The 21 Foch, a "micro hotel" in a big mansion

Le "21 Foch", un nouvel établissement membre de la chaîne internationale Chateaux and Hotels Collection, vient tout juste d'ouvrir ses portes. Les débuts sont prometteurs pour Thomas Couet, le responsable des lieux dont les premiers clients sont venus du monde entier. L'esprit de cet ancienne maison de maître semble avoir rejailli sur le service que le "21 Foch" veut apporter à ses hôtes qui doivent se sentir dans un hôtel... particulier.

Opened 15 days ago, the "21 Foch" has taken a good start. "The first week we were already full. We took benefit from the latest Salon du végétal which led to us customers from England, Nederlands and Russia", says the hotel manager, Thomas Couet. The "21 Foch" is a result of a long project Mr. Couet, nevertheless young, had in mind. "Visiting Ireland, a country where I lived, I stumbled upon charming hotels in the countryside. I felt there like at home. So I got the idea to do the same in France. I want the guests do not feel they are in a hotel in the 21 Foch".


Thomas, visited the place thanks to Pascal Favre d'Anne, chef of the Angers eponym retaurant, a first star of the Michelin guide, he met by chance 18 months ago."I had the project but not the place. He knew the place but had not the project", remembers Mr. Couet. After ten months of works, that former mansion (600 m2) empty for ten years but with an old-faschioned character, is become a "micro hotel" (14 rooms), but top of the range. The "21 Foch" is opened 24 hours a day and is equipped with cable television, strong box, room service, wifi, internet terminal, high-flow and lift, that one soon adorned with trompe-l'oeil paintings. "We had a lot of work at the very beginning and some details have to be adjusted. Within a few weeks, all wil be set up".

From the windows, the customers have in view the green ribbon of the tramway. Thanks to the 21 Foch, and later the new commercial gallery the Conseil général is building, the boulevard should find again a new balance. The establishment, visible on Facebook and member of the Chateaux and Hotels Collection, a 600 members chain in 16 countries, run by Alain Ducasse, an internationally recognized chef, will be officially inaugurated at the end of March. "I don't want it like a bash", warns Thomas Couet. And moreover, the future Angers mayor is not known.