Meet the 27-Year-Old Hotelier Who Turned a Business-School Idea Into a Private Villa Network
Build me a villa that thinks it’s a yacht,” the owner said to his architect—and as one wanders around the resulting seven-bedroom, 10,700-square-foot property Noam Bora Bora, it’s clear he got what he wanted. It feels like the ocean is everywhere. The property, designed and decorated by Ora Architecte and Patrick Raffeneau Design, sits on a lagoon, as if moored, with a stepped infinity pool reaching out to the island’s lagoon. A private swimming hole allows for snorkeling (skinny-dipping optional). But the most jaw-dropping feature is half-hidden. When you arrive, it seems there are two square ponds, teeming with fish, one on either side of the entrance. It’s only after descending to the basement that you realize the “ponds” are actually glimpses into a massive aquarium that runs the entire span of the structure’s lower level, flooding the rooms with blue-tinged light, and connects directly to the lagoon to allow smaller fish to come and go as they please.
Robb Report was offered an exclusive first look at the property, which Noam Group considers its flagship, one of a small but fast-growing portfolio launched in late 2022 by founder Noam Bounekala. His focus: exceptional properties offered for full buyouts. It’s a remarkable feat for the entrepreneur, who workshopped the idea for the company—which he’s bootstrapping—as part of his master’s thesis.
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As a teen, Bounekala trained as a chef, interning at several Michelin-starred restaurants in his native France before ditching the kitchen to study finance and work in banking. Still, he’d always wanted to be an entrepreneur—so much so that he set up the business before getting his degree from Skema Business School in December 2022. After launching the Bora Bora estate, Bounekala soon added a trio of other homes in Europe. They include a 17th-century castle in Normandy, a contemporary 4,300-square-foot hilltop home in Sardinia, and a six-bedroom estate carved out of a 13th-century abbey on the French Riviera.
In a market crowded with countless villa-rental platforms, Bounekala’s collection stands out. It’s squarely focused on ultra-premium travelers, with a full house (of 14 guests) at Noam Bora Bora starting at about $27,000 per night. He personally inspects potential additions to the portfolio and wants to grow slowly and carefully to cater to the lifestyles of his target clientele. “We don’t send people to properties that we don’t know,” he says. Bounekala hires the staff at new locales to work for him directly, which ensures a consistency of service. He also really wants to get to know you, so the pre-arrival questionnaire is encyclopedic. (One of the quirky questions: “After sunset, are you more inclined to spend a quiet evening reminiscing, or up for any kind of festivities?”) Bounekala, whose Algerian-born father moved to France in the 1970s, says his heritage is crucial to his approach: “You’ve very open, very welcoming, and very happy to meet new people—that comes from my North African side.”
His strategy is paying off. One guest tried to poach a chef from the Bora Bora property, a colleague of Bounekala’s from his days working in restaurant kitchens. “He said, ‘I ate so well I wanted to enjoy his food every day.’ But the chef said no.” It’s the kind of feedback that has inspired top-tier agents to send their regulars to Noam’s properties. Miami-based Niko Contardi of EliteLyfe arranged for a client to stay at a nearby hotel chain’s top overwater bungalow, ending with a few nights at Noam Bora Bora. After that trip, “he said he’d never go back to the Four Seasons if Noam had availability,” Contardi says. “I have one man that books with me every other month, and he’s not easily impressed, but he couldn’t stop raving,” he adds. “He said, ‘I can’t think of anything that went wrong.’ ”
After another European-villa opening next summer, Bounekala hopes to expand into private aviation and perhaps even a fine-dining spot—a chance to flex his Michelin-kitchen-trained muscles. “I’ve always wanted to open one, and I love very secluded, fancy restaurants,” he says. And he isn’t fazed by those who challenge his relative inexperience. When people ask his age, “I just say, ‘The younger generation is here.’ … My goal is to do things with heart.”
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