Latest / Brand Insiders / Niels and Thijs van der Valk of Baoase on Family Hospitality, the Art of Saying Yes, and Building the Caribbean's Number One Resort

Transcript

Niels and Thijs van der Valk of Baoase on Family Hospitality, the Art of Saying Yes, and Building the Caribbean's Number One Resort · Brand Insiders

• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another exciting episode of Brand Insiders.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm joined today by the co-directors of Bauaza.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think I pronounced that right that time.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: The co-directors are Niels and Thijs van de Fok.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Did I pronounce your last names properly in Dutch as well?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Also correct.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, awesome.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm two for two so far.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: So start off, tell us about the property and uh where it is in Curacao and just how incredible it is.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, thank you.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and also for taking the interview.
• 0:52
  unknown: Yeah.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um Balazo, yeah.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's um it started all uh somewhere in 2002.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh um where my family in 89 they came to Curaçao and they started the Van der Valk Hotel.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's our family brand uh hotel chain that mostly is based in the Netherlands, uh, Germany, Belgium, Spain.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: And uh they had an opportunity to start a hotel here in uh 89.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh my father and my grandfather uh bought that hotel, and with that, the love for Kursaw started.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then in 2002, my father bought a house in a small neighborhood where he wanted to build uh like a family retreat.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And uh after a while he bought the neighbors and bought the neighbors, and then the first phase of La Waza.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um around 2002, he built five of houses uh with one swimming pool in the middle in a U shape, and uh four five of his children.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm number five, my brother Niels is number four, and um this house started, and uh from there, yeah, yeah, you can only buy your neighbors once and then get a little bit bigger and bigger.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: No, the the funniest thing was like um, so I asked my dad, like uh nice building five uh villas for your children.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then after one year he said, like, hey guys, we never go to Curso like that.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm uh in your university, I have to go to school.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because of that, I'm gonna chase it into the hotel, we're gonna lose your uh your villa.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, okay, nice.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, now we think it was on purpose.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh but um so he has uh he was falling in love with Curacell and in your very central on the island, um, but still in a small neighborhood where you won't expect uh an hotel to be there.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, in 2002 his yeah, his journey started.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: He's uh he's a creator, uh inventor, you cannot sit still.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, and then it took us around 12 to 15 years to build what it is now.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh 2016, the the third phase of Baalwasa uh was built.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's the current beach hunt suites were built at that time.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, if you ask me when was Baowasa starting real like a resort, what is proper Baalaza, then that's 2016 is the start for us.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but it's so yeah, from 2002 to 2016, it was uh the time where we find out what Baoasa should be.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh right now it's uh how many keys?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And tell us about some of the awards it's won.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we now we have uh 23 accommodations.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I say accommodation because we have suites, we have rooms, we have villas, um around 75 guests when we're full, 100% accuracy.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um so quite boutique.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: We run we run it as a family retreat.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: We always see we welcome people uh at the gate and welcome home.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: And uh they yeah, in the end of this day, they really need to be the bow uh part of the Bauasa family.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, uhwards um, many, so many at one point around 2020.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh was quite funny.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: We came in in 2020, and um yeah, the stuff was really doing so such a good job, and the property is so beautiful and unique.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And if you travel, if you more and more if you travel, you start to realize what you have, right?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: And at that point, I thought uh uh I said I saw that the conde nast and the traveler leisure uh awards coming passing by with other resorts.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I think we should try to go in in that list, right?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: The Korean top 100, I think we deserve that.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh yeah, I think within five, yeah, not even, I think within four years we were number one, and that was amazing.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we didn't expect it, nobody was expecting it.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh blew us away.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, although it now, yeah, it makes you hungry again um to keep it up, right?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: And uh and share this with the world.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, would you offer any explanations for why it attained number number one?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, the we talk a lot in general about soul, heart, unique hospitality, anti-scale, all these buzzwords, but it always comes down to the owner's vision, your vision to see it through at every single detail and really give it that labor of love over the past two decades.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us what what makes Balaza so incredible?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think then maybe you should come here, but uh yeah, for the one who uh who come down.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think then the the biggest uh difference between us and the competitors or like chain hotels, the moment when you enter the the hotel, it feels like home.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: It feels very warm, it feels very like and how did we uh arrange that?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think because we are like daily uh involved still in operations and the developments, we are there with the staff, so we we treat our our staff as family, and they reflect that to uh to our guest.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that's uh like a natural feeling, I guess.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a thing you can't buy.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that combined with some feature features of like the hotel, like for example, the lagoon, uh the Indonesian kind of style design, the warmth of the plants, uh the warmth of the staff.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a combination of several things, but uh I think that makes Bauas very unique.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I think also one of our USP is still like food.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we offer great uh style food.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's not only one thing, but the thing is the most important thing is that you as owner are very involved in uh in in daily operations and in the hotel business.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it's it's perfect.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, I see that story repeated over and over again around the world.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: All the best properties, the owners are involved.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um you both came into the picture uh for the last five to ten years, and you're second generation hoteliers, is that correct?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah, we're we're turret originally, but fort.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Fort.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Ford.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but that's from the Van der Volk Hotel chain.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and this is a private property which my father began by himself, or because by himself.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so then in Big Baalasa, we were the second.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and in 2020, yeah, we arrived uh like in the middle of COVID, and my sister, uh Jessie, and her husband Oliver, they did an amazing job uh in the before that for around six years.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they really put the bases together to be uh a five-star luxury resort.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: And from there, we came with I think the right people at the right time, and uh we we did other things, so it's a combination of the family, right?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody still, my brothers and sisters, they call.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: My father is here now as well, and yeah, we really treat the place as our home.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so we take care of care of the things we do, and it's also uh um it's not a lease contract or whatever, so you put a lot of effort and time and and and money as well into the property to keep it in a perfect state and invest in the company to be better and into the people because you want to be better.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and right now the two of you are planning an expansion.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sometimes you can hear some noise.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry for that.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're very close to uh to the expansion.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: But literally, uh, I think uh you will find the reason.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean it's not even five meters or uh 15 feet.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, something where I'm very proud on.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um the the idea of Bawasa was always to be under 100 guests, um because we want to keep boutique, right?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we didn't never have the opportunity uh to do that, and now finally the opportunity came uh to arrange that.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we're building now uh yeah a few more suites, uh the Ocean Pool, uh Ocean Front pool suite.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh beautiful, uh more than five meters wide, so that's what 15 feet wide, yeah, uh 10 meters long, only inside without the porches, 30 feet.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: So it's quite a big room.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's like 80 square, 80, 90 square meters, uh, so another 90 square feet for suites.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: And we took the basis of the beachfront, what is our yeah, best suite that we have, and also put it as they love that the most.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: But then that was that one was built in 2016, right?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So we had 10 years to improve that suite, and also you have you have more technology to put into it, but what we we know this um what makes a car old if you buy a new car.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: After three years, you look at the screens and the screens are all older.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we did is actually used in the back end, we also used all the technology uh with the demotica system, but we kept on that you just need to push your button to put the lights on, and but we put a lot of technique behind it, and also a shower if you shower, but now we place a shower on what is a real experience.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we we yeah, we improved into the experience of the room and the convenience of the room instead of because marble is marble, right?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: So it's in 30 years, it's still beautiful.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, you can discuss about colors, uh, but I think also Babas has a complete own style.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's not about oh uh career marble is is now hype.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: We need to go to career marble.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, we do our own thing, yeah.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Also the styling uh and the build, even the building, the construction itself, we do everything in-house.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah, that's I think also we used to be of us is that we are so much involved.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, like 10 minutes ago, I was still in old clothes and being on the construction myself to guide the guys to make sure that everything is in the right spot, um, and to make sure that yeah, the opening in December uh will be perfect.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the guests can really they can really feel that when it's all in-house and you've really given thought to every single detail, and the places are a reflection of the family and uh the history of the property and the history of of the island as well.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it'll really show.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's funny.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: My father sometimes, he's now here, for example, he walks also to the guests, and he literally will talk to every guest.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And he always uh they always ask, Sure, may I ask you something?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh who are you?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: And he always makes the same joke after 20 years already.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the biggest employee.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then uh everybody starts laughing, but it's also a connection, right?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you come to a place where you meet the owner, it gives extra it gives something extra, yeah.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: And also and also put everyone on shock because he's gonna sit here like for one month, six.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: He's also living on the property.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: So he needs to he's observing everyone, and then uh yeah, he keeps everyone shock.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean he doesn't interfere too much, but some things he's like, this maybe you should do that the next time or try this.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: So he's helping everyone in the in the company.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, it's very interesting.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it's it's interesting, but you know, I bet you some people they come in and they love it, and they come back specifically to speak to your dad uh as he's walking around the property.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, in the future to speak to you guys, you'll you'll have your own inside jokes for guests as well.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, probably so um, you know, one thing with curacao, every single island in the Caribbean is different and unique and has its own culture.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us about Curacao, and um, I guess a good place to start is um Bawaza, what what does that word mean?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um so when my father started here, yeah, said I'm uh I'm gonna make a lagoon for for Debbie, that's his uh girlfriend.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh she said, that's fine, you can do that.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then he said, Okay, he made a lagoon, very nice, and then he made an island also for her because he was already married with my mom and uh uh he uh he didn't want to marry it again, so he said, Okay, stay with me, but I'm gonna build an island for you.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that is named also uh after her, BB Island.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um, and that comes to Baoaza, or the the first name is B, and then the A is for my dad, Ot, and then Oase.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: So then Oasa means oasis in Dutch.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, okay, cool.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Put the names together and then you get Baoaza.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then at that time, also we didn't like it was so this was around to down five-ish, right?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and at one point we got we got American people, like first we it's a cursor mostly Dutch oriented in the past, right?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um mostly Dutch tourism, and after a while we got more uh people from the states and uh countries who speak English, and like they pronounced it, they didn't know how to pronounce it.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: So reservations, uh yeah, they answered the phone and so that yeah, is this uh bailways?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: And we heard different names, right?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: But by repeating the guests repeated that name so many times, yeah, and then they will never forget.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: So it was quite funny.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why we always kept the name and up went to her an international name.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: But we yeah, we never expected that the resort itself uh yeah, was so globally now uh known for.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that's uh yeah, yeah.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, uh, you know, uh raises the question where do your guests come from uh to curacao?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Are they coming uh from north North America and I guess Europe, uh obviously, but uh do you want to speak to any countries or any particular places where you're getting particular um traction, I guess you could say?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think the the biggest traction is from Holland.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because Curaçao was uh back in the days part of the Dutch colonies.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's an independent uh island.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a very close uh connection with Holland.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: So we have like five, six daily flights from Holland.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: But uh after COVID chain uh things are changing because back in the days the tourism on Cursau was not as big as now because they have refinery business, they had the offshore uh system, and uh that yeah, both uh industries are closed now, so are getting uh less big.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: So they shifted to tourism.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: So and now they're going more towards the American market, and America is also discovering Curacao because it's still like a hidden gem.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like, where's Curaçao?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, it's next to Aruba.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone knows Aruba.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah, the numbers are growing every year.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I think within five years, I think it will be divided by three uh big markets.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think like 40% Dutch, uh 30% American, and then maybe 30, 20 America.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: South America is also growing.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Brazil, mostly Brazil, Colombia, Colombia, um, maybe Venezuela in the future.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: I see from the states, you see, of course, mostly the tri-states for us.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, of course, yeah, Florida uh is also uh yeah nice and up.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh yeah, America has a good connection.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then also Atlanta is flying, and then we have also a lot of Canadians.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Canadians are coming.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, direct flights from Toronto.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, there you go.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I mean, I I raise that because uh, you know, you talk a lot about keeping the the room count tiny, keeping it under 100 guests total, and that's really when communities really form.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, guests come back time and time again, year over year, and they they see the same faces, not just not just your father telling jokes, but the same guests as well.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: So it creates that sense of community.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think we I think the repeating guests at Ballas is incredibly high.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we have a really uh nice community built throughout the years, uh where we really yeah treated our guests as family as well, right?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: They're part of the family.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, we send them nice gifts, we have a complete repeater system of when people come back, right?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not based on for us, it was not we based that not on discounts or whatever, we based that on experience and little things that it was more a gesture, right?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um be a family photo shoot on the beach.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and every time they when they come back, they have something.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that connect together with getting to know the guests better and better and better, you can anticipate all what they need, right?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: We have people more than they already came like more than 20, 20 times.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um that is, yeah, then we then you're doing something uh well, I think.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, you get to know the people, uh, the chef knows the the person, he walks to the table, says, Hey, I know you know the menu, but what can we do this time?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, I want to have this and this.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Oh, I don't have it in the house, but and then we fly it in, right?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we we like to give that experience as well, is that you say, Okay, then you if you know the guest, um I always say it it starts when the guests come back because then you can really anticipate on what they want.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's better than the second state is better than the first day, but also the majority of our staff is here for a long time, so they work probably like five, ten years.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: So they also know they start building a connection with our guests, yeah.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that's also nice to see.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's not the typical guest for Bow As it's not uh yeah, it's a certain guest, right?
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you really want to have the best service, and if you order uh Diet Coke and they bring a normal coke, you cannot uh it's still the green.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: But we do it, we do it.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: We we also encourage the the the team to interconnect in a formal but informal way with the guests, right?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, to and and yeah, you need to like that if you ever yeah, and and we have to create uh greatest staff because uh the majority also comes from Kursau, yeah.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, they are very lovely people, really.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: They if they if they talk to you and they're smiling, you know, like then it doesn't you don't mind if it's a little bit too late because they have they have a kind of a flair and you're like oh and and they're for yeah, a lot of sense of humor, so it's it's it's nice.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Unique as well.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you well, speaking of unique, uh, one of the things I read about, and I have not been to Balaza yet, unfortunately, but one of the things I read about that was really cool was um I guess it's the purple flag that people put outside.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: their their door when they want to be like the uh they want the service.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just this informal way that uh you know we can create something just so unique in an extra special moment.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh could you talk about those little those little details that really make it so it isn't that that square box experience you'd have at other resorts?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah I think we grew up in hospitality where we were both born in a hotel right literally um my father and my mom were always working uh in the hotel well while yeah where and we were living into it and with that we always learned that there's no you cannot say no there's always a possibility what you can do right we had uh we had a few buyouts as well uh in weddings and one person just advertised like beautiful magnum red wines I want to serve it on the beach uh where everybody gets but they cannot see it and it needs to be special and then when you start brainstorming with it with those guests and then at one point we uh what we did is that we hired three dive three divers and everybody was sitting on the beach net dressed nicely and decoration was beautiful and at one point he gave a speech and said I want to give it a toast but there was no wine port yet and at that point three divers came out of the water with those bottles of red wine and pouring yeah opening out historic pouring it um we do a lot of uh honey mooners of course and also um people propose a lot on cursor uh here in Bawasa uh we had uh like a small fishing boat that came in there's like hey hey I'm lost I'm looking for that and that person on the beach and then he gave a shell and in that shell was the ring or with a dive from out of the water we had so many nice things that we did um and we do that daily we never say no we always try to arrange it um yes somebody wants a helicopter there's no helicopter occur sound okay then we find out okay what's the nearest item that it of course it will cost something but we we always try to to to arrange it for that guest um and that's the same what I just if you if if a guest tastes a little bit longer or he knows our menu quite well then we go to him and ask him okay hey you hear weak are there certain things that you want outside of the menu uh a sea boss as salt completely or a different ingredient then we make sure that we'll fly it in for for that person and serve it on the moment they would like it.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well you know speaking of culinary um you know the culinary in curacao is probably absolutely out of this world uh you know the fish the fresh the fresh seafood the fruits everything like that so tell us about how tell us about the unique parts of culinary for curacao and then also just how you you go that one extra notch above it to make it that ultra luxury uh culinary experience at Bauaza um yeah you might think to be honest that we are from in front of the ocean uh yeah but it's very very very difficult uh because you there's almost yeah you cannot you cannot use local fish um for what we are doing you you can use it but the thing is like it's not consistent and our guests yeah expect that we are consistent in our uh goods and services so but with the local fishers um sometimes they don't have fish sometimes they forget to put like eyes on the fish uh it's they're trying and we try as much as to use it so if there's a nice fish cut they know the cause and then we try to use it of course but it's very hard and uh I think uh then I uh Renee Klopp uh was our uh executive chef uh FB director for what 13 years or yes kind of um he helped Balaz grow in the in this as well um and then at one point we decided to invite Michelin star chefs from the Netherlands Belgium and uh even Mexico we had and we did we started with an uh Viva La Castro Me if it was called it was just a night or two nights or three nights where we did something extraordinary.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: We invited guests but also local people from the island who we know very well and make a special night out of it.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: But we didn't do that for mostly the guests and the or the revenue part no we did it for mostly for the staff right they they cannot work with a two Michelester chef and they are coming from an island uh unfortunately Curaçao is not the wealthiest island uh and they uh learn on the job so we learn them and we train them and one part of training is to work let them work with such good chefs they learn so much and they then they get better and better and um yeah that's really fun and at one point we had like uh one event with uh Libraya who is a three Michelin star uh and then I think in total we're six or seven Michelin stars um in that one kitchen working together with our staff directly uh and and so then they learn um and for us yeah I think food is very very important because Bawas is known for his tranquility and what you want to do if you want to recharge your battery what you want to do is yeah throw out your diet away or a little bit and you want to okay more in the morning you go to the gym and then you you relax you recharge your battery um bawas is not a uh if you want to go out and then you're better off in Miami or or something like that.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah Pawas is to recharge your battery a little bit more and to relax enjoy family and enjoy your loved ones uh also the honeymooners etc uh yeah then you need good food so uh yeah that's why we focus so much and invest so much in in the in the quality of the food yeah and uh you know again it reveals itself in the awards the reviews everything they always complement the food uh at your at your resort and it's it's so important for that um so um you know with with all that said you have people coming back return return guest rate is incredibly high now you've created what we call a good problem to have which is that you don't really have a low season so uh at such high occupancy how do you manage that to live up to guest expectations while also uh expanding while also doing repairs uh while also training while also doing everything else how how do you manage that uh yeah yeah good question yeah we don't we we like to sell of course uh but it has to be sustainable so uh yeah the most important thing uh is now we are expanding so uh because of that we can lower the occupancy in uh in the other rooms yeah so we can divide it uh so we do it now two steps first we adding 14 rooms and then we add in the last phase it's like eight eight suites and then we all done like spawn wellness wellness is coming but I think in general have a good team very good team uh um yes we don't have we have certain low seasons maybe one or two months but in general we have like a full season uh but it also keeps everyone very uh on sharp um we we believe that also our staff needs uh enough time to rest so we can only see these six working days in the Green we don't do those things uh um and the rest yeah uh we try to hire people who are uh who lost uh this job and um and not only doing it because for the money of certain things of course money is an important element also for our stuff because of course how it's not cheap for living um but yeah I think a combination of all those things yeah and leading by example as well right so um if you yeah they see us and you need to be also a good leader and and and trying to be we're doing our utmost best to do that um but involve them let them be part let them feel the responsibilities we carry with with each other um and the accuracy yeah it's a lot the strain on the rooms it's it's a lot and then sometimes we really need to say to uh to uh Suanne who's our uh sales director uh like hey so you really need to push the brakes a little bit on that and that in that room because we we prefer quality over quantity in that in that uh that moment um but I think our our uh how we invest is such a high level so it will also last longer it's like very uh durable strong and uh so that also makes a difference yeah makes a tremendous difference yeah if you like and especially when you're that close to the ocean right yeah yeah maintenance in in a resort like this is is incredibly high and very important and uh the guys are really doing a great job uh of the of the maintenance team and the building team we have two teams uh to keep the resort uh as prestigious as it is of course everything can be better but in general for they do a very very good job yeah that high humidity fresh air that goes through everything the salt goes through everything termites uh don't forget those uh things uh uh you need to be really um familiar with the place to know which things you can and cannot use exactly um uh which wood to use which which wood not to use which glue which glue it's it goes so far uh uh which which uh even which fridges you are using because even the fridge in the side's kitchen can be else oxidated with rust because of the salt uh in the in the air yeah uh so it goes it goes quite far to be honest yeah I guess those are all the little details that um you know somebody controlling it from an office somewhere uh in North America would not get those details they have their their brand guidelines and you have to follow with these these suppliers this procurement process and it misses the local uh the local nuances altogether yeah sure that's true so uh earlier uh you mentioned spa and wellness uh what is what what what are you gonna do for uh that whole I guess amenity and feature yeah I think like uh the newest trend is uh well-being uh if I book a hotel I also always book with a spa uh so I think it's gonna be a full occupied spa wellness center with if to think about an among sauna treatments call plunge uh uh massages maybe we go a little bit further but we're now like in the development phase so uh yeah it's got it's not gonna be a small uh wellness so nice gym also very important yeah we already have one but we wanna expand it also I think the whole well being real well well-being part uh especially for Bawas it was always tranquility and relaxing and I think that's why wellness uh yeah is a good add-on we of course have uh uh a little spa a little wellness we do uh quite some massages and facials and those kind of things we're really do that but we want to yeah go to the next step with that because it yeah it adds yeah adds value to the to the to the property and that really people will also come for that as well um so yeah that's big IDs of course they uh it's future but uh hopefully near future yeah I I mean but you talk about the future uh well-being is so important for the next five ten years uh so what else are you looking ahead to besides the expansion besides spa wellness what else are you looking forward to over the next five ten years for Boazza yeah so yeah we have we have this hotel and um we also currently working on uh on new developments uh uh private residential end uh apartments high end five star so the idea is to have like the hotel as the heart of the company oh so okay and uh and then uh in invest around it um and use our experience and our knowledge and we want to invest that in in in real estate yeah and we also want to sell that and we can also manage that for uh for the owners uh so uh with that we can expand a little bit more in a different range of industry but still keeping uh uh the things where we go into into what we are doing now so it's it's very nice we also see it now in for seasons residents it's it's a global trend yeah uh but we are also working on that a lot maybe you can only share one project like Casa Colma oh yeah with Casa Colma and they're like 10 very luxurious villas they around like uh three and a half thousand to seven thousand square feet six bedrooms villas full top notch and uh we sell them and then manage it again manage it again and those guests can also come to our like we're for example a new island be the island with like kind of a beach club they have like prefer rights to go there first so so you keep it a little bit more exclusive you can manage things even better so yeah a lot of a lot of plans for this island yeah no it's beautiful uh yeah you know the the branded residences it seems like everyone's going into that space but of course I I just I have this feeling that you guys are gonna do such an incredible job with it because the love you've given to Bauaza extending into real estate uh keeping the local design keeping the local footprint knowing how to integrate that into the resort to make it part of the community I know it's gonna be a great great project going forward.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah I think I think so as well we all the hotels are owned and managed and managed by ourselves so uh we we know to take care of of the building and and uh we were talking to one of the buyers of of that project and he said that we have so much uh confidence in in you guys because you design a house into uh like a you bring the hotel features into a house you know you utilize the spaces so well that everything is thought of okay hey where are my glasses where like everything every little detail is is yeah we know how to handle it because we were grown up into in hotels.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: For us it's normal yeah we really need you really look into the practical uh elements of a hubs and that most of people are not doing that.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah no I mean most most times they're cutting corners but uh again the the uh the attention to detail as you said in every little bit just even knowing where the glasses should be intuitively for a wet bar uh you know where where the you know having outdoor showers uh for those villas yeah you know like incredible little features that people just love and they storage yeah everybody forgets about storage or technical rooms and and and how to manage that that uh electrician if there's an issue don't have to be in that room they'll they can service the house from outside they don't have to be where your belongings are those kind of things but just they logistics about how you supply your house not not through the front door but uh like little little things yeah yeah it's it's always the little things that make the world a difference yeah yeah it's true so so to close out here uh you know it's been fantastic to learn about Bauaza and what you have coming up for the future um any other closing thoughts or uh things that you're excited about in the world of hospitality I think we are super proud of building uh a brand as Baoaza I think and I think our next step is to we want to grow also outside Cursau so we also want to expand.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: We were now working on a full rebranding and like have a go step back like okay where's Baoaz where is it standing for where well where can we improve and that's that it's so clear for us and also at the end for the others so we can explain the story even better if we're gonna have a second location so uh we are working on that um because I think uh the world do the uh deserves a second Bauwasu we don't know yet where it is so we're still discovering but uh it's so difficult because the the everything needs to be lined up to create something like this it took us so many years you cannot find this you need to treat with it um and you need to also have the opportunities the the the local authorities need to be aligned with it as well uh but indeed I think with Niels we're very proud on uh what my father and BD uh don't forget what they started and still are involved day daily with us then on thoughts about resorts in the future and they usually are uh yeah we talk to them a lot about it because we uh we live and beat this this in balance as well and um and also with my sister and everybody who's involved the team I think we're very proud of what we have and we will continue uh yeah this forward don't go too big uh stay in the quality we want to give to the guests yeah that's uh a great way to finish up it's all about the quality over quantity and uh you know again thank you both for coming on to speak about this and just learning about the heart and soul you've you've put into this property to make it the very best in the world thank you thank you very much yeah thank you very much for your time yeah thanks