A ROYAL TEA WORTHY OF ROYALTY, or how to create high-end luxury experiences

As immersive experience creators, we sell our services to a wide variety of people, whether businesses, institutions or private clients, each with their own very specific requests that we must satisfy perfectly. This has taught us to be very adaptable, very quickly. And nothing demands as much adaptability as the luxury market.

Two years ago, we entered into a partnership with Secret Journeys, a Paris-based company that creates high-end private tourist experiences for a wealthy clientele; we provide them with professional actors with an in-depth knowledge of History to add a touch of immersion to some of their historical tours so their clients can, for example, meet Gustave Eiffel while climbing his tower.

Impressed by the quality of our offerings and the talent of our artists, Philippe, CEO of Secret Journeys, quickly had another ambitious idea: to create a partnership with a 5-star hotel in Versailles and offer a unique immersive tourist experience to their prestigious clients. And it so happened that we already had the perfect experience for such an enterprise: an intimate hour-and-a-half meeting with the most famous Queen of France and one of her favorites!

The Audition

We were very excited to adapt our Royal Tea to such a luxurious setting - the hotel, imbued with 18th-century luxury and whose staff is dressed in period costumes, would offer an unmatched level of immersion and allow participants to truly feel like they were having tea in the Palace of Versailles, which would be virtually impossible in any other setting!

We were convinced we belonged ... but we still had to convince the hotel. So we arranged an audition so that the manager and key staff members could participate in the experience and see our skills for themselves.

At the time, we were not yet accustomed to this level of luxury and I won't lie in saying we were all quite intimidated by the splendor of the hotel. While our actresses changed in one of their private lounges, calming their nerves with the delicious macarons scattered throughout the hotel, we wondered if our costumes were beautiful enough, if our custom board game looked too amateurish, if we all looked chic enough to convince them that we belonged in these walls.

We had no reason to worry. Refined and elegant, sure of their historical knowledge and their charms, our actresses (myself included) won over the hearts of the manager and the hotel operators; by the end of the performance, they were determined to add our experience to their catalog as soon as possible!

The Design

We have always been keenly aware of the need to adapt our experience (already refined) to the luxury market : it had to be both sumptuous and intimate, impressing clients while flattering their ego. Thanks to the hotel, we have access to participants even before the experience begins. We therefore had invitations printed to slip under clients' doors in advance to formally invite them to have tea with the Queen; similarly, we provide a personalized handwritten letter to the hotel after each experience so that it can give this missive from Marie-Antoinette to its clients before the end of their stay.

The hotel also agreed to organize our experience around their 'tea time,' so that guests could enjoy their delicate treats while playing our exclusive goose game with the Queen (more information on our game right here). As we often mention, we always strive to engage all the senses in each of our immersive experiences, and taste and smell are two of the most powerful senses to create lasting memories; being able to engage these senses with such refined pastries and drinks further enhances the immersion!

Finally, so that guests truly feel the importance of this meeting, we decided that the Favorite (the cheeky Duchess of Polignac or the discreet Princess of Lamballe, depending on clients’ preferences) would welcome them before the Queen and teach them the appropriate etiquette; she would also help them create their fictitious identity by having them choose their own fake noble titles. However, we quickly discovered that this introduction would often be superfluous, as you will see later.

A Constant Adaptation

Each Royal Tea we organize is different from the last, each new client being a total surprise to which our actresses must adapt in the blink of an eye. Like the Russian family who wanted Marie-Antoinette to bring a birthday cake ("It's the first time I've carried a plate!" the Queen remarked good-naturedly)... and who then left her standing for over an hour, apparently happy to see her and her favorite serving as a backdrop to their celebration.

Or the Indian aristocrats who had met real kings and queens during their European tour and generously insisted on sharing their sumptuous lunch with our actresses, completely disrupting the flow of our experience!

If we sometimes feel a little overwhelmed, the clients have no idea. The Indian gentleman even momentarily believed that a real Queen of France stood before him, the greatest compliment I could have hoped for!

This brings me back to the fake noble titles the favorite was supposed to help guests choose. It quickly became clear that many of our clients, far from needing fake titles, actually had real noble titles that our actresses would have to memorize!

One of the most fascinating aspects when working for this type of high-end clientele is the dichotomy between the roles we play and the status of the people for whom we play these roles. In all our experiences, we always follow the motto "the client is king," but that has never been more evident than here. We may play queens, but it is our clients who hold real power positions in real life. Our actresses must always behave as members of royalty, but never forget to show just enough deference so that clients feel the respect they are due.

A Lasting Success

Every time our experience is booked, we only know one thing: we can be sure of nothing. Our actresses dive in blindly each time, not knowing which whim or fantasy they will have to adapt to, but confident in their ability to meet any challenge. And we, as experience designers, are constantly refining the experience and thinking of new ideas to ensure it is as close as possible to our clients’ dreams.

Though it is not always easy, we always manage to fully satisfy our clients and offer them the unforgettable moment they hoped for. Our clients’ enjoyment is our ultimate goal, so if they leave smiling and fulfilled at the end of the experience, we know we have succeeded! And we cherish the opportunity to meet such diverse and fascinating people, sharing with them unique moments in a place worthy of fairy tale princesses and tragic queens.

Do you work with tourists or other clients likely to appreciate such unique experiences? Contact us today to discuss how we could meet their needs, and by extension yours!