This month you celebrate two years of 25hours Hotel Dubai; what have been some of the highlights?
There's so many milestones. I think a key moment that we had was our opening party two years ago. Since then we have moved forward step-by-step. The first year was about getting people inside the door and making them aware of 25hours. This is the brand’s first property outside of Europe, the first one in the Middle East and nobody really knew the brand here. We can now say either people have heard about us or they have heard us because of the noise our parties make. The opening party was a very big step about just getting the word out there about who 25hours was and what we're doing.
The second year was about growing. In Dubai, there are so many new properties opening all the time and when you're one-year-old, you're not the new kid anymore. So how do you stay relevant? We are constantly learning, developing our venues, our space, improving what we are good at and being better at where we need to improve.
The hotel has become a hotspot for digital nomads. Is that a unique selling point?
One of the things that I'm most proud of in the property is the community space. For revenue, the lobby café is one of the highest performing in Dubai, so in those terms it's successful. But the real success is the community that we have built. It is all the people who come here every day; who have found a home in 25hours. Guests come here to hang out throughout the day, they work from here, they bring their friends here, they bring their families, they go to the venues and it's really building that whole community engagement and being a part of the neighbourhood. I think that's the biggest success we have had as a property and that's really what people are impressed with when they come in. It’s where you feel at home.
What do you consider the most important aspects to any stay?
Sleep and breakfast. No matter what you do and no matter how many parties and events you throw, if the guest gets a proper night's sleep with a good pillow in a good bed and they get a good breakfast, you're on a good way to success and then everything else comes into play.
Two years is a long time in hospitality; have you found the demographics of your guests have changed during those two years?
It has developed. You do a lot of marketing and PR to get people in the door and you want a cool crowd and creative crowd. But then after you have invited everybody for the opening parties and after they have visited, people will then disappear again. In the beginning, we asked ourselves, ‘Who are our ambassadors?’ You don’t have to have 100,000 followers on Instagram. You could have 500, but if you are influential in the community, you have done something that matters and that’s the demographic we have. It’s a real crowd where people come to hang out. Like it can be fashion designers, photographers, a young guy who is working on his start-up or website and CEOs renting our offices for meetings; they are doing something that impacts other people.
What advice would you give the day-one staff if you could go back in time?
There's so many things happening all the time and it's really hard to go back and say we would have done something differently. I'm super proud of where we are today with the property, the teams and how they're developing. For me, one of the biggest passions of mine is about the chances and opportunities that we give to people. The people who come to 25hours have a chance to grow and learn and after one to two years, they can take a higher role here through promotion or grow somewhere else with the foundation we have provided.
What do you have planned for the two-year anniversary party on 20th April?
We have a number of events planned but the overall message is love. That’s what 25hours is all about. It's about sharing good times, happiness and love to the community and the world. So this year, we'll be 25hours of love.
Moving into your third year, are there any exciting partnerships we can look forward to?
We're constantly working on new things. At the moment we have a collaboration with Ninive & Montblanc on the rooftop. But we are always looking at new partnerships and new artists; bringing new things to the region that you maybe haven’t seen before. We are constantly trying to push ourselves, to reinvent anything that is happening and see how we can be on the forefront. My goal has always been to do things that you don't normally see in hotels and try to push the boundaries of what is acceptable. Unless you're trying new things, unless you're taking chances and pushing boundaries, then you will never really explore further and you're not going to stick out; you're just going to be the same as everyone else, and being like everyone else is the last thing we want.
You have a fascinating background in hospitality, tell us a bit about your journey.
Originally I’m a trained chef from Denmark. Shortly after I finished my training I became an executive chef in a restaurant but I thought, ‘Is this it for the next 40 years?’ One day, I got a call from my mentor for this unusual opportunity; someone was looking for a chef to go to Japan and introduce Scandinavian food to the country. I said yes, did a few interviews and was on a plane two months later. It was a one-year contract but I stayed for two because it was just an amazing experience.
Then came an opportunity to work in the Maldives; my first in a hotel. I had a very cool GM and that’s when I thought about the role of being a GM. I worked out the career path; culinary director, F&B director, Hotel Manager and then finally General Manager; and this brought me to new countries; Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Bali and the USA; and then eventually to 25hours. And I love it here because it’s less about the corporate world and more about freedom and fun. I really love this environment and a bit of chaos is good.
And when you’re not the GM of 25hours Hotel Dubai, what do you like to do?
Right now, my twin babies are taking a lot of my time, which is probably the biggest blessing of all. But besides that, I love running, particularly ultra-running which is one of the communities that we have in the hotel. It’s a big passion of mine. And of course I'm just always looking forward to the travel, what I can explore and what kind of adventure I can go on.
Finally, if you could travel to one place tomorrow, where would that be and why?
Japan. I love that place. I love the country, I love the people, I love the food. I think any person who spends more than a month in Japan will become a better person. It's impossible not to be a good person because the people are so kind and respectful. It's just a beautiful place and I love it. I'll keep going back with friends and family and it's a place that is very close to my heart.