A coffee with...

Where were you born and raised? 
FS: I was born in Dortmund and grew up there the first six years of my life. Then we moved within Germany to the border of Switzerland. I went to school in Switzerland. Later I went to a boarding school in Bavaria. Then I went back to Switzerland, where I did my apprenticeship as a cook. After a few years and further stations, I attended a hotel management school in Zurich. Various challenges followed, from profit center management in railroad gastronomy, to a director position at a former spa clinic that was partially converted into a hotel, to many years of hotel management in health tourism, to the opening and management of a hotel and spa resort. Overall, I have had many residences (including in France) already and have not followed a fixed path somewhere. Weissenstadt in Bavaria was most recently with over ten years my longest stop so far. I have always done what I enjoy! 

Describe yourself in three words. 
FS: Balanced - Energetic – Optimistic

What is it like to work as a "hotel manager"? Describe a typical day.
FS: Totally great and never boring. My day starts by arriving at the hotel and first getting an overview by checking emails, taking a tour of the property and having our regular "Morning Meeting". After that, it's always different. There are many different topics and appointments. It could be personnel topics such as employee reviews or networking meetings, talking to guests, changes in operations, budgeting phases or or. For a hotel manager, the beginning of the workday can be planned, but the end cannot.

What is the biggest challenge in your job? 
FS: Keeping the atmosphere in the hotel. It is always possible that a crisis appears in one of the departments. The workload is always fluctuating and there are many different characters working together. Keeping a team motivated and enthusiastic over the long term is challenging. It's about harmony and being a team player so that at the end of the day it all works out and we do a great job.

What do you enjoy most about your job? 
FS: The variety, working with the staff and the guest contact.

We've been living in a pandemic for two years. What is it like to be responsible for a hotel during this time?
FS: Personally, I find it exciting. I'm glad that I already have some experience, so that I am able to lead the hotel through it. The pandemic has thrown all the previous rules out the window. The experience we gained over the years, f.e. when do guests come, how do bookings work, the whole system "hotel business" now became a big surprise. This period has many special features, for example, extremely strong summer months or, on the other hand, business at zero, which has never been there before. To cope those extremes with my team makes me proud and it is important not to lose joy despite everything and to keep investing, for example we expanded our parking lots during the pandemic.

What do you do to relax and take your mind off things?
FS: Going out into nature. Here in Wilhelmshaven it's walking, in the mountains it was hiking. Listening to music. Taking a bath or going to the sauna. 

Did you always want to be a hotel manager?
FS: Since it started going in the direction of professional orientation, yes. I've loved cooking since I was a kid, and I did an internship in a hotel in the Netherlands while I was in school. There I realized that I was very interested in the business activities around it. So it became clear to me that I wanted to become a director. I then made a conscious decision to become a chef and my instructor motivated me to go to hotel management school.

What self-management advice do you have?
FS: Optimism is very important for management. If something doesn't go the way you want it to, you should create a situation that makes you happy again very quickly. For me, that's looking at the water. I sometimes take the time to simply look at the water for a moment. If that's not possible in that moment, you should think about something nice, like a vacation memory or your own child. Something I can recall at any time to recharge my good mood.

When I'm not working, I... 
FS: ...I spend time with my family. I absolutely love taking my two sons to kindergarten in the morning - that's my exclusive dad moment. Walking by the sea and also going swimming in the summer. Geo-caching is also total fun. It's also a good hobby during the pandemic. Going outside is important to me. I do that regardless of the weather.

Wilhelmshaven is for me... 
FS: ...a city with enormous potential. A lot is developing right now. At least those who are doing business are incredibly creative and agile.

Bonus questions:
What leisure tips do you have?
FS: A visit to the Wilhelmshaven Aquarium is worthwhile, and the Rosarium is also crazy beautiful and very well kept. It's always nice to take a walk on the south beach. In addition, the Wadden Sea Visitor Center was closed for over a year and is now completely renovated.

Why live in Wilhelmshaven?
FS: Wilhelmshaven is a green city on the waterfront with great cultural offerings like the municipal theater or free live music in the summer every Wednesday at Pumpwerk (cultural center). There is always something going on and a lot on offer, for example various festivals such as the Street Art Festival or LichterMeer. The people, the surrounding area, Friesland, the whole coast and the proximity to the islands makes Wilhelmshaven worth living. 

// Publication: April 1, 2022 //

The video offers some impressions of the ATLANTIC Hotel Wilhelmshaven