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He is the third generation of his family in this sector, and has spent his last 28 years as a manager. He’s worked on four continents and hosted many statesmen, kings, queens and politicians including Reagan, Carter, Arafat, Rabin and Kohl. He was once decorated by Moroccan King Hassan, though Mr. Chevasson is now happy to be in Ankara, which he defines as a “human city.” In an interview with Today’s Zaman, he discusses his experiences and memories with the same wide smile that always lights his face. “When we are hosting a foreign statesman, president, king or queen, we use three wise monkeys principle [hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil],” says Chevasson.He thinks that big hotels are an integral part of diplomacy in the country in which they are located, precisely why the same hotels should be so aware of their responsibility: “When we host a diplomatic delegation, it is always an honor. We know that we have the responsibility of representing the country hosting the delegation. It is a necessity that you work closely with protocol,” he says.
After many years in the hospitality industry around the world, Mr. Chevasson is new in Turkey, appointed just one month ago. But immediately after his arrival his hotel hosted Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
“It was a real honor for us. For the first time in 50 years a Greek Prime Minster came to Turkey and I had the privilege to say welcome,” Mr. Chevasson says and smiles, actually his smile never disappears.
Keeping quiet
To host foreign diplomatic delegations is not something new for Mr. Chevasson: “Many times in many places I had presidents, queens and kings in the hotels that I worked. As their host you get the chance to know them. Some of them are very nice. However, often their schedules are tight, they travel a lot and there is a lot of pressure on them. You are not there to talk them. So what you have to do is make sure they have everything they need. That’s it. Definitely, you do what you have to do and then you apply the three wise monkeys principle — see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” he says.
But Mr. Chevasson is nonetheless willing to share some of his memories about such statesmen. “I am going to publish my memoirs. Some of them have been published already so I can share,” he says and laughs.
“I was personally decorated by King Hassan [of Morocco],” he recalls.
Mr. Chevasson was in Lisbon then, where King Hassan was a frequent visitor. At that time there were also frequent meetings because of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Arafat and Rabin were in Lisbon, too. Mr. Chevasson was waiting in the lobby to bid farewell to King Hassan, with whom he says he shares many stories. Suddenly two men from the king’s delegation were on his right and left, right in the middle of the lobby. Then a third approached with a velvet cushion. “I see the king approaching, he stops in front of me with a big smile, takes the decoration from the cushion and voila! I was surprised — I couldn’t even ask why. He then said that he had never experienced such quality.”
But some of the stays can be problematic. Once, elsewhere, the hotel was completely booked for an upcoming event, but a statesman wanted to prolong his stay at the hotel. “It was problematic, yes, but he stopped insisting,” says Mr. Chevasson. Sometimes such diplomatic delegations can lead to funny stories, too. Once there was a very important final soccer match, and because of an international meeting the prime ministers of the competing countries’ national teams were staying at the same hotel managed by Mr. Chevasson. One of the countries was certain they would win — they were almost too confident. So they booked the reception rooms before the game to celebrate their victory. But they lost. So the other country’s delegation benefited from all the preparations that were already done for the other country. “They had a great night!” says Mr. Chevasson and smiles again.
He’s hosted many statesmen including Helmut Kohl and Philippe Gonzales, but when he is asked who he would like to have as guest, Mr. Chevasson thinks for a while:
“Some of them are nicer. The Spanish king is a fantastic man. The queen is more distant — very regal. Others were very pleasant as well, for example former US President Clinton. I hosted Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan as well. Though, I think I would like to host Mrs. Clinton,” he says.
Mr. Chevasson believes that those working in the hospitality industry most certainly share points in common with ambassadors, “We do travel a lot and we are more part of a multinational world,” he says.
A family of hoteliers
When asked if he can guess the nationality of a hotel guest just by glancing into a room, he smiles and says “most probably” and gives some clues:
“Maybe there will be a newspaper you will notice, or a certain type of scent because some perfumes are more used in some countries; if you see a couple of clothes; Middle-Eastern ladies use brighter make-up, for example. Also orders from room service, leftover meze mean most probably they’re from the Middle East, a lot of fruit indicates Africans.”
When Frenchman Chevasson is asked what kind of feeling it is to work in this industry yet not to have a “home,” he smiles once more and explains:
“Let me tell you, in our business we are globetrotters. Gypsies, if you like. I was born into a family of hoteliers. My grandfather was the same. I am the third generation, my daughter is the fourth. I have a French father and a Swiss mother. I was born in Spain. My wife is Spanish. My daughter was born in Brazil. My son was born in the Dominican Republic; he now works in Morocco and my daughter works in French Polynesia. We are very global and very open. And the hotel business is all about that. How you welcome people, how you make them happy and comfortable and give them a sense of security. You have to be people driven. If you are not, you are in the wrong job,” he says.
Mr. Chevasson was educated in Switzerland in the ’60s, and thinks that behind each guest there is a psychological case: “Some of them are nice, some of them already had problems for some reason,” he says and explains:
“You never know how from check-in until later in the stay how they may change. You see a very nice guy, very friendly, who checks in in the morning — the same guest comes back and shouts at everybody later. You don’t know why. Maybe he is a businessman who had a bad day, it does not mean he is like that,” he says.
According to him, the most difficult case for hotels is often the guests they call “frustrated actors.” “They are pretenders, they try to show off beyond their means — the ‘don’t you know who I am’ type,” he says.
According to Mr. Chevasson, of course the guests have some expectations and the hotels should fulfill them, but there are certain types of people who simply can’t be satisfied.
When he was working in Tanzania there was a guest who made trouble with every stay. Before his next check in, Mr. Chevasson and his staff even held a meeting to discuss what they could do to make him happier. But after only five minutes at the hotel, the guest complained that the windows wouldn’t open. They tried to explain to him that this was their policy in order to keep the mosquitoes away. But the guest said that he had claustrophobia. Then Mr. Chevasson reminded him that he had just arrived from London after an 11-hour flight and asked him if he demanded they open the windows of the plane because of his claustrophobia.
“It was done. We never heard a single complaint again,” he says and smiles.
Working in Turkey
Mr. Chevasson has spent the last 28 years of his career as a general manager in Lisbon, Mexico, Tanzania, Brazil, Moscow, Spain and Egypt. He didn’t specifically request to be appointed to Turkey, he explains. That is their job; they are offered some place and if they don’t want to, they are able to decline. But he is happy to have been appointed here. His son had worked in Turkey, and he spoke about it very positively. “My son is a very good ambassador for your country,” he says. His wife also visited Turkey once and said, “We have to go there,” so personally he wanted to come to Turkey.
He says the city is less important to him than the hotel and staff. He is new in Ankara and has not yet had much of a chance to visit, but he thinks that Ankara is a “human city.” He explains: “In some cities people go straight to their suburban homes and the city center is empty. In Ankara the center is alive. I haven’t yet seen the whole city, but so far what I have seen that most of the houses are three or four floors, with greenery and nearby shops for everything — it is very human and beautiful. In many places in Europe you have to drive just to go and buy bread; it is not normal,” he says.
Mr. Chevasson adds that maybe there is not much sightseeing in Ankara, and perhaps it is not a city that you would plan to spend a weekend in — but this might change if some culture were to be brought to the city. He gives the example of Barcelona, which is, according to him, the best city for a weekend trip in Europe. He recalls that after the 1992 Olympic Games there everything declined; tourism, business, etc. “So they said we have to do something. And they started to move cultural events to Barcelona. Now everybody wants to go there,” he says.
Mr. Chevasson thinks that it is too early to comment on the Turkish services sector, but there are certain things that have impressed him:
“It is clean, it is nice and the people are cautious. If you smile at them they smile back. But their first instinct is not to smile — they are wary. I impressed that people are so clean in their work and that they know what they do. I have not explored Turkey, but what I have seen here is better than many places in Europe because the services industry in some places is considered a degrading industry. People don’t want to serve others, but here people proud of what they do. Plenty of young people willingly learn; it is a pleasure. I enjoy working here because of that,” he says.
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