GOSTELOW REPORT—“I wanted to see the world, and look where it has taken me, from Europe, to Upper Egypt, to Singapore, to Hawaii and now to Mexico,” says Robert-Jan Woltering, area general manager of Accor Luxe Mexico and GM of the 401-room Fairmont Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico.
In fact, as a boy back in the Netherlands he wanted to follow his father and become an airline pilot with KLM, but eyesight put a damper on that, so he followed the maternal side of his family, into hospitality. Whereas some Dutch, like other nationalities, want to stick around, Woltering was keen to travel the world (“I think I was born with itchy feet and I was always determined to live abroad,” he admitted).
First came professional training, at the Hotelschool The Hague. “Following that I seem to have gone through many of Accor’s brands, including Raffles Singapore and the historic Sofitel Old Cataract, on the banks of the Nile at Aswan, Egypt. I moved here, to Mayakoba, in April 2018.”
It has been an eventful two years. The hotel’s congress and meetings facilities have been doubled, and its food and drink offerings enhanced. At one time the hotel was helped by Mexico’s “flying chef,” Richard Sandoval, whose 45-unit global empire is based in Denver, Colorado.
“Now we feel confident running our own outlets,” explained Woltering, whose career started up the F&B route.
And then, of course, came the pandemic. “I had a hunch this would be big – no, huge – in January when it started to go over and beyond China’s borders; I got worried in February. We closed on 8th April, reopened on 8th June.”
Re-opening was much easier than it would have been in an urban situation. The hotel occupies 39 acres of the 592-acre Mayakoba complex, which also includes Andaz Mayakoba, Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Rosewood Mayakoba, plus 47,000 mangroves, 18 holes of Greg Norman golf and one authentic Mexican-village shopping center – and amazing lagoons, jungle and beaches.
“Our layout means it is about a mile and a quarter, along a mangrove-lined paved road, from the beach and its villas up to the main part of the hotel, which has inland canals with electric taxi-boats. This not only helps with social distancing but spreads the marketing word of space, which is what consumers want right now.”
But Woltering’s challenges were far from over.
“On the morning of Sunday 4th October I saw the seriousness of a possible storm coming our way. By Sunday night it reached hurricane strength. On Monday morning we realized Hurricane Delta, as it now was, was deviating from Cuba to Quintana Roo, and I placed the hotel on red alert. At 3 p.m. Monday I called our first crisis meeting that evening as it became apparent the eye was aiming at Cancun. At 6 p.m., we expected Delta to reach Mexico’s eastern seaboard at force 4 or 5 and decided to evacuate the hotel the next morning. On Tuesday at 9 a.m., we evacuated guests, by bus or in their cars, to Merida, 3.5 hours’ drive inland, to the west. Apart from a skeleton staff, we sent all our 600-strong team home at 2 p.m. that day.”
As captain of the ship, Woltering spent that night in the hotel’s ballroom, listening as the eye hit at 5 a.m. — and when he emerged at 10 a.m., he was relieved to find it had only been a Force 2, resulting in reasonably minimal damage.
The hotel re-opened on Friday, 9th October, and they had 160 guests plus a wedding the following day.
“Whereas a year ago only about 35% of our business was from Mexico, it now represents about 60% of total bedroom occupancy, the rest coming from the USA. Average stay remains strong at just over five nights, and as of today I am looking to at least 500 guests, in total, over Thanksgiving.” He is also focusing on hosting many of the players for the delayed Mayakoba Golf Classic, a PGA tour event, 3-6 December.
He does admit he never knows what to expect next. He was already planning, once again, for ILTM Latin America to be hosted at Fairmont Mayakoba next May, but it has just been announced it is delayed to October 2021.
“I will still be here, of course,” promised Woltering. “Although I have always believed that heads of departments should move every three years, and GMs perhaps a little longer, I have promised our owners I will be here at least five years. I love Mexico and Mayakoba in particular!”