Friendly, sportive and funny atmosphere for the 5th edition of the Raid Inter-Hotels Cote d’Azur – Equip’Hotel which took place on September 27 on the island Sainte Marguerite in Cannes.
Team spirit, solidarity, friendliness, ecology… are the values advocated since 2011 by the Raids Inter-Hôtels Cote d’Azur. These innovative, original and unique events in France, dedicated to 3 to 5-star hotel was designed by Laurent Gény and his partner Thomas Dlachasse from Raid Hotels France, a subsidiary of Team Nature. The two creators are specialized in organizing seminars, incentives and team building. The Raids Inter-Hotels bring together the hotels in the same region and federate their staff.
Tight-knit teams towards victory
The Raid Inter Hotels is growing in scale over the years, becoming a national event with three stages in France: the Raid Provence, which took place in April 2015, the Raid Paris, with the Bois de Vincennes as decor in August, under the patronage of starred chef Thierry Marx, and finally the oldest, and the beautiful reference, the Raid Inter-Hotels Cote d’Azur, to which the team from the Marseille Intercontinental Hotel – winner of the Provencal edition – wanted to participate.
The competitors from a hotel, a mixed team of 4 people, compete in friendly competitions that are appealing both to their sporting qualities and their reflection talent with the puzzles. The Raid Inter-Hotels encourages the teams to excel in a fun and sporty way to form a united team towards victory.
Vying for the coveted Trophy RHICA
A Sunday like no other for 320 participants of the Raid Inter-Hotels Cote d’Azur, representing 42 hotels from the region, divided into 80 teams, who, from 8 am were all on call, ready to storm the Sainte Marguerite island to defend the colors of their establishment.
Whether grooms in Monaco, waiters in Antibes, cooks in Mougins or managers in Cannes, all had the same desire to win.
From the Cannes pier towards the island Sainte Marguerite, the cheerful atmosphere that reigned in the boats didn’t hide that they came to take the famous Trophy RHICA by confronting in trials strewn with traps and surprises.
A whole island as playground
Dressed in T-shirts in the colors of their hotel and basketball shoes, the participants of the Raid Inter-Hotels Cote d’Azur quickly transformed the island into a huge playground after rallying the Fort Sainte Marguerite at a trot. Upon arrival, a map of the island and a compass were given to them. Before setting off, the teams wisely took the time to prepare for their course with strategy and cohesion in order to best manage the five trials that awaited them: orienteering, running, paddle, waiter’s race and puzzles.
Race, cerebral sport and equilibrium
At first, the competitors were faced with a 8.5 km orienteering course to try to win the 5 star of the hotel industry, the theme of this fifth edition. Then, a bit of cerebral sport with the discovery of puzzles to earn a time bonus. A boon for the less athletic who could thus reap valuable minutes while saving their efforts for what followed.
The test of skill and concentration was to build a as high as possible scaffold, trying not to drop the parts in balance and risk wasting time during its reconstruction.
Then the teams resumed their race toward the water sports base on the island. There, the choice was not easy for the team of four competitors, as only two people could get on the paddle bamboo that took them to a rowing round trip to the organizers’ boat that awaited them a hundred meter away at sea. They then had to quickly go back without falling to fill, with the other two competitors of the team remained on land, a bucket with water thanks to a huge wooden ladle.
The waiters’ race
The tests ended by the waiter’s race. A game of skill, which consisted, between two belly laugh, to safely transport along a path strewn with obstacles, a platter with a bottle of Vittel and two glasses. The two competitors chosen by the team had their wrists tied and held the platter at arm length in balance, which forcedthem to effectively coordinate their movements to avoid spilling anything.
Once this concentration test completed, the teams resumed their race to the final destination, the Fort Sainte Marguerite, where an aperitif and a convivial and refreshing meal awaited them. The expert hands of students from the Atman osteopathy school soothed the pains of the more exhausted. By mid-afternoon, the winners were announced and presented with the RHICA Trophy.
The winners
The winner of the Raid Inter-Hotels Cote d’Azur 2015 was the team of the Hôtel Inter Continental Hôtel Dieu in Marseille. Its four competitors left with the famous trophy after winning that of Provence. The Grand Hôtel du Cap Ferrat arrived second and the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco team took the third place. The Hotel Cannes Montfleury team stood at the very honorable fourth place.
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