Stéphane Durand
The Assas Hotels tribe, stopovers between sea and mountains
Discover the 3 signature hotels of the Assas Hotels tribe
Romain Trollet is not the type to have his head in the clouds. Having restored mountain hospitality to its former glory, he and his brother Julien are now tackling our sunny beaches and coasts. Their only watchword: conviviality.
The mountains win you over. This could be the mantra of Romain Trollet, founder of Assas Hotels, which today owns nine establishments in various French white paradises, and five other addresses, including the hotel du square Louvois, in Paris. It was in Paris, after graduating from the École Hôtelière de Lausanne in 2002, that he learned the hotel trade at Le Millésime and the Hôtel d'Aubusson.
Preferring the mildness of the Alps to the coldness of the Paris ring road, he returned to the mountains in 2007, joining the Hôtel des Aiglons in Chamonix and the Aigle des Neiges in Val d'Isère.
He decided to strike out on his own in 2011 by founding Assas Hotels, convinced that the mountain hotel industry needed to modernize. In 2013, he built the impressive Heliopic hotel in Chamonix.
Keen to offer quality services for all budgets, he also founded the Rocky Pop collection of modern inns and boutique hotels, the latest of which in Grenoble offers both penthouse and dormitory rooms for under €30.
Romain Trollet's goal? To climb the mountains of the hotel business, and perhaps even sit at the top.
Attributes of the Assas Hotels tribe
"People who come on vacation to the mountains want above all to relax and share memorable moments," says Romain, who now lives in Chamonix. "Hotels are no longer just places to sleep. Having a nice room doesn't create value; you have to offer more."
So he designs unique places where guests are welcomed into huge lobbies, where they can relax in exceptional spas, sing karaoke, play a game of bocce, order a pizza, read in the library, listen to music, or play video games. Guests are offered Italian ice cream in the summer and crepes in the winter: the kind of little touches that build loyalty among those who return with undisguised pleasure.
Receiving guests as graciously as if they were part of the family isn't all that strange for Romain Trollet, since he has entrusted the reins of several of his Paris establishments to his brother, Julien, who has just moved to the South of France to open the group's latest address (Villa Camille), while overseeing the Rocky Pop brand of hotels.
This is what we call family spirit.
For whom: Groups of friends and large families in need of space and disconnection, as well as lovers of conviviality.
Assas Hotel's three signature addresses
Heliopic Hotel & Spa, Chamonix
A huge chalet stands at the foot of the Aiguille du Midi. A wooden vessel containing 102 rooms and a lobby of almost 1800m2. You'll have to navigate blindly, letting yourself be carried away by its flood of originality.
On the program: a reading room, a games room, an alcove for listening to music, an XXL chess set and a bar with a bird's-eye view of the swimming pool. All the ingredients for a pleasant stay in this four-star hotel.
Interior designer Leslie Gauthier has created a retro/vintage 50s atmosphere, with a modern twist using noble, muted materials, leaving the garish colors for the surrounding ski slopes.
While the Frometon restaurant is an ode to mountain cheese, selected by Pierre Gay, fromager affineur, meilleur ouvrier de France, the menu also features the succulent cuisine of Julien Binet, whose Akashon restaurant concocts exceptional local products, such as Suprême de pintade fermière rôtiée à l'estragon (farmhouse guinea fowl supreme roasted with tarragon).
Night from 159€.
L'Heliopic Hotel & Spa
610 Route Blanche
74 400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
Photos DR
Villa Camille, Banyuls-Sur-Mer
This Belle Epoque villa, dating from 1888, is home to the latest address of the Assas group. The Villa Camille opened to the public this spring, just a stone's throw from the Spanish border, on the seafront in the heart of the city. As is often the case for the hotel group, Leslie Gauthier has been entrusted with the decoration of the 42 rooms, creating a composition that blends classicism and old-fashioned bourgeois decor, including old-fashioned charm. In doing so, she pays homage to the style of Danish architect Viggo Dorph-Petersen, the builder of this villa, a popular architect at the time who left his mark on the Pyrénées Orientales, bringing a Bavarian touch to the region's homes. In addition to the shaded bar, set up like a guinguette in the courtyard, the restaurant offers Mediterranean cuisine, mixing local specialities with the chef's inventions in the large dining room, in a boarding house spirit.
We remain under the spell of the hotel's Nuxe Spa, which includes an indoor pool open to the outdoors, as well as an impressive ice grotto, ideal for cooling your spirits after a hot visit to the sauna. A moment of relaxation that ends on one of the sunbeds in the solarium, comfortably installed on the pool's roof-top, offering an unbeatable view of the port of this discreet, charming town, the birthplace of the sculptor Maillol, which is well worth a visit.
Overnight stay from 150€.
Villa Camille Hotel & Spa
11 avenue Pierre Fabre
66 650 Banyuls-sur-Mer
Photos DR
RockyPop, Grenoble
By creating the RockyPop brand, Romain Trollet proves that a hotel can combine comfort and affordable prices, without forgetting to keep its quirky spirit, since Rocky is obviously a tribute to the hero who wasn't afraid to punch. No need to put on boxing gloves to visit this 109-room city hotel, even if the gym is fully equipped.
However, we prefer to have a virtual brawl on the arcade game terminals available, before making up in song in a room specially fitted out for karaoke.
Duos, superior, family rooms or penthouses accommodating up to 12 people: all configurations are possible in this hotel, inaugurated in 2022, which has since become the model for future openings of this brand as offbeat as it is surprising.
Nightfrom 90€.
RockyPop Grenoble
9-11 Rue de Strasbourg
38 000 Grenoble
Photos DR
