Hotels

Hotel Corner

Michel Scheffers, General Manager of Hotel Jen Hong Kong

Michel Scheffers, General Manager of Hotel Jen Hong Kong, shares his thoughts on his hotel career and his job as General Manager.

My aspiration was to be a chef at one of the best restaurants in Holland. I did just that with a fne dining restaurant at the World Trade Centre, and was later promoted to F&B manager. Then I was invited to work at a restaurant in Thailand that my friend bought. I decided to do it since I didn’t have any bridges to burn back home. An intended one-year stay turned longer, then I met my girlfriend, now my wife, and Thailand became a big part of my life.

I joined a Thailand-based hotel group, then later the Hilton Group where I worked in Cambodia, opened a hotel in Delhi, then Pattaya, before Shangri-la got in touch with me. With Shangri-la, I worked in Sentosa, Singapore, then came to Hong Kong as the Hotel Manager of Island Shangri-la before I was promoted to the exciting role of General Manager at Hotel Jen.

I start with my favourite part of the day: walking around the hotel, meeting our guests and colleagues. It is always such a pleasure to hear how much our guests are enjoying their stay with us. During weekends, I love to stroll around Café Malacca, which in my opinion is the best Malaysian restaurant in the city, and see many familiar local guests visiting us from all over to try our authentic Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine.

I believe leading by example and being ‘on the ﬂoor’ amongst the teams, while providing guidance, direction and showing constant support for all is of crucial importance for any General Manager. “If you can encourage and help others to be successful, they will contribute to the success of your hotel and your vision.”

Hotel Jen is inspired by a virtual persona, Jen, who is a friend to every guest that stays with us. The brand is about showing our guests true hospitality and welcoming them to our home the way a friend would do. And that’s why everyone in our team, along with being trained to provide frst-rate service, is a local expert who can introduce the city’s and neighbourhood’s highlights.

These days, travellers are looking for unique experiences. Hotel Jen, which is located in the ever-changing Western district, is the perfect base for our guests to explore the city in their own ways. And our location is truly a gem, not only for business travellers or tourists, but also for locals who want to explore our neighbourhood, which has a wonderful mixture of vintage and new, imbued with an authentic East-meets-West culture. Local restaurants and traditional craft shops can be found alongside trendy bars and unique art galleries. In Western District, there’s something for everyone.

My personal recommendation for tourists:
1) Ride the entire historic Ding Ding tram going through the city streets on Hong Kong Island; it is a great sightseeing experience.
2) Take one of the many guided walking tours, be it cultural, historic or architectural; there is so much to see!
3) Hike one of our many trails in Hong Kong, which are all clearly marked, and most of them provide visitors great vistas of our beautiful islands, beaches or mountains

(Edited on 30 Sep 2017)