Since the covid-19 pandemic, tourist numbers at the La Roche Posay spa resort have never returned to their former levels. A drop in tourism from which certain hotels are directly affected. On December 18, it was the company to which Les Loges du Parc belonged which was placed in liquidation. For the moment, the four-star hotel will not reopen in 2025.
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A small earthquake in the spa resort of La Roche-Posay. Three of its hotels will not reopen in 2025 and among them, Les Loges du Parc, a four-star establishment. Within the community, it is a real heartbreak. “I have always known this hotel which is a very beautiful establishment, I find it very sad“, reacts Colette, a resident, on the market square.
Owner of these hotels, the company La Roche-Posay Hôtellerie was placed in liquidation by the Poitiers commercial court on December 18. If everyone hopes for a buyer, the twenty employees of the four-star hotel remain, for the moment, waiting.
“It hurts everyone, especially the locals. There are too many closures and it's not goodconsiders Jean-Pierre, a resident of the town. Everything worked around thermal cures, but I think that attracts less.” Already at the time of the covid-19 pandemic, it was the Saint-Roch hotel which had to close its doors, also owned by La Roche-Posay Hôtellerie. But hotels are not the only ones affected, businesses and restaurants are gradually closing within the community.
For her part, Valérie Douard, operations manager of the Clos Paillé hotel in La Roche-Posay, assures that even if fewer spa guests come to rent a room, other activities bring tourists.
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However, the municipality's hotel sector wants to remain optimistic. Because the numbers aren't that bad. The La Roche-Posay resorts welcomed 5,050 spa guests in 2024, an increase of more than 7% compared to the previous year. “Everything is going well, we had a successful year. There were no major problems“, assures Valérie Douard, operations manager of the Clos Paillé hotel in La Roche-Posay. According to her, there are indeed fewer spa guests than before, but other activities bring people like the casino, golf or even the racecourse, Valérie Douard does not say she is at all worried.
But for the town hall, the situation remains worrying, because the spa is at the heart of the local economy. If the attendance figures are on the rise, they are far from what they were in 2019, before the pandemic, when 7,052 spa guests came to La Roche-Posay. This differential in affluence is causing the town and its activities to suffer.
In front of the Hôtel des Loges du Parc, the mayor of La Roche-Posay, Yannick Tartarin promises that everything will be done to ensure that the establishment reopens.
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Despite this, the mayor, Yannick Tartarin wants to remain optimistic. Saddened to see an emblematic establishment in difficulty, he still hopes for a buyer for Les Loges du Parc. The mayor promises:All the economic forces present will be able to work with the institutions, so that the Park Lodges reopen in good conditions and as soon as possible.“When contacted, the management of the Hôtel des Loges du Parc did not wish to comment.
