Esteem is strengthening its leadership team. The Paris-based hotel group has announced the appointment of Cécile Leclerc as Development Director, a role she has held since November 2026. Her profile combines a legal grounding in transactions, expertise in hotel investment and hands-on experience of ESG issues.
For Esteem, which champions a model of purpose-driven hotels built on genuine consideration for its teams, the appointment comes as the group prepares for its next phase of development.
From corporate law to hospitality
A graduate of EDHEC with a Master 2 in corporate law from the Université catholique de Lille, Cécile Leclerc qualified as a lawyer at the HEDAC bar school in Versailles in 2010. She then spent almost five years as a corporate and M&A lawyer at CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
There, she handled disposals, acquisitions, mergers, LBO transactions and group reorganisations, notably in the hotel and leisure sectors. For three years, she also helped to prepare the firm’s annual conference dedicated to the sector.
A hospitality specialism from 2014
In 2014, she chose to devote herself fully to the sector and enrolled at ESSEC on a hospitality and real estate management programme. She complemented this with a rotational internship at the Hôtel Champs-Élysées Mac Mahon in Paris, part of the Paris Inn group.
She then joined JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality team in Paris. Over three years, she carried out valuations, feasibility studies, operator searches and strategic advisory assignments. In September 2018, she joined LVMH Hotel Management as Development Manager, before moving into investment in early 2020.
Almost seven years at EXTENDAM
At EXTENDAM, Cécile Leclerc first served as Investment Manager. She sourced, structured and monitored hotel investments through to exit, within an asset management firm whose activity ranges from the launch of the FPCI Hotels Premium II fund, dedicated to European premium hospitality, to disposals such as the sale of Hôtel Le Lyret in Chamonix.
From April 2023, she also took charge of ESG. She designed and then implemented EXTENDAM’s ESG policy and oversaw the non-financial management of its assets until her departure in November 2026.
Sustainable hospitality as a common thread
For several years, her career has gone hand in hand with reflection on the shift of hospitality towards more sustainable models. She pursues this work notably within La Fabrique du Tourisme.
According to Esteem, Cécile Leclerc wanted to get closer to operations on the ground and play a direct part in the development of a group whose convictions she shares. The group believes that her perspective, at the intersection of investment, development and environmental and social issues, will prove valuable in the next stage.
Analysis – For a still-young group, recruiting a profile from institutional hotel investment sends a signal to owners and investors. Esteem’s growth is likely to rest on both a financial and a non-financial reading of projects, consistent with the brand’s social and environmental positioning.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Esteem appoints Cécile Leclerc as Development Director
Role: Development Director at Esteem, Paris, since November 2026
Previously Investment Manager, then Head of ESG at EXTENDAM (2020-2026)
Earlier roles: Development Manager at LVMH Hotel Management, Hotel & Hospitality consultant at JLL
Background: former corporate and M&A lawyer at CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre, ESSEC hospitality graduate
Active member of La Fabrique du Tourisme
