Interviewing the GM of W Hotel London, Coen van Niersen

Coen van Niersen is the young GM of the W London. He is passionate about working in the hotel industry. Although he thinks that he is gifted at what he does, he believes that hardworking makes up 90 percent of his achievement. He is also highly ambitious and knows what he wants. Despite the fact that this is his first GM job, he already has his eyes on his future career path. In the long-run, he wants to become hotel owner/investor . . .

INTERVIEW

In 2004, you graduated from the Hotelschool The Hague in the Netherlands. In 2006, you became the F&B Manager for Starwood. Did you take a break in 2005?

I graduated in February 2004. At the time I was on a traineeship in a Starwood divisional office: Earlier I had applied for Vita Futura, the Starwood's graduate management programs, and I was accepted. It was an 18-month program. You get to experience all departments within the hotel. I finished the program in the beginning of 2006. I then started working in F&B.

Your career path is quite impressive. In 10 years, you've become the GM of an international brand flagship hotel --- and it is your first GM job. Do you think, besides hard work, having talent has helped?

I think so. I think I have talent for what I do. They say in professional football, "only 10% is talent and the rest is hard work". I think it works the same for what we do as hoteliers. There's definitely a need for business acumen and knowing how to deal with certain business situations. Hard work, of course, comes with it as well.

Did you always want to become an hotelier?
I was one of those young people, who had no clue what I wanted to do. Before I applied for Hotelschool The Hague, I did two years of constructional engineering because my father had a company in construction. I thought, yeah, one day I'll take over the business, and therefore, I started studying construction engineering. But, I found out it was not for me. And then I took one year off to make up my mind. I did waiter and other service jobs in hospitality. At the time, it had not occurred to me that this could be the beginning of a professional career until I walked into one of the Hotelschool's opening day. I was certain right away this is what I want to do. I applied for an enrollment and got in. The rest is history.

What is your long-term career ambition?

It's an interesting question. When I first graduated from the Hotelschool The Hague, my ambition was to become a general manager. Two years ago, I did the Executive MBA in INSEAD. It has given me more knowledge in certain areas and broadened my options.

I love my job managing a hotel; I could easily do one or two more GM positions. In the future, I would like to work for the buyer side. For example, with the operational expertise I have gained, I could work in private equity and then run a portfolio of hotels and invest in hotels as the owner of hotels. Another option that I see is moving into corporate for some time and then move into hospitality investor relations.

You were the Hotel Manager of ALOFT Brussels Schuman, which is a Starwood hotel, and a part of the opening team. What have you learned from opening a hotel?

I've learned a lot! I really enjoyed the experience. I found a number of things very interesting. For one, we had about four months of innovation time, which was very short. You recruit your team and then you start working on opening on time and on budget. Then you have to make sure that the hotel would come out exactly how the brand had intended. That was very exciting.

Another thing that was exciting for me was about ALOFT's business model. It is a concept that is scalable; it does not have to be in A location and therefore, the building costs of such a hotel are a lot lower than, for example, W Hotels or any other 4-5 star hotels. The design is such that everything takes place in front of the house; there is hardly any back of the house. What you see is what you get. In addition, we had a team of 31 people that ran a 150-room hotel. It was a very tight team, and it was a very interesting investment for the owners.

After four years at ALOFT, you were promoted to be the GM of W London Leicester Square. What was the biggest challenge you had to face so far?

The biggest challenge for me and the hotel is that it's a brand flagship property in a key location – you cannot get more central than Leicester square in London. The foot traffic in front of the hotel is about two million per week. Trying to manage a five-star hotel in this difficult location creates a lot pressure. You need to have a strict door policy because occasionally, you have to deal with the not-so-nice side of Leicester square. At the same time, W London only has destination outlets: It has a destination restaurant, lounge, and nightclub. This means that although the Hotel has 192 rooms, on a busy night, there could be easily 1,000 people in the building, buzzing with energy. It's quite a beast to manage.

On the other hand, because it is such a key location for W brand globally, we are constantly being tested for new concepts that W wants to roll out. These initiatives drive a lot of PR attention for the company. It has been the biggest learning and challenging experience for me. Also W, as a brand, is a powerhouse; it's a challenge to make sure that we present the brand so that it has the right look and feel.

What is your opinion about having a celebrity chef working in your hotel’s restaurant?

Our restaurant, Spice Market, was indeed launched with a concept and much of its menu created by celebrity chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten --- although he is not based in this hotel. However, I think his name does not necessarily contribute to the business, particularly in this location. I think the quality of the food and the concept of the restaurant are very strong.

In general, I am not necessarily for or against working with a celebrity chef. I see why some hotels do it. In some locations, people are looking for widely recognized brand and that’s what celebrity chefs can bring. Even though celebrity chefs are created in major cities, such as London, actually, the brand value of celebrity chefs is much stronger outside of London, where they can use the names to open up restaurants and create a buzz.

Almost all successful hoteliers I’ve interviewed have talked about their passion. What does “passion” mean to you?

Passion for me means a natural drive wanting to do the job that you do. Something that sits deep within; something that makes you really enjoy what you do. I come to work every day feeling that I work for a great hotel in a great location and with great people. It’s something that gives me a lot of energy. For me that is what passion is all about!

At work, what pleases you the most?

It’s probably a cliché but for me it’s working with my team and help them to develop, so that they can be the best of what they can be.

What displeases you the most?

Uncontrollable things, such as the fire alarm or power outage. Those things I really don’t like!

In your opinion, what do your employees expect from you?

What my employees expect from me is to be there, so I can share my view about the business with them and create understanding across the organization, how and what we operate in this hotel. I also think that they expect me to make sound business decisions for our business, guests and staff and keep all the stakeholders happy.

Why is a GM important/not important to his employees?

In my view, a GM is important for his employees. An important part of a GM’s job is to understand the needs and wants of the employees and see if they can be realized. At the same, the GM must try to fulfill the needs and wants of the owners and guests.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

My strengths are that I am quite a good people person. I am also quite good at meeting all sorts of challenges because I tend to read my team and my guests quite well. I can understand and anticipate their needs. I am also a driver; I want to make sure that we progress and move forward, and I will push my team to do that. I think the downside of it is that I can be too pushy and too driven.

Are you more worried about doing things right or doing the right things?

I am more worried about doing the right thing. Doing the right thing is a much broader concept; for example, what can we do to help the local communities? Starwood has a long term partnership with UNICEF. We organize events to raise money in the hotel. We also invite schools to visit the hotel. We give them tours and make them enjoy the life of hospitality. But, of course, charity aside, we must make money for our owners because they influence our job.

If you just won 10 million dollars, would you quit your job? Why or why not?

If I won 10 million dollars, I guess, yes I would quit my job. I wouldn’t stop working though. I would go to investors and tell them that I will bring some of my own equity so that I can start my own hotel and see if they would back me.

Life is too short to tolerate short-term frustration. Don’t get frustrated if someone in front of you is walking too slow.

Have you ever marched into the dark with only an idea you strongly believed in? When I applied for INSEAD, even though INSEAD is a very good school but the tuition was quite expensive. I was wondering whether my investment in terms of time, effort, and money would ever give me a return. My wife and I had to decide whether we should buy a house or use the money to pay for my MBA education. We chose to do the MBA.

From the hindsight, I think it was a great decision. It was extremely rewarding. I got a lot out of it and the real payback will come in the longer term.

Life is too short to tolerate: _____________________________.

Life is too short to tolerate short-term frustration. Don’t get frustrated if someone in front of you is walking too slow. It’s easy to get yourself aggravated with people who say the wrong things or skip the cue. I always follow the Principle of Charity; that is, you always try to see the good thing in a person, and assume what the other person said was with good intentions and good reasons.

If you were to hire a manager, what qualifications would you be looking for?

I’d like to see whether the person fits in our team. I am a strong believer that our team needs to have a right mixture of skills and qualities so that in time the team will acquire an overall strength. So, I’d be looking for people who have more drive, or who have more empathy or who have different skills for different jobs.

In what ways are you different comparing to the “you” 10 years ago?

I’d like to think that I’ve matured a little and become a bit more patient. When you are young, you are incredibly ambitious. You tend to rush into things, say things too quickly and make decisions quickly.

What advice would you offer to those who are aspired to become a GM someday?

Find a great mentor, work hard and try and go that extra mile to be noticed.

What’s next?

For the moment the W London is still a great place for me to be. My job is not done yet. What will come afterwards, we’ll all see.

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