Highest Guest Comfort and Sustainable Action as a Basic Requirement
Text and images: ©Maritim Hotels
Interview: Travel Inside
It is one of Germany's best-known hotel brands, ranked first for best service in the 2024 ranking of Germany's premium hotels, and currently operates 35 hotels and resorts in eight countries (including Albania, Mauritius and Malta): Maritim Hotels. With the Maritim Hotel Amsterdam, the signs continue to point to expansion. The owner and chair of the supervisory board of Maritim Hotelgesellschaft mbH, Dr Monika Gommolla, can therefore look to the future with great confidence. Travel Inside invited Prisca Ruf, Sales Director for the Swiss and Austrian markets, for an interview to find out more about the “status quo” of the current projects.
Travel Inside: The newest Maritim property opens in Amsterdam this year. It is not only the largest conference hotel in the city but in the Netherlands (579 rooms, 18 conference halls, 4,400 event guests). Which factors were decisive in choosing Amsterdam as the location?
Prisca Ruf: “Amsterdam has always been an option; it was only a matter of time until the path to the new project was cleared. Compared with other major cities, the Dutch capital has for many years created the possibility of holding large conferences with more than 1,000 participants. The new Maritim Hotel is located next to the central station near the Eye Filmmuseum and is therefore very well connected by public transport.”
Travel Inside: With the Maritim Resort Calabria there is another new addition, which already opened in April. How many rooms are available there?
Prisca Ruf: “On the coast of Calabria, right on the sandy beach of Villapiana, the Maritim Resort Calabria welcomes its guests with 324 rooms and suites on three floors. The location is magnificent, and the hotel is surrounded by olive groves and picturesque nature. The 5-star resort was previously run as a Club Aldiana and offers the highest comfort in an exclusive setting. Guests can look forward to a wide choice of sports such as tennis, water sports, golf, cycling and fitness programmes. In addition, families as well as couples and solo travellers can enjoy two restaurants with generous terrace areas and Calabrian cuisine.
On a good 93,000 m² the luxurious resort offers three swimming pools – a heated semi-Olympic pool, a lagoon pool and a children's pool. Seven sand tennis courts, a multi-purpose court for basketball and volleyball, a football pitch, a boules court, a bicycle station, an archery range and a 325 m² indoor fitness area provide for sporting activities. A highlight for water sports enthusiasts is the Nautical Centre, which includes three catamarans and a dozen Optimist sailing boats.”
Travel Inside: What about further plans?
Prisca Ruf: “Dr Monika Gommolla, the owner and chair of the supervisory board of Maritim Hotelgesellschaft mbH, is always open to new projects. Where the hotel chain will open its next new property is not yet known.”
Travel Inside: Finally, a word on the sustainability checks of your hotel group. What steps is Maritim taking to keep its ecological footprint as small as possible?
Prisca Ruf: “Maritim Hotelgesellschaft recognised early on that the careful use of resources makes an important contribution to securing the future of our society, and in 2010 it developed a ProUmwelt (“pro environment”) policy based on the three-pillar model of ecology, economy and social responsibility. To do justice to sustainability, Maritim Hotels in all its properties rely on measures from the six relevant fields of action of sustainable business: energy, waste, water, purchasing, mobility and employees.
All Maritim-run establishments can demonstrate good results in the efficient use of energy. The hotels use environmentally friendly natural gas or district heating instead of heating oil for heating. Some generate their own electricity and have their own combined heat and power plants.
Strict waste separation is a must in all Maritim hotels. Around 4,000 tonnes of waste are produced each year, sorted into six material fractions. Using state-of-the-art technology, these recyclable materials are almost entirely returned to the economic cycle. Water, too, is handled very carefully: water-saving buttons on toilets, water-saving inserts in taps and showers that let the water flow gently from the tap ensure that water is not needlessly wasted – without restricting guest comfort.”
