BEHIND THE SCENES:
PAUL VAN WIJK
Dolce La Hulpe Brussels

By Frans Rombouts

Paul van Wijk (58) was born in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Since his childhood he had been dreaming about a career in the hospitality industry. At 21 years old, Paul starts as management trainee at the Amsterdam Hilton, which was the start of nine years with this chain; positions in London, Brussels, Kuwait City and Düsseldorf followed.

In 1980 Paul leaves for the Four Seasons Hotel in London to become executive assistant manager. He then moves on to open the Sandton Sun Hotel (now InterContinental) in Johannesburg as Deputy G.M, to become G.M after the opening. Positions as general manager in Istanbul and Brussels followed.
Paul’s most recent positions were general manager of the Royal Windsor Brussels and The Warwick New York before coming to Brussels as Vice President & Area General Manager for Warwick International Hotels.
On 15 May 2006 Dolce International appoints Paul as Managing Director of the new Dolce La Hulpe Brussels, which is believed to become the most comprehensive conference venue in Belgium. In this position he is responsible for the complete reconversion of the infrastructure and hiring of the entire staff.

Hospitality runs in Paul’s genes. His father owned Hotel Du Casque on Maastricht’s Vrijthof, his grandmother held a bed and breakfast and his grandfather was a teacher at the The Hague Hotel School.
Paul van Wijk: “My father probably thought that I was going to take over the hotel, but when I announced that I was going to study economics at Leuven University, he was surprised. Two years from then, my passion for the hospitality industry became so strong, that I stopped at the university and searched for a marketing job. It was then when Hilton hired me.”

HOTEL MANAGER
It goes without saying that the position of hotel manager is crucial in a hospitality company. But what is the core business of the job?
Paul van Wijk: “It is all about communication and building a solid team. As a hotel manager you should be able to talk with your clients, taking the pulse of their stay and “listen” in between the lines. Regarding the team, I believe in consistency in communication: keeping the same kind of communication. This is something that I learned in South Africa and in Turkey, where I was responsible for a hotel opening. It is of the utmost importance to have an excellent level of communication with your key staff, and to convince them to have the same kind of communication with their department staff. Although the heads of department are responsible for hiring their own staff, I also meet with the candidates before they get hired. Already at an early stage, I’d like to tell our potential team-members how important their job is for the wellbeing of our guests and the other colleagues.”

When Paul van Wijk returns home in the evening, he is able to turn the switch completely.
Paul van Wijk: “My job is very important to me, but there is more to life. The best way of ‘turning the switch’ is jogging for me. Unfortunately I do not spend as much time at it as I would like to. Until several years ago I ran some 1000kms per year and participated in big events, such as the New York Marathon in 2000 and 2001, Long Island in 2001, Paris and Dublin in 2002. Dolce La Hulpe Brussels is located in the woods and has many fine jogging paths. As I’m also responsible for the greenery on our grounds, I’m bound to inspect them. And this makes a nice excuse for me to go jogging. A conference destination like ours should offer various sports facilities to its customers So, we’ll reopen the swimming pool and add beach volleyball, tennis courts and provide mountain bikes.”

PAUL VAN WIJK ON…

Dutch, Belgians & Americans
“I have lived in Brussels for twelve years. Being Maastricht-born I do not really have that Dutch feeling in the strict sense of the word. This is probably because my wife’s family is from Belgium.
I enjoy living in Belgium. The big difference between the Dutch and the Belgians is that the Dutch are more “noisy” and the Belgians are more “discrete”. When I was in New York, I spent a lot of time with Belgians and Dutch.
Anyway, the five years that I spent in New York were very pleasant, also on the professional level. The pace of living and working is high. When I came to Brussels to start at the Royal Windsor Hotel, it was difficult to get used to the low speed of things, especially in decision making and problem solving.”

Creating a better world
“I have just finished reading ‘De Oude Prof en de Zee” by professor Mark Eyskens reflecting on his well filled career as a university professor at Leuven University and on his life as one of Belgium’s most eminent politicians. I was especially struck by what he says about religion and making our world a better one, even if you are not a religious person.
It is a pity that in our western world the family unit is gradually being undermined, mostly for economic and career reasons. Countries like South Africa and Turkey, where we lived, have still a very strong family bond and in all social classes, at home, schools, universities and clubs. People in need are taken care of by the family.

Eating well
“I used to do some cooking at home, but I admit that I am loosing the habit. My wife is a good cook and likes to experiment in the kitchen. I don’t want to take that pleasure away and I also like to be pampered, so…
Our two children live abroad in Dubai and in London, and when they come home we like to organise nice and cosy meals, which can go on for hours.
We live in the Flemish part of Brabant amidst luring and attractive restaurants, a temptation that is difficult to resist.
Only a few days ago we had dinner in restaurant ‘t Park in Tervuren. The team there can make you really feel at home. In Brussels we frequent Marie-Joseph on the fish market, excellent.
When it comes to wine, I must say that I have a good nose to find interesting bottles. I have travelled a lot and tasted wines from all over the world. When you live and work in South Africa, you drink local wine and enjoy the culture that is linked to it, same for the USA and even Turkey!. Once back home in Belgium, however, my preference still goes to French wine, mainly from the Bordeaux region.”

Books
“I almost never read fiction, but mostly business and society oriented books. I was also fascinated by Thomas Friedman’s ‘From Beirut to Jerusalem’, ‘The Lexus and the Olive Tree’ and “The World is Flat”. As the Foreign Affairs columnist for The New York Times, Thomas  Friedman has travelled to the four corners of the globe; he has drawn on these years to produce an engrossing and original look at new international systems and globalisation.”

Paul C. van Wijk
Managing Director
Dolce La Hulpe Brussels - a Hotel, Resort & Conference Destination
Chaussée de Bruxelles 135
1310 La Hulpe
Tel. +32-(0)2-653 68 70
paul.vanwijk@dolce.com
www.dolce.com

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