These four men are the brains behind one of Europe's trendiest hospitality brands. They set the tone for cocktail bars, mix in restaurants and garnish the result with extravagant hotels.
Once upon a time, there were three 18-year-old boys from France. They organized a New Year's Eve party for their schoolmates. This was accidentally profitable, so the three students took the winnings, tripled them in the casino and treated themselves to a meal in a three-star restaurant. This party night at the end of the 1990s, which for most of the participants ended with nothing more than a veritable hangover, marked the beginning of a new era for the three students. Olivier Bon, Pierre-Charles Cros and Romée De Goriainoff the starting signal for a successful career on the Hospitality sector. Today receives the Experimental Group in its hotels, restaurants, cocktail and wine bars, spas and nightclubs, guests in Paris, New York, London, Ibiza, Menorca, Venice and Verbier - and it is with Xavier Padovani has been enriched by a fourth member.
In between, of course, there were several milestones that had to be passed, including the founding of the first own restaurant. The time had come in 2007, when the "Experimental Cocktail Club" in a small Paris Side street. As passionate fans of the Craft Cocktail CultureThey immediately knew the path they wanted to take with their bar concept, and they focused on ingredients from small producers and seasonality. They focused on ingredients from small producers, uncompromising quality and seasonality. The result not only satisfied their own demands - it also met the spirit of the times. Paris Partycrowd.
For while in the metropolises of this world one can already look to upscale mixology the French capital was surprisingly underdeveloped when it came to liquid pleasure: Coke with a shot of rum still passed for a cocktail back then. The young men worked hard. They taught themselves what there was to know, stood behind the bar, did the service, and stayed after closing time to clean up. In 2010, Xavier Padovani joined them and turned the trio into a quartet. The group also continued to develop from an entrepreneurial point of view: The "Experimental Cocktail Club" in Paris was joined by other bars, restaurants and as a Pièce de Résistance finally added its first own hotel in 2015.
Your dream location for the "Grand Pigalle Hôtel"They found it in the ninth arrondissement on the corner of rue Victor-Massé and rue Henry Monnier. Instead of comprehensive location analyses, the entrepreneurs relied on their gut feeling. "There has to be a strong attachment to the destination, to a place that is close to our hearts and that has character," Pierre-Charles Cros explains the choice of location in an interview - and the result proves them right. Other hotel openings followed in quick succession: the "Henrietta Hotel" in Covent Garden (2017), the "Experimental Chalet Verbier" (2018), the "Hôtel des Grand Boulevards" (2018), "Il Palazzo Experimental" in Venice (2019), the "Menorca Experimental Hotel" (2019) and the "Gran Hotel Montesol" in Ibiza (2021). Nevertheless, it would be wrong to speak of a chain, because the success of the Experimental Group - the owners are sure - lies in the individuality of the individual houses.
Each of them reflects the history of its building and brings the vibe of the neighborhood inside the guest rooms and public areas. Thus, the original substance of the Venetian palazzo, which is now enjoying its resurrection as a "Il Palazzo Experimental" celebrates, preserved. The stripes, which serve as decorative elements, are a reference to the history of the gondoliers, while the beautiful terrazzo floor is a nod to the Italian architect Carlo Scarpa is. The situation is similar with the other hotels, such as the "Menorca Experimental": Private nooks, a spa, rooms some of which have their own plunge pool, and earth tones give the feeling of having landed in a Spanish artist's vacation dream. "We extract the personality of a place," says Cros, describing the development process - and it always starts with a blank slate.
The interior is always designed by the French interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon responsible. Often playful, colorful, not fitting into a pigeonhole: this is how the result of their work presents itself. This, in turn, is the result of close collaboration with Bon, Cros, De Goriainoff and Padovani. Olivier Bon in particular demonstrates his eye for detail time and again - from the light bulb to the bottles of local rarities in the minibar, he prefers to select each object personally. Otherwise, together with Xavier Padovani, he mainly takes care of the marketing measures and social media appearances of all the Outlets , the Experimental Group.
Padovani also likes to get involved with his Dear Sync and corrections by n17t01 Spirits De Goriainoff, on the other hand, is considered to be a Coffee and wine connoisseur of the group. Cros is often seen in one of the Kitchenswhere he works together with the bosses, primarily to find out which tools could make their work easier. All four feel that working so closely with friends is a great enrichment - and also one of the group's greatest strengths. It's no secret that the Experimental Group still has a lot of plans. Nor is it a secret what it will continue with: hotels. "We've got something going and we love what we do," Pierre- Charles Cros said recently when asked about the next steps.
Grand Pigalle Hôtel, Paris
Opened in 2015 in the ninth arrondissement. grandpigalle.com
Hôtel des Grands Boulevards, Paris
50 rooms in a historic property. grandsboulevardshotel.com
Il Palazzo Experimental, Venice
32 rooms on the Canale della Giudecca. palazzoexperimental.com
Henrietta Hotel, London
Located in the middle of Covent Garden, 40 individual rooms. henriettahotel.com
Experimental Chalet, Verbier
Alpine chic at the legendary ski resort. experimentalchalet.com
Menorca Experimental
43 rooms, nine with their own plunge pool, in arenovated finca. menorcaexperimental.com
Gran Hotel Montesol, Ibiza
33 rooms in a historic property. granhotelmontesolibiza.com
