New hotel opening during a crisis: lessons from 328 rooms

How do you run a new hotel opening when the plan falls apart before the first guest arrives? Pre-opening schedules assume a steady build-up of staff, systems and demand. A crisis can break every one of those assumptions at once, and the questions that follow are practical: who looks after the building, how fast do you hire, what do you run yourself, and where does technology help?

Sjoerd Sybesma, General Manager of a 328-room lifestyle hotel in Amsterdam, faced all of them. He received the keys from the construction company at the start of 2020 and took over the building six months later, in the middle of the lockdowns. His experience offers lessons for any opening that does not go to plan.

What a new hotel opening demands before the first guest

An opening carries responsibilities long before it carries revenue. Once a building is handed over, it has to be looked after, whether guests are staying or not. A new hotel is full of equipment and systems that need maintenance, and Sjoerd specifically mentions the Legionella management that has to continue regardless of occupancy.

In his case the plan looked reasonable on paper: six months of pre-opening, six months of a virus, then a normal launch. It did not work out that way. Nobody had been hired by the time of the handover, and he entered the building with a team of six. Closing the doors and putting a sign on them was not an option, because the building was now theirs. Pre-opening on a remote island raises similar questions, as building a resort in the Seychelles shows.

For any team preparing to open, the takeaway is to plan for the full burden of the building from day one:

• Keep maintenance and safety routines such as Legionella management running, even when the hotel is empty.
• Know who in a small core team is responsible for which systems.
• Expect to carry these costs before revenue and a full team arrive.

Plan for demand that returns faster than hiring

Forecasts made during a crisis can be badly wrong in both directions. At the time, the expectation was that the new normal meant everyone would stay at home and that the shortage of hotel rooms in Amsterdam was over. Sjoerd says his team would have felt lucky with 20% occupancy.

The opposite happened. When the hotel actually opened in 2022, it reached 80% occupancy around Easter, and Sjoerd admits he did not know how to manage it because there were not enough people. 2023 exceeded all expectations, and 2024 was even better. The hotel ended last year with an NPS above 71.

The lesson for any new hotel opening is to build a plan for a sudden upswing as well as a slow start. Demand can come back faster than a hiring plan can deliver.

Lead the opening team as coach, trainer and learner

A small team that suddenly has to run a busy hotel needs a different kind of leadership. Sjoerd goes back to his first general manager at Hilton Amsterdam in the nineties, when the general manager was a figure people looked up to. In his view that is no longer the case. Today you are part of the team.

“You're a coach. You're a trainer, and you're a leader, and the three of them combined.”

Sjoerd Sybesma, 5:47

He adds a fourth role: learner. The new generation teaches him how to work with them, and he does not expect them to change because he is older. Younger colleagues walk into his office, sit down and tell him they disagree with something the hotel does. He asks them to explain, lets them talk, and adjusts when they have a fair point.

“The NPS score that we reached last year is not because I'm a good or bad general manager. That has nothing to do with it.”

Sjoerd Sybesma, 7:04

He gives the credit to a team that enjoys itself and feels important. In his opinion, a manager who does not go along with this shift will simply not succeed anymore. That calls for embracing change in the workplace.

Decide early what to run yourself and what to outsource

An opening team cannot do everything at full strength, so it pays to be honest about capabilities. Sjoerd's hotel sits in a building of about 20 floors, with a sky bar 60 meters up. The team opened the bar with a PR partner and had a flying start. Then another lockdown hit. Everyone who had been hired had to go, and each reopening meant starting from scratch.

When restrictions lifted in the second quarter of 2022, the hotel filled up quickly. The team had to focus on rooms, and the bar became something they were coping with next to the hotel. It was a good bar, Sjoerd says, but it was not wow. So he put a question to headquarters.

“Are we gonna continue playing second league, or do we wanna play champions league?”

Sjoerd Sybesma, 15:52

His answer was honest. He believes he can play at the top level in the hotel, not in a bar. The hotel found a partner that wanted to invest and bring the right people, and the partner rebuilt the space with a refurbishment Sjoerd puts at over €500,000. Choices like this decide long term hotel profitability well after the launch.

Use technology to support the welcome, not replace it

Technology can take pressure off a stretched team, but it works best with clear rules. Sjoerd's hotel has close to 7,000 reviews on one booking platform alone, and replies are drafted by an AI tool. He or the guest experience manager reads every one, changes it, and only then sends it. Nothing goes out unread, and that rule counts for his whole team.

His view on self-service shifted with experience. At a previous hotel with nonstop check-in, he expected it to be the end of the reception. He says he was wrong: many guests still want a personal welcome, a chat and an explanation of the room. His principles for a hotel that is opening or growing:

• Use AI for drafting, and keep a person responsible for every message that leaves the hotel.
• Offer self-service such as nonstop check-in and checkout as an extra option, not as the only route.
• Match the technology to the hotel's purpose: a quick sleep-and-go budget property is different from a lifestyle hotel.
• Give staff freedom in appearance and tone so the welcome feels personal.

Sjoerd also selects future students at the hotel school in The Hague, and notices that candidates still choose hospitality to serve people, not to become rich. You can watch the full conversation for his advice to them and more stories from the opening, or explore other episodes in the Lead the Experience series.

Frequently asked questions

How do you manage a new hotel opening with a small team?

Sjoerd Sybesma describes taking over a 328-room building with six people, because nobody was hired while the lockdowns lasted. His approach was to keep the building maintained and safe, hire when demand returned, and lean heavily on the team once the doors opened. He credits that team for the results that followed.

Should a hotel outsource its food and beverage?

Sjoerd's view is that it depends on your capabilities. His hotel opened its own sky bar, but after repeated lockdowns and a hotel that filled up quickly, the team could not run both at full potential. He found a partner willing to invest and bring specialist knowledge, which in his words let the bar play at a higher level while the hotel focused on rooms.

What leadership style works for a general manager today?

According to Sjoerd, the general manager is no longer someone people look up to from a distance. He sees the role as coach, trainer and leader combined, and at times a learner. He listens when younger colleagues challenge him, adjusts when they make a fair point, and believes managers who do not work this way will not succeed anymore.

Can technology replace the hotel reception?

Sjoerd once expected nonstop check-in to shrink the reception team, and says he was wrong. His hotel offers nonstop check-in and checkout as an extra service, and AI drafts replies to reviews, but every reply is read and edited before it goes out. He sees technology as support that should be used to the max, not as a replacement for the human touch.