Hotel owner: Niek van de Broek

Visiting Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum, Niek van den Broek, director of both Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum and Hotel ibis Tilburg, takes us on a journey full of drive and dedication that has brought him where he is today. "I'm a talker, so slow me down where necessary, because once I get going, I don't stop," he says warmly. Slowing down, however, is by no means necessary. With a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm Van den Broek he shares his entrepreneurial story. A story about the power of your core business, being an ambassador for the city and being a good employer.

As an 11-year-old boy, Van den Broek fell in love with the industry while assisting the catering team at his father's wedding. "Afterwards, the owner of the party venue gave me a cup, so that's probably how it started". Van den Broek is a passionate entrepreneur, with a smile that betrays his love for the business. He shares his inspiring journey, from his beginnings as a young hospitality professional, to his current position as (co-)hotel owner. "I left home at 17 and started a hospitality education, which I did not finish," he says. Despite this, he got the position of food & beverage manager at Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum at 19 and in 2004, at 24, became the youngest General Manager in the country. He still dreams of expanding, but his heart remains anchored in Tilburg, where he not only runs hotels but also transformed shopping centre the Heuvelpoort into a car park and hotel. He is also a board member of several associations of Tilburg entrepreneurs.

Van den Broek then tells how the hotel and adjacent shopping centre have changed under his leadership. "Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum was once more of a café than a hotel, and that was not attractive to business guests. So we went back to our core business and abolished happy hours." 

The Hill Gate had a negative image and underwent major renovation. Hotel rooms were created on the office floors, the cinema became a children's playground and the shopping centre modernised. "In 2014, we started converting part of the Hill Gate into a proper and larger car park. The overarching goal, with both Mercure, ibis and with Heuvelpoort, is to give Tilburg a more attractive image."

Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum gained many rooms as a result of the renovations, but Van den Broek used other smart changes to create positive activity in the hotel. "We give space to local entrepreneurs, in the lobby, but also by creating a small shop for start-ups." Visibly proud is the hotel owner of local products used by the Mercure. "Puur Brabant is our regular supplier of organic meat. We serve beer from Stadsbrouwerij 013 and the coffee also comes from local coffee brewery Locals." Van den Broek admits ruefully that not every idea is a resounding success. According to him, flexibility is the key, in an industry that is always on the move. "You have to move with the circumstances. What you cannot change, you have to say goodbye to or accept."

Moving along was also necessary when the energy crisis presented itself after the corona. Savings were necessary then, so Van den Broek took a close look at all elements of the hotel.

"The restaurant concept Taste!", which could be found in the basement, had a high culinary level, but was also very expensive. The wellness concept was also a big expense due to energy consumption. It was therefore wise to put my ego aside and go back to basics." The wellness and restaurant were closed and the space leased to the adjacent Basic Fit (which the hotel works with, ed.) At Mercure Hotel Tilburg, an infrared sauna and swimming pool are now still available to guests. "These interventions were a good choice," Van den Broek says firmly. "This allowed us to continue to grow and our staff can now also focus even more on the hotel guest.

Van den Broek never stands still, always coming up with new ideas to improve his hotels. His main vision is to turn guests into ambassadors for the city. In a bold move, he announced the transformation of the traditional lobby into a cosy 'Barception', a welcoming place where guests can stay all day. They can also check in here themselves through Opera Cloud. This gives hotel staff time to inspire them to explore the city. "It's not just about the hotel itself, but about creating unforgettable experiences for our guests. We do this by asking questions like 'What brings you to Tilburg?' and 'What interests you?' We then recommend hidden gems of the city. The experiences they gain this way are the memories that last. Especially if, when they return, there is also a note with: 'How did you have it?'"

The lobby will thus become more compact and cosy, with the possibility of renting out part of it to another user. In addition, more rooms will be created on the first floor, where meeting rooms are now located. For the refurbishment, he is working with partners who all have their own expertise. Such as fire safety consultant Max van Holst Pellekaan MVH Advisors, Thijs Engineering & Consultancy, ID bouw for architectural advice and B+B architects. Philip Watts Design is responsible for the interior design. "I strongly believe in listening to people who know the most about it. For instance, Accor's Chill concept, which was developed by Watts, fits well with our living room idea ."

In a world where technology reigns supreme, Van den Broek invests above all in the development of its employees. Striving to be a good employer and creating opportunities for growth are the pillars of his success story. "A good bar employee is not immediately a good manager, but he wants to continue to grow. This is also very important to us. With us, a senior employee can therefore have the same salary as a manager, because they are equally important but have different competences." In cooperation with Accor, Zoet training and consultancy and Teampeak, Van den Broek offers its employees a training programme. They are assessed on the company's core values, which are at www.carriereindehoreca.nl. "In addition, we use 360-degree feedback where we evaluate each other. So my employees also evaluate me. We find that this is very much appreciated. Our permanent team actually feels like a family and with an MTO of 8.4, we score tremendously high."

Automation and AI are mainly used by Van den Broek to make work easier and free up even more time for customer contact. The cleaners have recently been able to check their rooms themselves with AI. They take photos that are approved if everything has been cleaned properly. He also wants to use vacuuming robots to work even more effectively. "Of course, sustainability and energy saving are also very important themes for us. Here, we always look at which investments are smart. Where does energy disappear? How do things stick together? For instance, we use ventilation with heat recovery and replacing the minibars saves a lot of energy. We take short- and long-term measures, such as the switch from gas to heat pumps. At ibis this has already largely succeeded. Mercure is a different type of property which makes this more difficult, but we are also investigating this." 

In the conversation, it becomes clear that Van den Broek continues to innovate, while staying true to his core values and putting the human side at the centre. "In five to 10 years with our Gen M Hotel group, we will still have a number of attractive hotels and the number of beds will have grown. My mission is to create ambassadors in other cities as well. This is what I like to spar about!"

As a hotelier, Van den Broek sees that group bookings take up unnecessary time and therefore too much money. This at a time when efficiency is a requirement. "We therefore developed a new platform during corona that makes a group booking much more efficient. In it, the booker can keep track of the booking and reservation and all changes. This solution saves valuable time and money, but is also much more customer-friendly and staff-friendly. We are also going to offer this platform to other hotels. The idea is that this can then also be linked to other systems and the booker can also search for hotels."

In 2014, Niek van den Broek became director of Hotel ibis Tilburg. This hotel will also undergo renovation in 2024. "There will be a new tower and we will add a total of 104 rooms. In addition, we are making several sustainability investments." Mulderblauw Architecten is responsible for the design and Accor's Chill concept will be used for the interior."