability is the collection's most complex ambition. A 2040 carbon-neutral target is set, but Gardinier is clear-eyed about the difficulty: a remote property in Botswana and a Norwegian fjord hotel operate under entirely different environmental realities. The organization has built individual carbon measurement tools for each member, created guest-facing sustainability scores, established an internal commission, and signed a charter with UNESCO — a distinction no other hospitality group holds. Still, Gardinier acknowledges the inherent tension when guests fly across continents to reach a property committed to treading lightly.
New territory beckons carefully. A sailing superyacht joined the collection three years ago, and rail is next — discussions are underway in Europe to affiliate a train with Relais & Châteaux, though Gardinier places that horizon at three to four years out. More immediately, a new Singapore office is driving expansion across Southeast Asia. On artificial intelligence, his position is grounded: the smile at the front desk, the smell of a garden, the quality of a plate will always outrank an algorithm. What AI will change, he concedes, is how guests discover these places in the first place — and the industry must stay visible in that shifting landscape.
Gardinier's own tenure is bounded by design — a maximum of two five-year terms, with the first ending next year. Whether he seeks renewal or steps back to his own property in Champagne, he leaves little doubt that hospitality, in its most human form, is where he will always return.
Laurent Gardinier sits at the helm of one of the world's most exclusive hospitality collections, a position that requires equal parts diplomacy and conviction. The president of Relais & Châteaux—a network of 580 independently operated hotels and restaurants spread across 65 countries—carries the weight of maintaining a brand built on scarcity and excellence. He studied business and politics in Paris, spent 17 years on the organization's board before his election as president in 2023, and still co-owns a boutique hotel in Champagne and a celebrated Paris restaurant. Spinning plates, he admits, is in his DNA.
When Relais & Châteaux was founded in France in 1954, it began with eight countryside properties between Paris and Nice. Seven decades later, the collection has grown to nearly 600 members worldwide, yet Gardinier is unequivocal: there will be no mass expansion. Entry remains brutally selective. Prospective members face roughly 600 criteria and multiple visits from anonymous inspectors. In Australia, only four properties have earned membership—Laura at Pt Leo Estate on the Mornington Peninsula, Salt Water Restaurant on Lizard Island, Lizard Island Resort, and the recently added Sequoia Lodge in the Adelaide Hills. Gardinier doesn't apologize for the exclusivity. "If you don't meet the criteria, you simply won't be included," he says. The brand's reputation depends on it.
Over his two decades with the organization, Gardinier has witnessed a fundamental shift in how people experience luxury. The movement is no longer toward tangible possessions but toward emotional ones—toward memories, toward time with family and friends. "Everyone says consumption of luxury products is strong, but the new way of experiencing luxury is through hospitality," he explains. This pivot, he believes, explains much of Relais & Châteaux's success. It is, after all, what the collection has always been about.
Sustainability sits at the center of the organization's future. Gardinier has set a target of carbon neutrality by 2040, but he is careful to distinguish ambition from naïveté. The challenge lies in measuring and managing vastly different environmental contexts—a property in Botswana operates under entirely different carbon constraints than one in Norway. To address this, Relais & Châteaux has built carbon measurement tools for each member and created a sustainability score visible to guests, showing efforts like reduced single-use plastics and seasonal sourcing. Behind the scenes, the organization has established a sustainability commission and signed a charter with UNESCO, making it the only hospitality organization to hold such an agreement. Yet Gardinier acknowledges the paradox: a remote property with guests flying from distant continents carries a larger global footprint than its local operations alone suggest. Sustainability, he insists, must be tailored to each member's individual circumstances.
The collection is also eyeing new frontiers. Three years ago, a three-masted sailing superyacht called Le Ponant became a Relais & Châteaux member, expanding the brand beyond land-based hospitality. Rail is next on the horizon. Gardinier confirms discussions are underway in Europe to affiliate a train with the collection, though he tempers expectations: "It's not a reality that will be achieved before three to four years." In the near term, the organization is focusing on Southeast Asia, having recently opened a permanent office in Singapore to drive expansion across the region.
The question of artificial intelligence looms over the industry, but Gardinier places it in perspective. "We place the smile of the team at the front desk, the quality of food, smell of a garden and view when you open the curtain over AI," he says. The essence of Relais & Châteaux is human connection, and that will not change. What will shift, he acknowledges, is how guests discover and plan their stays. Search algorithms and AI-driven recommendations are already bypassing traditional hospitality channels, and the industry must adapt to remain visible. Overtourism presents another looming challenge. As major countries open their borders to travelers from China, India, and beyond, small towns and historic sites risk being overwhelmed. Preserving the quality of experience while managing sustainability requires careful control—something Gardinier sees as essential to the collection's future.
As for his own trajectory, Gardinier was elected for a five-year term with the possibility of a second five-year renewal, capping his tenure at a decade. Next year marks the end of his first term, and he will decide whether to seek re-election. Either way, he plans to return to his property in the hospitality industry. It is, after all, in his DNA.
Citações Notáveis
If you don't meet the criteria, you simply won't be included.— Laurent Gardinier, on Relais & Châteaux's selective membership policy
The new way of experiencing luxury is through hospitality. It's an emotional one where memories and being with family and friends are more important than a tangible asset.— Laurent Gardinier, on the shift in luxury travel
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
You've built this organization around the idea that exclusivity is a feature, not a bug. How do you sleep at night turning away properties that might be excellent by any other standard?
Because the moment you compromise on criteria, you've already lost what makes the collection valuable. We're not a hotel chain trying to maximize rooms under management. We're a curation. The four properties in Australia—they're there because they genuinely embody what we stand for. That selectivity is the entire promise to our guests.
But doesn't that create a kind of gatekeeping problem? Doesn't it exclude entire regions from ever being part of something prestigious?
It does, and that's a real tension. But consider it differently: we're not saying Australian hospitality is poor. We're saying that the specific DNA of Relais & Châteaux—a certain philosophy about how to operate—doesn't align with many properties there. That's not a judgment on quality. It's a statement about fit. And honestly, many Australians discover the world through our collection anyway, even if they're not members.
You're targeting carbon neutrality by 2040. That's ambitious. But you're also talking about expanding into rail, opening Singapore offices. Doesn't growth contradict sustainability?
Not if you're intentional about it. We're not growing the number of properties significantly. We're growing presence in regions where demand exists and where we can find properties that meet our standards. And rail, for instance—that's potentially more sustainable than air travel for many guests. The expansion isn't about volume. It's about being where our guests want to experience us.
You mentioned that luxury has shifted from owning things to experiencing moments. Do you worry that shift is temporary? That it could reverse?
I don't know how long it will last, honestly. But I've watched this industry for 20 years, and this is the biggest evolution I've seen. People are choosing memories over possessions. That's not a marketing trend—that's a genuine change in what people value. And if it does shift again, we're built to adapt. We've been around since 1954. We know how to evolve.
What keeps you up at night more—AI disrupting how people find you, or overtourism destroying the places you operate in?
Both, but differently. AI doesn't scare me for what we do—the human connection, the quality. It scares me for visibility. We have to monitor how people search, how they plan. But overtourism? That's existential. If Venice becomes unlivable, if small French villages are overwhelmed, the experience itself dies. That's the real challenge ahead.