Young couple Cas Polman (25) and Lotte van Baak (25) have been running Van der Valk Hotel Melle in Germany since April 2022. Hospitality is in their blood. "We breathe our work, but also enjoy our leisure time.
Cas: 'We have been together for about 2.5 years now and met - very cliché - at the Hotel School Maastricht. We had known each other for some time, but we only started a relationship during our graduation, which was in the middle of corona time. That I would go into the hotel business was no big surprise, it's in my blood.' Lotte: "That was something different for me, though. I was in two minds about what to do in terms of studies: conservatory or hotel school. I also ended up following my family roots by choosing hotel school. My family ran vacation parks, so I was familiar with the hospitality industry. And during my studies I continued to sing in a student band, which was great. I don't regret my education for a second. And my love for singing is still there, too.'
Cas: 'It was clear to us pretty soon that we wanted to work together, it just felt very natural. At the end of 2021 we went to Hotel Brugge-Oostkamp together to see if living together and working together went well between us. We used that period as a kind of stepping stone. Fortunately, that went fine. After a few months, the hotel here in Melle, Germany, became vacant and we thought: let's take this chance!' Lotte: 'The division of tasks is very organic. Cas runs the restaurant part and I run the 'hotel side'. We're both good at different things, so that's a nice balance. Besides, it could also really clash between us if we both picked up the same tasks. We are only at the start of this new existence, but so far we like it very much.
Cas: "We talk a lot about the work, we breathe it and we live it. Of course we have free time now and then, but our focus is really on the hotel. It's mostly tackling and hard work. Hotel Melle is primarily focused on business guests, so that means it's a little quieter on the weekends. When we are not working for a while, we like to play golf. There are many golf courses nearby, all within about a 20-minute drive. The landscape, space and nature make the area an ideal golfing area.' Lotte: "Our favorite is Golfclub Teutoburger Wald. It is beautifully maintained and hilly and has a cozy clubhouse. The course is not too difficult, but not too easy either. Perfect for us, because we are sometimes good and sometimes not so good, but we mainly do it for fun. We also enjoy eating out in our free time and making AND drinking cocktails. The love for cocktails came when we both did our internships in London. There you either go to the pub to drink beer or to a cocktail bar.' Cas: 'For the coming year we would like to organize cocktail workshops. And anyway, we still have lots of ideas for the future of the hotel. We are really looking forward to creating something beautiful here.'
Rational
