Portrait: Gijs Wehkamp, Straightforward in leadership and hospitality

"Every day everything a little bit better. Today better than yesterday, tomorrow better than today." It is hotelier Gijs Wehkamp's favourite quote. The 41-year-old general manager of the Pestana Amsterdam Riverside says it almost casually, but it resonates with everything he says: ambition, a drive to improve and the belief that success lies above all in teamwork and consistently taking small steps forward.

When speaking to Wehkamp, his down-to-earth and goal-oriented attitude immediately stands out. He is someone who draws energy from the hectic hotel business. Anyone meeting him will therefore not find a stiff hotel manager hiding behind spreadsheets, but a man who much prefers direct contact with his people and guests. He looks back on his first hospitality experiences with humour and just as easily reflects critically on the challenges of the sector.

Free upbringing, happened to end up in the hospitality industry

Wehkamp grew up in Voorhout, the youngest of three children. His mother worked as a teacher and later as a school principal, his father as a facilities manager in care homes. "My parents were doing something completely different. Of course the hotel industry has common ground with my father's work, but that was not the reason I entered this profession." So his path towards the hospitality industry was not a foregone conclusion. After his havo exams, at just 16, he started Business Administration and later Technical Business Administration. Both studies he did not stick with. "I was young and just didn't know it very well yet," he says. Meanwhile, he did work at De Ruijter restaurant in Noordwijk, where he says he kicked in some classics with both feet: "There, I was sent out for the 'Lontensnuiter' for the candles and the 'beer keg belt'. It didn't stop at that side job. At Hofstede Cleyburch, he began to find hospitality really interesting. At nineteen, he enrolled in the hotel school in Leeuwarden. Yet he puts the role of education into perspective. "The system back then was not always knowledge-oriented. You could get along quite easily if you could talk well. At student association Io Vivat Nostrorum Sanitas and Heerendispuut Qui Vivra Verra, I actually learned a lot more about the profession and about myself than through studying."

Hotels as schools of learning

"After my internship in sales at the Grand Hotel Wien, I ended up at culinary events agency Smaak, where I started working as location manager for Stadion Galgenwaard, because like every hotelello graduate, I thought you had to become a department head straight away. After almost two years there and a brief foray into educational catering, I ended up at Hotels van Oranje in 2010. Carolien Reserveur, then interim General Manager alongside Jaap Liethof, believed it was better to hire young professionals and train them yourself than to bring in experienced ones with their own methods. He was hired there as Manager Banqueting and Bars, advanced to Food & Beverage Manager and, as he says, "really learned the trade in practice." He speaks with warmth about his time there. Not only because of the great responsibility over the huge F&B department, but also because he met his wife there. "It was a fantastic hotel, and I am still grateful to Jaap and the owners Bram Mol and Charles de Boer for the opportunities I got there." Fast steps followed: Director of Operations at The Hague-based Marriott, Deputy General Manager at NHOW Rotterdam, and, in 2019, his appointment as General Manager of the five-star Pestana Amsterdam Riverside hotel. Each step provided different insights: at Marriott mainly numerical, at NHOW working in a multinational company. "Every house has its cross, but everywhere you take away a valuable lesson or memory," he says.

The Pestana Amsterdam Riverside

In Amsterdam's Pijp district, the hotel where Wehkamp now heads stands since 2017: the Pestana Amsterdam Riverside. Housed in a monumental building that once served as city hall and city archive, it has 154 rooms, divided between historic and new-build properties. "Pestana is the largest Portuguese hotel group, with more than 100 hotels worldwide. What I like is that as a general manager, you get a lot of freedom. The owner expects you to run it as if it were your own hotel. "He jokes that if he meets the targets by selling only hot dogs it's also good, "as long as the result is there." But it's more than numbers. Wehkamp still sees the hotel as a "hidden diamond" in the city for people outside the city. "People sometimes do not know at all that there is a hotel here. 

And that is actually a shame, because inside we have a boutique-like atmosphere with Portuguese influences. We thought about flagpoles on the façade but that is not allowed from Monument Conservation."

Relations with the neighbourhood were initially strained; residents had to get used to the fact that suddenly there was a hotel where the archives once stood. Noise pollution, deliveries and yard fencing caused tensions. "Fortunately, we solved that well and the relationship with the neighbourhood has now improved a lot. We really try to fulfil a neighbourhood function, for instance through jazz sessions with Cinetol and participation in neighbourhood hotel.co.uk." Feedback that guests give on the various platforms Wehkamp uses with its teams to improve the product. One of the improvements that will need to be done in the coming years is the replacement of the carpet/flooring in the hotel. In addition, there are always points of interest regarding guest experience or to involve local residents even more in the hotel. 

Hospitality without a script

For Wehkamp, hospitality is essentially about one thing: "Making guests happy." He does not believe in thick folders of SOPs (standard operating procedures) that prescribe employees how to smile or how often to call a guest by name. "An authentic approach works much better. A receptionist who may not do it entirely by the book, but who makes real contact, makes for happy guests as far as I am concerned." He also translates that human touch into his leadership. "Open, straightforward, black and white, but always the best interests of my staff." He is especially proud of his team: the growth they have experienced in recent years and the critical attitude with which department heads seek improvements themselves.

How does he himself switch off from work? Holidays are important in this, even if he does not always manage to make up all the days. "Usually we go to a campsite in France with our family. For the children, that's ideal: freedom, friends, lots of outdoors. "In addition, my wife and I go away once or twice a year for a long weekend without the children, to cities like Porto, Lisbon, Rome or Berlin. Just getting away together, that's also important."

Learning moments

When asked about moments that have stayed with Wehkamp, two stand out for him. The first moment was at Hotels van Oranje, when, during a big walking dinner, he was "caught" by one of the owners while carrying plates himself. "He made it clear to me that my job as manager was not to carry plates, but to manage my team and keep an overview." It taught him to balance between cooperating and leading. The second learning moment was the corona crisis. From one day to the next, guests and turnover dropped completely. He had to take difficult decisions, such as terminating contracts of probationary staff. "Those were very tough moments, precisely because the future was so uncertain," he says. The reopening immediately brought huge crowds, forcing us to perform under high stress with too small a team.

Social view

Wehkamp looks beyond the walls of his hotel. He worries about the impoverishment of social debate, a hardened society and short-term thinking in politics. The increase in VAT on lodging and the ever-rising tourist tax in Amsterdam particularly bother him. "Studies show that it does not work, and yet it is being implemented. Tourists will still come to Amsterdam, but will soon sleep in other cities. Then you keep the crowds, but lose the income and jobs." Sustainability is also an important issue not only for Wehkamp but also for Pestana. Which immediately invested in technical solutions such as thermal storage when it launched the hotel, but also in social initiatives, such as supporting a crèche on São Tomé through donations from guests. "For us, sustainability is also about dealing with staff and society." 

The anecdote

Sometimes there is light-heartedness too. For example, Wehkamp tells of a gala at Hotels van Oranje for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, which was attended by Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. During the main course, the chef was called to the table. "He crouched down next to Victoria, accidentally looked a little awkwardly into her cleavage and then said, totally unconsciously, 'Yes, I am the head chef of the hotel.'" Wehkamp can still laugh tastefully about it. It is an example of the unexpected situations that colour the hospitality industry.

Energy, ambition and future

What does he get energised by? "When the hotel is very busy and we get into a flow. When you think: this is going to be a huge task, and it still succeeds as a team. That really energises me."

Ambitions for the next five years he modestly formulates. Foreign countries do not immediately beckon, although he does not rule anything out. The reopening of Hotels van Oranje could be an opportunity. But for now, his focus is on Pestana, where there is still plenty of room for improvement. "Together with my team a little bit better every day," he says.

For young hoteliers dreaming of a General Manager position, he has a clear tip: "Don't go too fast. Make sure you are broadly developed. A GM is a generalist, not a specialist. Surround yourself with people who are better in their field than you are, but make sure you have enough basic knowledge to manage them. And perhaps most importantly: enjoy yourself. Then that opportunity will come naturally."

As General Manager, he sees his career not as a straight line to the top, but as a series of learning schools. From Noordwijk to Vienna, from The Hague to Rotterdam, and now in Amsterdam. He spoke openly about difficult decisions and is visibly proud of his team.

The common thread is perhaps that first lesson, learned at a student union and confirmed by practice: that hotels are not about protocols, but about people. And that every day a little better is not just a quote, but a work ethic.  

Most beautiful hotel you've been to?

"The most beautiful hotel I have personally stayed at is the Autograph Collection Boscolo in Rome, which is what we now know as Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Hotel. I spent a few days here during my honeymoon, and the combination of luxury, with the ancient excavations from Roman times in the basement, as well as the fantastic service from the team there was truly brilliant!"

What is your favourite drink?

"That depends on the moment. In winter, I enjoy a strong red wine immensely, but a cold beer during a summer evening barbecue is just as nice."

Hotel, caravan or tent and why?

"As a child, I used to go camping with my parents, but I haven't done that for at least 20 years. For short trips, I prefer to choose a hotel, mainly because of the convenience. It doesn't have to be a five-star hotel, just important a good bed, a cosy bar and a nice breakfast. For summer holidays, we usually go with the family to a mobile home at a luxury campsite with lots of amenities for us and the children."

What if you had not become a Hotello?

"Then I might have been a butcher. My grandfather had his own butchery in Zwolle and I always loved the stories of him and my mother. I still find it fascinating to see the dynamism and craft in a good butcher's shop."

What is your most expensive hotel stay?

"No idea. I often take advantage of staff deals at the chains I have worked for, and so now. The most I've ever paid for an overnight stay is around four hundred euros a night."