Dorint Hotel Amsterdam Airport

Exceeding all expectations

By taking onboard the views of its clients, it has taken less than ten years for the Dorint Hotel Amsterdam – Airport to become one of the best loved in Europe

With its 442 luxurious rooms, three restaurant concepts, Active Spa and state-of-the-art conference facilities, the four-star Dorint Hotel Amsterdam – Airport is the third largest hotel to ever be constructed in the Netherlands. Part of the famous German hotel chain, it was officially opened in 2003 and in the eight years since it has become renowned for consistently exceeding its owners high quality and service standards.
Dorint Hotel 2011 2
“Ten years ago, when I was responsible for company developments and acquisitions, I was approached and asked whether or not Dorint would be interested in building and running a brand new hotel at Amsterdam Airport, and naturally we jumped at the chance,” states Kees Teer, general manager of Dorint Hotel Amsterdam – Airport. “In the run-up the hotels’ construction an in-depth survey was carried out with more than 2000 people, each involved in some way with the airport itself, so pilots, conference organisers, cabin attendants and frequent flyers, in order to get a feel for not only what they liked about airport hotels but, more importantly, what they didn’t like.

Global approach
“One of the most frequent demands related specifically to food and beverage services and the wish to see a hotel kitchen that took a very global approach, and was able to cater for people of all different tastes and cultures. Dorint took these ideas and implemented them through three very different restaurant concepts. The hotels’ Sports and Media Bar is a 24-hour-a-day, seven days-a-week operation with a full, rotating kitchen staff working around the clock to provide all guests, even those arriving well into the night, with a catering service. Then there is the Nadar á la carte restaurant and finally the brassiere, which is geared towards the use of organic and Fair Trade products. So what the hotel has done is respond directly to what its typical clients want by providing a constant food service that is based around choice.”
Dorint Hotel 2011 3
A notable achievement for the Dorint Hotel Amsterdam – Airport is the fact that it will forever by noted as the first hotel in the world to have a whole floor dedicated to the use of Fair Trade products and having a sustainable approach to the environment: “The floor in question is called the Green and Fair Trade Floor and this initiative first came about when the hotel got involved with a biological cotton programme. This involvement really opened a lot of eyes and led the hotel to seek a way of making nearly everything under its roof People, Planet and Profit (PPP) compliant,” Kees continues. “This work took its first significant step with the creation of the Fair Trade Room, one that boasts reduced electricity and water consumption rates, and contains only Fair Trade products in its mini-bar.

Carbon footprints
“In the time since this room was opened the response has been extremely positive, with more and more companies wanting to book into these rooms as they feel it is important to prove their own commitment to reducing their carbon footprints. The hotel, and the wider company as a whole, now continues to work towards more sustainable measures and one of the best ways of doing so is by actively seeking the opinions of its employees.”

An innovative approach to business is not the only core strength that has made the hotel such a success, as Kees goes on to explain: “The path to success really begins with a product, in this case the hotel building itself, that has to be as close to perfect as possible. According to its guests and numerous hotel review websites, the Dorint Hotel Amsterdam – Airport is one of the most popular in the whole of the country. What you need to then sustain this response is a great staff and that is what the hotel has as well. The company’s slogan is ‘Dorint – Expect More’, and what it tries to do across all of its hotel is not only meet guests expectations, but exceed them, and it is this attitude to business that has made it as successful as it is today.”