3 questions for Alexandre Gély
Since when has the independent hotel cooperative Best Western France been offering the myWO coworking concept, and why did it choose to do so?
Alexandre Gély: The project was ready in 2019, but Covid meant we could only roll it out from April 2021 onwards. It was first introduced in 25 hotels across the Best Western France network and is now available in all 334 of our properties. We believed coworking could raise the profile of our hotels and encourage outside customers to walk through the door — and that is exactly what happened. myWO has proved to be both a visibility driver and a source of profitability.
“Since rolling out myWO across the network, the turnover generated via the website has doubled,” says Alexandre Gély, Head of Strategic Projects at Best Western France.
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What is the myWO?
Alexandre Gély: The myWO concept consists of offering flexible, hybrid workspaces within our hotels for mobile workers, remote workers and business meetings. The aim is also to offer meeting room rental via our online platform, using the meeting spaces available in our hotels.
As all our hotels are different, no two myWO spaces are the same. Some can host as few as four people, while others can accommodate around thirty. Some are set up in a lobby or lounge, others in a breakfast room… Opening hours also vary from one hotel to another. That said, they all share a number of common features: access to comfortable, well-designed spaces (quality furniture, natural light, an abundance of power sockets, as well as a sweet and savoury snacking offer), along with a range of hotel services such as bars, restaurants, spas, fitness rooms and meeting rooms.
Our true added value lies in the quality of the welcome and service that comes from the hotel expertise of the Best Western network, ensuring an experience that is both professional and warm.
Do the results achieved with myWO — particularly in terms of turnover — encourage you to continue developing the brand?
Alexandre Gély: Since rolling out myWO across the network, the turnover generated via the website has doubled. And that accounts for only 25% of the total revenue generated by coworking. More broadly, myWO has now become a genuine driver of visibility and revenue generation for our properties. This momentum is notably reinforced by the online presence of each space, with a dedicated Google My Business listing that helps increase its local attractiveness. These results have encouraged us to develop myWO in Italy: since July 2025, 25 Best Western hotels in Italy have each been offering a coworking space.
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