Rebuilding a hotel region: leadership across borders
Change & Transformation
When I joined Sircle Collection in Berlin, hotels and teams across Central Europe were restarting after an uncertain period. There was relief and ambition, alongside caution. The question was how to grow again without losing the character of the organisation.
The essentials
- Connect regional agreements to local identity.
- Build support around the needs of hotels and teams.
- Make leadership and knowledge transferable across borders.
From one hotel to a regional assignment
My assignment began as a temporary role to revitalise an underperforming hotel in Germany. Three months later, I was asked to stay and lead the rebuilding of the Central European region, with responsibility for Germany, Austria and Czechia.
We opened three hotels in three countries, built a support office in Berlin and helped teams regain their rhythm. The assignment became broader than recovering one property.
It also concerned trust: in each other, in the brand and in the meaning of hospitality after disruption.
Rebuilding after COVID
The return of guests did not mean the organisation was immediately complete again. Teams needed to be rebuilt, while experience and energy were not equally available everywhere.
We started with culture and daily reality. In restaurants, housekeeping and reception, we wanted to understand what restarting meant for people. Training addressed the meaning of the work alongside its processes.
Teams connected across borders, first digitally and later in person. This helped restore a sense of belonging.
Growing while preserving character
Sir Prague was a distinctive project in this development and an important management-contract property within my assignment. It showed me that scaling requires more than a strategic plan. The character of the brand also needs to remain recognisable in operations.
Leading across three countries
An international region contains different contexts, sensitivities and working practices. An approach that works well in one location may be received differently elsewhere.
We worked with shared values while allowing local interpretation. Consistency was connected to a common conviction without imposing identical execution on every property.
Stepping in where attention is needed
During the assignment, I also temporarily led Food & Beverage for Seven North and Miznon. This was not planned at the outset, but followed what the situation required.
For me, it reinforced the importance of adaptability. A title describes a role; responsibility must also reflect the organisation's needs.
Three enduring insights
Culture deserves attention during recovery because systems alone do not give work sufficient meaning. Regional arrangements should support local identity. Growth is sustainable only when people have room to develop alongside it.
Rebuilding therefore means more than returning to what existed. It requires organising what the next phase needs.
Make regional support serve the properties
A support office adds value when it helps local managers decide and execute more effectively. Start with issues they cannot resolve independently: shared expertise, specialist capacity, reliable reporting or follow-through on regional decisions. An additional meeting layer without a clear purpose can instead create distance.
Describe which responsibilities sit centrally and which remain at property level. Invite local teams to explain where support works and where agreements cause unnecessary delays. The regional leader protects coherence while allowing differences that fit the concept, guests and local context.
In practice
Prepare the next phase
Regional growth requires attention to what happens after opening as well as the opening plan itself. Establish how a new property will be supported when project intensity reduces, who coaches local managers and how issues between properties and the support office are followed through. Handover must cover both knowledge and accountability.
Ask regional management to map critical dependencies and successors within two weeks. Review critical vacancies, open decisions, recurring service issues and local leadership capacity monthly. Assess whether properties can act with greater independence. Growth then becomes less dependent on one regional leader repeatedly stepping in everywhere.
A practical starting point
During regional growth, ask which values must be recognisable everywhere and which decisions can remain local. Make both explicit and discuss them with the teams who deliver the guest experience each day.
The next step
What does your hotel need now?
Discuss your situation, urgency and key risks. Together, we identify an appropriate first step.
