Jean-Luc Naret is a French hotelier specialized in luxury hospitality. He was previously

Directeur Général A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

, a famous annual publication featuring a three-star rating of international gourmet restaurants. He managed many luxury hotels worldwide and used to be CEO of La Reserve Hotels in Europe. He founded his consultancy in 2019.

Biography

Naret was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, in 1961. He studied hospitality at Ecole Hoteliere Jean Drouant (Paris) from 1976 to 1979. At the age of 21, he started working in the

Venice Simplon Orient Express The ''Venice Simplon-Orient-Express'' (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond Limited, Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and ...

and soon became Train manager. In the following years, he took on further responsibilities in the hotel business, from manager to managing director and CEO of hotels and palaces such as: Hôtel Le Bristol Paris, the Sandy Lane in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, the Residence on Mauritius, the Trianon Palace in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

and

Sun International Sun International Hotels Limited is a resort hotel chain and casino destination from South Africa created by Sol Kerzner, best known for its Sun City Resort near Rustenburg in the North West Province. Specialising in gaming, hospitality and en ...

's Saint Géran on

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. In 2002–2003, Naret became

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of Operations for

Aga Khan Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim ...

's Serena Hotels and Resorts. Directly reporting to His Highness the Aga Kahn, his missions entailed developing the tourism sector. During that time, Naret launched new projects for the group.

Michelin guides

From 2003 to 2011, Naret was the managing director, then

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, of the

, a series of influential guide books published by the French company

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

for more than a century and that can have dramatic effects on the success of a restaurant. Under his leadership, the guide books and the brand grew internationally, with new destinations and new Michelin Starred Chefs around the world, in particular:

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. The Los Angeles and Las Vegas guides were discontinued after two years following low sales and criticism of the guides for misunderstanding the Los Angeles food scene. Naret in turn stated "the people in Los Angeles are not real foodies. They are not too interested in eating well but just in who goes to which restaurant and where they sit.".

Since Michelin

In 2021, he was appointed CEO at The Set Collection, a collection of luxury hotels around the globe. After Michelin, he became the CEO of La Reserve Hotels & Spas in Paris,

Ramatuelle Ramatuelle (; Provençal: ''Ramatuela'') is a commune in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2016, it had a population of 2,077. History Ramatuelle lies near St-Tropez, Sainte-Maxime and Gassi ...

, Zurich and

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. Since 2019, he founded ''JLN & Co – Creative Minds'', a consultancy specialized in luxury lifestyle. He regularly speaks at events worldwide on the topics of hospitality and high-quality restaurants. In 2007, Naret was presented with the highest civilian distinction in France,

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, for his contribution to the travel industry.Asia Tatler: Jean-Luc Naret of La Réserve
(November 2, 2007, visited July 1, 2021)

References

External links

Authors@Google: Jean-Luc Naret
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naret, Jean-Luc Living people French food writers 1961 births