As investor at Colony Capital, Sébastien Bazin kept Accor’s leadership on its toes. Now as Accor’s CEO he hopes to deliver results.

　　As a major investor, Sébastien Bazin didn’t need a magnifying glass to see Accor’s beauty and warts. As the chairman and CEO of the company since August, the 52-year-old France native is determined to eliminate the blemishes once and for all.

　　His first step was to split the company into two divisions—HotelServices and HotelInvest—to separate its operating and franchising business from its real-estate ownership activity. During an exclusive interview during the International Hotel Investment Forum earlier this month, Bazin said the need to dissect the company was clear.

　　"Since we’ve been doing the numbers … we are not only as good, we’re better than many of the U.S. peers, so nothing to be ashamed of,” Bazin said. “Unfortunately, I just cannot say the same thing about HotelInvest. We’re lagging. We’re not bad; we just have to fix it. It’s going to take the group two to three years to be at the level of the other hotel investors.”

　　The affable leader said he knows there are risks involved in making such a bold move—a move that clearly reversed a previous decision by Accor to de-emphasize real-estate ownership.

　　"If you go that way, you have to prove to the guys internally, prove to my investors, prove to my clients that the minute you endorse those two sets of competences, you make those very transparent,” Bazin said. “Whatever reporting numbers you’re going to be giving to people, people have to understand that HotelServices is a(n) InterContinental (Hotels Group), Marriott (International) lookalike, apple-to-apple, including margins—so operating numbers should be better or equal levels of the U.S. peers.”

　　He said the HotelInvest division is a return- and balance-sheet driven operation while HotelServices is profit-and-loss driven. “(We have to) make sure that HotelInvest is going to be reporting numbers in exactly the same (way as) Host (Hotels & Resorts), (Hospitality Properties Trust) any European (real estate investment trust). This is a cost to basically be efficient.”

　　The HotelServices division encompasses 3,576 hotels and 461,719 rooms operating under Accor’s 14 brands. The HotelInvest division comprises the 1,387 hotels that the company owns or manages via leases. The 278 hotels owned by Accor generated 54% of the company’s net operating income in 2014, according to the company.

　　Shout it from the rooftops

　　Explaining the company’s new structure is an important element for its future growth, Bazin said.

　　"Accor, as big as it is—and it’s a very big company—it’s misunderstood because we haven’t done enough pedagogy with telling people exactly what we do best and why we are different from the others because we are indeed very different from our U.S. peers,” he said.

　　Bazin described Accor as French, global (but not present in America) with 14 brands in 93 countries and a major investor in its own hotel brands.

　　"Let’s explain to people and the guest why we are different and why we should be remaining different,” Bazin said.

　　As the CEO, principal and managing director of Europe at Colony Capital, Bazin had long been a thorn in Accor’s side. Bloomberg in 2009 detailed a trail of hard knocks at Paris-based Accor—a trail blazed by Bazin. Colony Capital has interests in 29 hotel-related investments, including Accor.

　　With the move to the helm of Accor, Bazin has given employees three metrics to gauge its success for investors, guests and employees:

　　Agility: “Agility means make things simple for you, understand what people want you to do, and basically have the agility to adapt, react, be proactive, don’t be a spectator,” Bazin said.

　　Clarity: “Whenever you make a decision, make the decision on established facts,” he said. “Understand the environment in which you operate. You may be making the wrong bet, but at least you made the right bet on the existing facts.”

　　Accountability: “When you are agile, when you have a clarified decision-making process, be accountable for your decision,” Bazin said. “I know whenever you do projections, it’s going to be varying. … But at least when you look back in the mirror, understand the mistake you’ve been making.”

　　Bazin said he visited hotels in 25 countries during the first three months on the job to get a feel for what employees experienced.

　　"I was stunned with the experience, the intelligence and the attachment to Accor,” he said. “I know today that with what we’re going to be conducting as our plan I can rely on that many individuals with only one objective, which is to get Accor stronger.”