Stéphane Camberlin, new director of the Cap Vert hotel complex in Saint-Affrique

Stéphane Camberlin veut augmenter sa capacité hôtelière et faire connaître sa restauration traditionnelle. Midi Libre – J.M COGNOT

Depuis 2019 il est le propriétaire gérant de l’hôtel-restaurant Le Combalou à Lauras.

Since January 2021, the Cap Vert hotel complex has been managed by Yvan Bouat, president of the eponymous SAS and general manager of Soleil Évasion. From Thursday, February 1, it will be Stéphane Camberlin, manager and owner of the Combalou hotel-restaurant in Lauras who will become the president of SAS Cap Vert.

With his team he will manage the establishment which includes 72 rooms, a large restaurant with 200 seats with kitchen, three meeting rooms and a swimming pool. The buildings belong to Seml Saca, the sole shareholder of SAS Cap Vert. "Yvan Bouat and his team relaunched activity as soon as they arrived and Covid disrupted attendance at the establishment" explains Jean-Marie Mourgues, president of Seml Saca and deputy mayor.

"Three candidates were in the running"

"Over the months, the Seml participated in the financial effort concerning the rental of the buildings. Ultimately, the resumption of activity was slow. We made the decision, in agreement with Yvan Bouat, to find a new manager. We prospected in the department and outside the department with professionals. Three candidates were in the running. Our choice fell on Stéphane Camberlin. Our desire was to find a serious professional and we are lucky that he knows South Aveyron."  

Seml Saca will invest 1.5 M€ to renovate the entire hotel area so that the rooms meet 3-star standards. The South Aveyron architectural firm Costes Gaubert and a design office have been working on the project for several months.

Regional products on the plate

"We offer traditional-style catering around regional products including the famous Roquefort", indicates Stéphane Camberlin."We work with the seven producers, from the largest to the smallest, from Société au Vieux Berger. As an emblematic traditional dish, as a starter we offer the Roquefort crème brûlée. The main course is organic Aubrac meat because we have our own livestock on the Causse Noir. We offer a range of traditional homemade desserts including homemade flaune made with sheep's curd."

Stéphane Camberlin, 44 years old, has been the owner-manager since 2019 of the hotel-restaurant Le Combalou. An establishment with twenty rooms, a car park, a restaurant with 150 to 180 seats. For two years, Le Combalou has been developing the event catering sector in South Aveyron. In 2019, the company had four employees with a turnover of 280 K€. Today, there are ten employees and a turnover of 750 K€. .

Boosting tourism 

"I accepted the challenge with the Roquefort project in progress tomorrow in mind, the aim of which is to boost tourism around Roquefort ", explains Stéphane Camberlin. "In Cape Verde, I will bring our know-how with a new professional kitchen and service team and a new menu. The objective is to increase my current capacity in hospitality and to make our know-how in regional catering known. We will work with local sports associations."

Estelle, Stéphane Camberlin's daughter, is finishing her commercial BTS and will be responsible for promoting the establishments. The kitchen part is entrusted to Marie-Hélène Rivier, cousin of Stéphane Camberlin, current chef of Combalou since 2019. As for the seven employees of Cap Vert, including a saleswoman, they are retained. Job adjustments may take place. Fabien Bonaldi, the director, will in fact take charge of a 5-star establishment specializing in agrotourism in Menorca in the Balearic Islands.

Cape Verde will be open Monday to Saturday and closed on Sunday. I subscribe to read more