The power of Nedlin Hospitality

From starter in the hotel business to Regional Operations Director: Gert Kap has held quite a few positions in the hospitality industry himself. Fresh from the hotel school, he immediately puts his service orientation into practice in his contact with guests. Later, as General Manager and Regional Operations Director, more complex issues await him. Now that he shares his knowledge from Nedlin as Commercial Director Hospitality, our clients benefit from his experience.

You have an impressive track record in the hotel business. Can you tell us something about your experience?

Kap: “I've always worked in the hotel industry. After hotel school, I started as an Assistant Manager at Bastion Hotels in Amsterdam. As Assistant Manager and later as Manager I had a lot of contact with guests. In 2000 I moved to Maastricht. First at Hotel Pauw, then at Golden Tulip Apple Park. I then worked for NH Hotels for 15 years, including Maastricht, Munich, Berlin, Brussels and Amsterdam.

I was the director of NH Maastricht when I left for Germany in 2009. First to Munich, as cluster director of a number of hotels in the city. Then to Berlin, where I eventually became regional director for eastern Germany and six countries in Central Europe. I have now been Commercial Director Hospitality at Nedlin for almost three years. With my team we serve hotels in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

How do clients benefit from your experience?

Kap: “You understand each other. I've seen all the departments in the hotel business. If a client brings something up, I can say: ‘Have you thought about this? Can't we do this or that?’ You talk about practical things, you don't have to explain them to me. This often makes the process easier.

That doesn't mean I know everything better. It remains important to listen to your client. What do they want, what don't they want? In this respect, we are subservient, also in terms of service. If the client has forgotten something, or we have to make an extra trip, I am quick to say: ‘we'll see if we can figure something out’.

Take Maritim Hotel Bonn. Due to the flooding, the hotel is full of aid workers and guests from evacuated hotels. We were able to scale up our delivery from two to five times a week within two days. We do so with a force and a naturalness... In the triangle of logistics, commerce and production, we can respond very quickly. That is the power of Nedlin Hospitality. We have people who understand the hospitality industry.”

How important is linen for a hotel?

Kap: "Look, as a hotel, your rooms are your core business. That includes the linen. In a chain hotel, as a General Manager you don't have much to do with the procurement of linen, but you do monitor the quality and stock, together with housekeeping. You have to manage your costs, because after energy and staff, linen is the biggest expense.

I use the knowledge and experience I gained in the industry every day in my work at Nedlin. If I'm advising a hotel, my goal is not to sell as much linen as possible. I'm all about the best product. How do you create value for the guests and efficiency at the same time? I look at it through double lenses: what suits the hotel, and what works in combination with our production process? From that advisory role, I get a lot of energy.”

So what do you look for in such advice?

Kap: “We are always looking for the perfect match, for what fits the hotel. At our office we have the bathrobe, from now, Brussels Bloom, a bathrobe with print. I didn't say ‘yes’ to that right away. After all, colours can fade during the washing process. Thanks to our client-specific linen and the unique cooperation with our suppliers, such a concept is fortunately easy to implement. Because it's about the total package.

Quality, durability, appearance: it all plays a part. Sustainability is also becoming increasingly important. We call this Total Cost of Ownership: the best balance between costs and benefits. You have to propagate this and radiate it to your clients, otherwise it becomes an empty shell. It is the power of Nedlin and our team - because the whole team has experience in the hotel industry - that we can make such a translation.”

You take the character of the hotel into account for the linen you propose?

Kap: “Absolutely. Take Hotel Indigo in Brussels. They wanted bedding with a print after renovation. But they already had so many prints in the wallpaper and colour in the decorations. We searched until we finally came to bedding with a jacquard pattern. That turned out to be the perfect match. Always going the extra mile is typical of Nedlin. It's great for me too, to go completely out of the box once in a while. But for a classic hotel we recommend more traditional linen. It's customisation in all areas.”

How far can you go?

Kap: “You shouldn't promise things you can't deliver. In commerce, people are often afraid to say ‘no’. I used to clash with my commercial departments because they sold everything they could think of. At Nedlin, if a client wants something, we will tell them in all honesty why it can or cannot be done. Whether they are an existing or a new client. A deal is a deal.”

A deal is a deal is more than being on time?

Kap: “Delivering on time is evident. It's about the whole picture. Promising what you do in your contracts, honouring your price agreements, your conditions, your deliveries, the quality that we stand for: the whole service. Remember: the hotel business is a small world. I know almost every hotel in Brussels, almost every GM. I run into former colleagues everywhere. You have to tell the honest story. And it is appreciated. I think it's the reason why more and more clients want to work with us, or renew their contract. We have been working with most of the hotels for years.”

You have a young team under your command. What about their experience?

Kap: “We do indeed have a young team, in terms of age and experience. Björn (Dautzenberg, ed.) worked in the hotel business in Barcelona, Dubai and London before joining Nedlin. Sem (Thijssen, ed.) started as an intern and is now an account manager. It was a conscious choice to opt for junior account managers who can grow within the company. Ultimately, it's about having an affinity, no matter what level in the hotel industry you've worked at. That you are passionate about your work.”

What do you like best about this job?

Kap: “That is two-fold. First of all, seeing my team develop and grow. Bjorn started working here in 2019. He had just started when Covid-19 broke out. But when I see how he and Sem have developed instead of resigning themselves to the situation… They did not give up, and instead further developed themselves.

In addition, the service orientation. The hotel business is in my DNA. I can still use that, even in this job. With every step we take as a laundry, our clients benefit too. I still often visit clients and have a cup of coffee with them. Then we talk about what's going on, what developments are taking place. And if they want to take the next step, in the direction of sustainable linen for example, then we will assist them again in word and deed.”