There are not many people who leave a job they love, move to New York, manage a private celebrity apartment at Tiffany & Co., and then return to the exact same role they left — but that is precisely what Chris Dhondt has done. In March, he was reappointed Director General of the Club des Résidents Étrangers de Monaco, known as CREM, a position he held for five years before decamping to the United States with his husband Stephen. He is back now, and by his own account, delighted to be here.

“What matters most is waking up and enjoying your work,” he says, sitting across from me in the CREM headquarters in Monaco. “Meeting people, organising activities. So I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it again’.”

A very good life, interrupted

Chris’ first chapter at CREM began when the club was navigating real challenges — financial pressure, falling membership, a team that needed restructuring. He threw himself into it, building what he describes as a family atmosphere among members and staff alike.

Then Stephen got the call. Ralph Lauren wanted him to run their flagship store in New York. “You don’t say no to that,” Dhondt says simply. “We also wanted to live our American dream.”

By the time Chris left, the finances at CREM were solid and membership was strong. “I felt like I had completed my mission,” he says. “In my mind, it was over.”

New York delivered, at least initially. Chris landed a role at Tiffany & Co., part of LVMH, overseeing customer experience at the New York flagship — specifically, a private apartment on the 10th floor that most of the store’s own employees had never seen. “We hosted VIP clients and celebrities — Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Dr. Jill Biden, Ed Sheeran — people who wanted to be very discreet.” He had a full team: concierge staff, hospitality, a driver. “It was incredible. It was a great time.”

But New York has a way of wearing people down. The pace, the noise, the relentlessness. “In the U.S., it’s really work, work, work. You have fewer vacations and you work weekends. At some point, we felt like we were only working.” That, he says, is when Europe started looking considerably more appealing.

The return that almost didn’t happen

The plan, when they decided to come back, was Paris — Stephen with Ralph Lauren, Chris with LVMH. It seemed straightforward. Then Stephen sent a casual email to Monaco to let people know they were returning to Europe. The next day, his phone rang. The Metropole Shopping Centre wanted him back.

“At first, we weren’t sure,” Chris admits. Then the same day Stephen accepted, Chris received a call from CREM’s president, Louisette, telling him the previous director was leaving and asking if he could help find a replacement. He told her he was moving back to Monaco. There was a pause. “Later, I learned she already knew,” he laughs. “She had heard through connections. Monaco is small. Everyone knows everything.”

He took a day or two to think it over. The club he had left was in good shape — he had no unfinished business there. But his husband’s words stuck with him. “He reminded me how often I said I loved my job.” That was enough.

What CREM actually is

For those unfamiliar, CREM occupies a particular niche in Monaco’s social landscape. With more than 500 members drawn from the international community that now makes up the vast majority of the Principality’s population, it exists to solve a problem that money alone cannot fix: loneliness.

“People move here for tax or security reasons, leaving behind family and friends,” Chris says. “At first it looks like paradise, but once you settle, you can feel isolated.” CREM’s answer is a calendar of two to three activities every week — cocktails, wine tastings, exhibitions, weekends in Courchevel or Bordeaux, truffle hunting in Alba — and a culture of genuine connection. “It’s not like other clubs where you stay within your own group. Here, because of the size and the activities, you naturally meet others. People build real friendships.”

The club has also evolved since he last ran it. When Chris first took the helm, CREM had something of an older image. He set about changing that, introducing more social and dynamic programming, partnering with institutions like the International University of Monaco to attract younger members, and investing in social media. “It worked,” he says happily.

The family spirit, though, has remained constant. “When new members arrive, they are welcomed immediately. People connect straight away.”

Life back in Monaco

The readjustment, so far, has been easy. Chris and Stephen are in what he cheerfully calls the “honeymoon phase” — walking their golden retriever along Boulevard d’Italie to Larvotto in the mornings, rediscovering the quiet, the beauty, the unhurried pace of a very small place. “The quality of life here is amazing,” he says.

There is one thing he misses from New York. “Takeaway coffee. You can’t really grab a coffee and walk here like you can there.” He says it with a smile that suggests he has made his peace with the trade-off.

He has also noticed how Monaco has changed. Prices are up, particularly housing, and demand continues to outstrip supply. The international community has diversified further — more British residents, more Australians — drawn by a combination of tax efficiency and, increasingly, security. “In today’s uncertain world, Monaco feels like a safe haven,” he says.

What comes next

Chris is clear that he does not want to reinvent CREM. Its DNA — family, connection, genuine warmth — is not something to be interfered with. But he does want to raise the club’s ambitions. More partnerships. More exclusive services. A concierge dimension that helps members navigate Monaco’s particular complexities: bookings, events, travel, the kind of access that even significant wealth cannot always guarantee. “These are experiences you can’t buy, even with money,” he says, referencing the cooking classes held at the Prince’s Palace, or access to places normally closed to the public. “That’s what we offer.”

The club’s 16th anniversary cocktail is coming up in June, followed by a summer gathering and the Christmas celebration. Key moments, he says, when the full CREM family comes together.

“CREM is much more than a club,” he said publicly at the time of his appointment. “It is a space for meetings, exchanges and lasting connections. I am very happy to contribute to its development.”

Sitting here now, back in Monaco, back at the helm, it is clear he means it.

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Main photo credit: Cassandra Tanti