39 - Hotelschool The Hague
39 - Hotelschool The Hague
39 - Hotelschool The Hague
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<strong>39</strong><br />
01<br />
october september 2010 2007 home previous next / next<br />
1/7<br />
HAVE YOU HEARD?<br />
A HUgE sHRimp cOcktAil<br />
A DRAgOn bOAt RAcE<br />
tHings YOU wAnt tO knOw<br />
Don’t ForGet:<br />
FriDAY 5 november,<br />
reunion At<br />
hoteLschooL<br />
the hAGue !<br />
take me to the Hilton: in the<br />
<strong>Hague</strong> ! From left to right: Reonald Donata, karin van den berg, Floris licht, Jan van der putten
<strong>39</strong><br />
october FebruArY october 2010 2008 home previous / next<br />
2/7 2/9<br />
take me to the Hilton, now<br />
finally in the <strong>Hague</strong>!<br />
Remember the Hilton promotion campaign (around the end of the last century) with the ‘Take me to the<br />
Hilton’ posters? Well, you could do that in every major destination – but in <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hague</strong> (our seat of the<br />
government and host to the Court of Her Majesty the Queen) you just couldn’t.<br />
Until recently that is! <strong>The</strong> Summer of 2010 brought great weather for the beach pavilions, but also, on<br />
the 2 nd of July, the first day of five-star international hospitality at the new Hilton the <strong>Hague</strong>.<br />
Two months later Cluster General Manager Jan van der Putten (1983) sits in the lobby and explains why<br />
guests already feel so much ‘at home’ in the new Hilton.<br />
“We try to create, within the crew, an atmosphere of mutual respect and friendliness, and guests notice<br />
that immediately. Team members should feel happy and appreciated – that also helps to retain our<br />
bubbly and extravert colleagues for a long time and reduce turn-over”.<br />
“Having said that, team members are the most important thing, but the interior decorator and architect<br />
also contributed in a major way in creating our atmosphere with lots of ‘couleur locale’.<br />
Jan opened three hotels for Hilton, coincidentally one of each hotel category: a resort (in Malaysia) a<br />
top-of-the-bill airport hotel (Copenhagen) and now a downtown hotel, ‘embedded’ in the local scene.<br />
Of course, with all his experience, Jan also has a major piece of advice for the ‘rookies’ in hotel<br />
Grand Cafe Pearl<br />
management:<br />
“Our business is really<br />
not complicated, so<br />
I always say ‘Keep it<br />
Simple’. And remember:<br />
service first, the process<br />
next” (the last one is<br />
really food for thought,<br />
ed.)<br />
“Everybody familiar<br />
with the local industry<br />
knows that a preopening<br />
is always a<br />
very hard job where<br />
everybody is a ‘jack of<br />
all trades’ and does<br />
whatever work needs to<br />
be done. And all of the<br />
above in a hurry, because the deadline that looms in the distance comes closer every day. Even though<br />
all hotel openings are different, you will always have a healthy amount of challenges” says Jan.<br />
“Simple hardware things like cold water from the hot taps and vice versa (Copenhagen) or fire alarms<br />
with a life of their own (<strong>The</strong> <strong>Hague</strong>) keep the boredom away”.<br />
We all remember that Conrad Hilton (in less complicated times) had three priorities: location, location<br />
and location. Of course, at Zeestraat next to Panorama Mesdag, Hilton <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hague</strong> would have obtained<br />
his approval immediately.<br />
For today’s other priority – great team members – Jan wanted a good combination of Hilton people and<br />
colleagues with a local background. “That way, knowledge of the brand standards, general Hilton knowhow<br />
plus a feeling for the local market is all assured”.<br />
Back in time. May 16, 2006 was the date of the contract signing ceremony between Dutch investors and<br />
Hilton. In his speech Wolfgang Neumann (at that time President Europe for Hilton) also said that “finally<br />
the best hotel chain in the world has come to the city of the best <strong>Hotelschool</strong> in the world”.<br />
That was of course very nice of Wolfgang, but little could he know at that moment that the management<br />
team that later opened the hotel would<br />
be almost completely ex-<strong>Hotelschool</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Hague</strong>.<br />
Karin van den Berg, Hotel Manager, just<br />
wanted to ‘get away’ and see the world<br />
when she was in her last year at the school<br />
(1997). First stop was Phuket in Thailand<br />
(through alumnus Rutger Verschuren, now<br />
GM for Starwood in Libya).<br />
<strong>The</strong>n two years at the impressive Peninsula<br />
in Beijing (now managed by alumnus Hans<br />
Hordijk, 1989).<br />
After that it was ‘living out of the<br />
Samsonite’ for some time, installing Fidelio<br />
for Hilton. Opportunity gave her a role in<br />
<strong>The</strong> Mesdag Ballroom
FebruArY october 2010 2008<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hilton <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hague</strong> terrace in the open air<br />
25 <strong>39</strong><br />
the integration of Scandic and Hilton (getting to know Jan van der Putten in the process) – followed by<br />
revenue management culminating in the position of Senior Director of Revenue Management Europe.<br />
“During the years, my hospitality heart was joined by a strong and experienced business mind and I<br />
felt it was time for Profit and Loss responsibility”, says Karin. “Fortunately, I was at the right spot at the<br />
right time and after a short spell substituting for the hotelmanager of Hilton Soestduinen (who enjoyed<br />
maternity leave) I joined the Hilton <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hague</strong> in January 2010”. No regrets until now, Karin?<br />
“Not at all, it is good to be back in Operations and actually meet guests again – which is an important<br />
part of my job satisfaction. I want to learn all the time, find out better ways to do things, and my position<br />
makes that possible. I even have a good social life, not living in planes as in my revenue time!”<br />
<strong>The</strong> hotelschool, with all the practicals, the placements and the outdoor taught me to show what you<br />
stand for!” Food and Beverage, amongst others, is in the hands of Operations Manager Reonald Donata<br />
(2000). He feels that his hotel career really started in his second year at the school, as trainee at the<br />
legendary Gleneagles in Scotland. As ‘Private Dining Management Trainee’ he learned to make Melba<br />
toast by hand and to line up tables straight with a long piece of string, the basics really.<br />
“At the school, TMS, being co-trainer, and especially the outdoor taught me a lot about group dynamics,<br />
which later allowed me to really make a lasting impression when training staff in a newly opened hotel<br />
(after renovation): the British Colonial Hilton in Nassau, Bahamas. Next to that, Mosac taught me the<br />
theory behind processes of change”.<br />
“Before that, I was F&B Management trainee in the Emirates, then Assistant F&B Manager in Watford<br />
near Hilton’s European Headoffice. I started in the <strong>Hague</strong> the 4 th of January 2010, after working in<br />
Nassau until the Christmas dinners were finished”.<br />
home previous / next<br />
“My big challenge here is getting the team into a routine that allows assuring consistent quality. Well,<br />
and even my social life is ok again! My Sonnema Dispuut is an incredible network and also lots of fun!<br />
<strong>The</strong> future? My wife, Annemarie Rebel, also former student, and I want to continue working worldwide<br />
until the kids are ten or twelve years old.<br />
Last but not least, Cluster Director of Business Development Floris Licht (2003) has a similar story to<br />
tell about his career. After his management placement at Amsterdam Hilton, working for F&B Service<br />
Manager Rogier Braakman (1999) now co-president of Sandton Hotels, the GM, Roberto Payer suggested<br />
the Hilton Elevator Programme. After 9 months Operations and HR at the Hilton Metropole in London,<br />
he was moved to Frankfurt where he met and worked for GM Ronald van Weezel (1975). After a spell<br />
in Brussels for GM Maud Goppel (1999) getting to know accounts, he got the advice to get more<br />
Operations experience.<br />
“And then the wide world<br />
called!” says Floris. “So<br />
together with my girlfriend<br />
I left for Australia and later<br />
during a short vacation<br />
in Holland I spoke with<br />
Jan van der Putten which<br />
resulted in the position<br />
of Director of Business<br />
Development for Hilton<br />
Schiphol in late 2008. A<br />
few months later Hilton<br />
Rotterdam was added<br />
and late 2009 Hilton <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Hague</strong> – altogether a great<br />
cluster”.<br />
It turns out that Floris<br />
identifies similar favourites at the school: practicals, TMV, practical placement (President Wilson,<br />
Geneva, Starwood Luxury Collection), teamwork, the 9 key competences.<br />
“My future? In the near future I will take part in an assessment for SHINE, Hilton’s development<br />
programme for a GM position – so, que sera, sera. My private life is for sure going to change, I’ll<br />
hopefully be a father in January!”<br />
For all four executives goes, that they have not yet met the famous Black Hole that often appears after a<br />
pre-opening – however, they keep a watchful eye; nobody wants a suddenly increased turnover….<br />
Finally, for the younger generation – tips for the future:<br />
- <strong>The</strong> world is small, spend time on your network; spend energy on Facebook and LinkedIn.<br />
- It is difficult to give direction to your life if you do not have a set goal.<br />
- <strong>The</strong> business is not really complicated – so Keep it Simple!<br />
- Service first, the process next.<br />
- An atmosphere of mutual respect and friendliness helps to retain staff.<br />
And about the hotel: walk in and spend a few Euros on lunch or a drink: it tells you more then a<br />
thousand words!<br />
Arnoud van Delft<br />
Hilton <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hague</strong> Hotel room<br />
A<br />
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FebruArY october<br />
october<br />
september 2010<br />
2010<br />
2008 2007 home previous / next<br />
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“Failure is no option”: about winning<br />
a dragon boat race<br />
our student Johannes Ader did his practical traineeship in the sheraton nanjing<br />
Kingsley hotel in china. there, his team of hotel staff members won the important and<br />
prestigious dragon boat race with a sheraton sponsored boat:<br />
“this dragon boat challenge was initiated in 2001, this year (2010), the race was<br />
held for the 10th time and 29 teams took part in this competition, mainly on behalf of<br />
Western companies in nanjing, e.g. siemens, Ford or ericsson.<br />
As one of nanjing’s major events, reflecting chinese culture and a great opportunity to<br />
socialize and network with other<br />
businesses, the dragon boat Johannes Ader<br />
challenge attracted approximately<br />
80,000 visitors this year. the training for the team of the sheraton started ca.<br />
3 months before the race. hotel employees were selected to become team<br />
members and had to “pass” an aptitude test regarding their personal fitness to<br />
decide if they are capable. Due to the intensive training and previous winning,<br />
team members took the preparation for this race very serious, eager to perform<br />
at their best and to win (again).<br />
<strong>The</strong> winning team and Johannes<br />
From a personal point of view, during the weeks of training for the dragon boatfestival,<br />
my performance at the sheraton was almost equally balanced between<br />
working as a Guest relations manager and being a member of the dragon boat-team, as trainings took place during working hours<br />
every week.<br />
reflecting the time before and the day of the races, i felt an incredible spirit amongst the team members. After weeks of physically<br />
challenging training, passionately supporting each other to be faster and<br />
better, each member knew their role in the team and was ambitious to<br />
win, for oneself for the hard training and the team.<br />
realizing that we have won the races after the final competition was<br />
an intense moment, incomparable to any previous sportive successes i<br />
experienced.<br />
the joy about winning, the paying off of all these months of training<br />
and most of all, this euphoria shared amongst our team, created an<br />
experience i will remember for a long time” .<br />
by Johannes Ader, hotelschool’s trainee in china<br />
my shanghai experience!<br />
together with my colleague Arnoud van Delft i made a short trip to<br />
shanghai.<br />
my first impression of shanghai is that it a true metropolis, that could<br />
have easily been located on any other continent.<br />
on our way to the hotel i saw few characteristics of the chinese<br />
culture. of course, everything written is in chinese characters, but<br />
almost always with english subtitles. but shanghai could have been<br />
any other non-chinese metropolis.<br />
something that immediately struck me, is that it is a clean and green<br />
city, in which everything is rather new or looks new. During my days in<br />
shanghai, there was a quiet atmosphere, despite the fact that millions<br />
of people were on the move because of the expo and a national<br />
holiday; everyone behaves very civilized.<br />
We met some former students, like martijn van der valk, now General<br />
manager of the puli hotel & spa (Leading hotels) and michel<br />
Koopman, now General manager of the interconti expo.<br />
We also visited quite a few hotels with reference to future placements,<br />
such as the brand new Waldorf Astoria, the park hyatt in the highest<br />
building of the city, the second and brand new ritz carlton, the new<br />
peninsula and the Fairmont peace hotel both on the most important<br />
street of shanghai, the bund.<br />
this hotel is one of the few ‘Grand old Ladies’ in shanghai, all in<br />
Jugendstil style and recently beautifully renovated.<br />
on thursday evening, we hosted a well attended gathering with former<br />
students and trainees in the bar of the interconti.<br />
it was a very successful and pleasant evening with approx. 35 guests.<br />
Arnoud van Delft and myself had ample opportunity to talk to everyone<br />
present.<br />
it is always fascinating to see how many alumni<br />
have great positions in the hospitality industry, even<br />
very far from home.<br />
Wim Dooge, president board of Directors
01 25 <strong>39</strong><br />
FebruArY october september october 2010 2008 2007 home previous / next next<br />
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world’s biggest shrimp cocktail!<br />
on 18 september, student Association La confrerie broke the world record: three members of the<br />
association made the biggest shrimp cocktail ever!<br />
in beach club ‘hart beach’ in scheveningen, they produced a cocktail that weighed 116 kilos, offered in<br />
a martini glass of 1,70 meters high with 1 meter across. For the cocktail 20 kilos of whisky sauce and 90<br />
kilo pink shrimps was used.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Board of La Confrerie<br />
the three students, Folkert Deenik, Andre<br />
van den toorn and Wouter de blank,<br />
all members of La confrerie’s white<br />
brigade, distributed 1,000 portions of<br />
shrimp cocktail among the people present<br />
and delivered large portions to various<br />
locations of the salvation Army.<br />
now let’s wait and see whether they will<br />
be mentioned in the Guinness book of<br />
World records!<br />
Have you heard?<br />
About Eduard Kelderhuis (2004), Tom Dingjan (2007) and<br />
Reinier van Dieren (2007)?<br />
<strong>The</strong>y started a band, called ‘Immens’.<br />
Coming year they will tour in several theatres in the Netherlands, and at the same time release their brand<br />
new album.<br />
All alumni are welcome to attend their concerts, tickets are free!<br />
However, people are invited to donate whatever they can because the profits will all go directly to<br />
‘Stichting Doe een Wens’ (Make a Wish Foundation), a charity organization that grants the wishes of<br />
children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and<br />
joy.<br />
For the musical world an unusual approach which really deserves your full support!<br />
For more information and for a musical treat: www.immensmuziek.nl<br />
Enjoy!<br />
Immens: Richie Reichgelt, Reinier van Dieren, Tom Dingjan and Eduard Kelderhuis
october 2010<br />
<strong>39</strong><br />
looking down on shanghai<br />
by coincidence, i was in shanghai three times this year – not for the school, but for the city of the hague’s<br />
presentation at the expo’s Dutch pavillion and later for a project at the pavillion.<br />
As during each and every visit to the people’s republic (its 61 st birthday was celebrated when i was there last) i<br />
was deeply impressed with the economic progress.<br />
Wim Dooge (who was there for the school) and i had lunch at the restaurant of the park hyatt – with an<br />
incredible view over shanghai from an immens height.<br />
other impressive hotels were the new peninsula hotel (the first ever new building on the bund) and the also<br />
brand new inter.continental expo where i could enjoy the hospitality of alumnus michel Koopman (1983) for a<br />
few nights.<br />
michel and Wim Dooge co-hosted a very ‘gezellige’ hotelschool cocktail party with almost forty guests. W\hat a<br />
difference compared to the seven guests of five years ago! michel proved himself to be a great supporter of his<br />
old school by (together with intercontinental hotels) making this party possible.<br />
by the way, it looks like the expo (closing october 31) is a great success, attaining almost certainly the<br />
predicted visitor’s count of 70 million.<br />
the Dutch pavilion alone (!) celebrated 7 million visitors at the end of september.<br />
As you may remember, one of my favorite subjects is the craziness of carting 30 tons of bottled water from<br />
northern italy to holland (1200 kms, with the ‘vlam in the pijp’) – a useless exercise that only brings damage<br />
to the environment. the travel section of the ‘telegraaf’ last weekend reminded me – they discussed bottled<br />
water. however, not because of the environment but with the price in mind. After having your bottle impounded<br />
by security, you have to spend € 2,50 to 3,00 to buy half a litre of water! At the same time, tapwater in holland<br />
is the best in europe, at a price of € 1,60 for a thousAnD liters! the only logical advice: take an empty bottle<br />
(allowed, of course by security) and fill it up airside at schiphol (or whichever airport with acceptable water)<br />
under a tap.<br />
And last but not least: for something completely different: good friend and supporter of the hotelschool, husband<br />
of our former student ellen huerst-esser, hyatt vice president and Gm of the Grand hyatt berlin, Fred huerst,<br />
was elected German hotelier of the year 2010! A long-deserved honour, after many years of superb hospitality,<br />
hyatt quality and economic success at his hotel (without doubt, by the way, the best<br />
business hotel in Germany).<br />
congratulations, and thanks for always supporting our internships programs.<br />
Don’t let fall depression get you down, and enjoy the reunion at 5 november!<br />
Arnoud c. van Delft, LL.m.<br />
Arnoud van Delft and Victor de Vries<br />
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Alumnus Victor de Vries (2001), enjoys China to the fullest and sees it as a great challenge after ten years in Athens for Hilton.<br />
Victor, who is half Greek - half Dutch, is Director of Business Development of the 714-room Hilton Shanghai.<br />
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FebruArY october 2010 2008<br />
25 <strong>39</strong><br />
things you want<br />
to know<br />
climbing tHE stAiRs<br />
claudia gierens (2009), hr coordinator<br />
hotel imperial and hotel bristol, vienna (both<br />
Luxury collection hotels/starwood)<br />
marlies Verstoep (1999), manager business<br />
Development Amsterdam rAi<br />
Dieuwke Reuvers (2002), Front of house<br />
services, intercontinental Le Grand, paris,<br />
France<br />
torsten van Dullemen (1993), hotel manager<br />
mandarin oriental bangkok<br />
Daniel van Hulst (2010), customer service<br />
executive Yotel, London head office<br />
Rike Erdbrink (2007), Front office manager<br />
hyatt capital Gate, Abu Dhabi<br />
madelon boom (1986), General manager<br />
conservatorium hotel Amsterdam<br />
This brand new hotel will appear right opposite<br />
the Stedelijk Museum and will have 130 rooms<br />
and suites. At this moment, the hotel is being<br />
renovated and the aim is that the 5-star hotel<br />
will open next spring. Madelon Boom started<br />
her career as GM at Hyatt at the Lowndes<br />
hotel in London, after that she was opening<br />
GM for Park Hyatt Hamburg, Corporate<br />
Director of Operations for the Golden Tulip<br />
Chain and she worked for a huge real estate<br />
agent in the United States<br />
cynthia de Jongh-Veerman (2003), hr<br />
officer bilderberg europa hotel, scheveningen<br />
niels mekenkamp (1998), vice president<br />
consulting services, easy rms (revenu<br />
management solutions), London<br />
mARRiED<br />
bianca van Ooijen (2003) and willem van<br />
der pot (2003)<br />
lisette Roelofs (2006) and peter Heule<br />
(2006)<br />
bob boersen (2000), and evelyne bitar<br />
miriam van der Horst (1999) and bas de<br />
Graaff<br />
christine Jongbloed (2005) and vincent<br />
hogenboom<br />
Fleur s. de Jong (2000) and pieter Zoontjens<br />
sEEn tHE ligHt OF liFE<br />
chrisje, daughter of marlies Verstoep (1999)<br />
and Jan steinebach (1997)<br />
tom, son of mariska van benthem (2000)<br />
tom, son of isabelle stoové (2002) and<br />
Johan Otto (2001)<br />
home previous / next<br />
Kyra, daughter of Ananda groag (1999)<br />
Kate, daughter of Vicky de bruijn (1997) and<br />
taco Dols (1996)<br />
tijn, son of Renee van ingen (2005)<br />
Gabriella, daughter of Jasper timmermans<br />
(2004)<br />
Giel, son of madeleine gaarlandt-Jansen<br />
(2001)<br />
ioannis, son of niels mekenkamp (1998)<br />
tygo, son of mariska Appel (2000)<br />
pAssED AwAY<br />
nico van der Heijden (1975)<br />
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