July 17 – Paris St-Germain may have just lost the FIFA Club World Cup final, but the UEFA Champions League winners are now hoping to be champions in an entirely different space – hospitality.
In March, the Ligue 1 giants launched their Legendary Room series, which has now gone live around the world. Eight cities. Eight legends. Eight hotel rooms that blur the line between football fandom and luxury accommodation. It’s the kind of marketing innovation that makes you wonder why nobody thought of it sooner.
In partnership with Novotel, fans can now stay in a unique space. From Jakarta to São Paulo, Shanghai to Miami. Each room tells the story of a PSG icon through immersive design and personal touches that transform a standard hotel stay into something approaching a pilgrimage.
The concept sprang from La Suite Novotel by PSG, the world’s first permanent hotel room built inside a stadium at the Parc des Princes. That was the proof of concept. This global rollout is the full commercial realisation of football tourism’s potential.
And PSG have chosen carefully. We’re talking about Javier Pastore, Nicolas Anelka, Pedro Miguel Pauleta, Bonaventure Kalou, Alain Roche, Claude Makélélé, Blaise Matuidi, and Raí. These aren’t just names on a teamsheet—they’re carefully curated ambassadors representing different eras and geographies.
Jean-Yves Minet, Novotel’s Global Brand President, frames it perfectly: “Each Legendary Room is designed as a living tribute – a space where football, culture, and storytelling collide.” That’s hospitality industry speak for “we’ve figured out how to monetise emotional connection at scale.”
In Jakarta, Pastore’s room channels pop art aesthetics with signed jerseys and vintage photography. Anelka’s Shanghai suite explores his family roots and early Novotel connections. Pauleta’s Riyadh tribute incorporates his eagle-wing celebration into the design.
Each stay includes an exclusive digital journey curated by the legend themselves. Personal stories, behind-the-scenes moments, football insights woven into the Novotel experience. It’s content marketing disguised as hospitality, and it’s remarkably sophisticated.
The geographical spread tells its own story about PSG’s global ambitions. Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America—this isn’t random hotel placement. These are strategic markets where PSG is building long-term commercial relationships, using hospitality as the entry point.
Eight rooms across eight cities is just the beginning. As PSG’s global footprint expands, so too can this hospitality network. Each new market entry becomes an opportunity for another legendary tribute, another revenue stream, another touchpoint between club and supporter.
Football tourism isn’t new, but PSG have found a way to make it personal, permanent, and, it is hoped, profitable.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1752767661labto1752767661ofdlr1752767661owedi1752767661sni@o1752767661fni1752767661