Page 23 - February 2021

PENTA HOTEL
In terms of new markets, the brand continue to consider Vienna, Austria
markets that may be exciting for their target audience but also
sites that are healthy and sustainable from a financial perspective.
The company’s plan is to find further prime locations in secondary
cities or secondary locations in prime cities.
Coming under new ownership offered the brand the perfect
opportunity to re-vitalise their portfolio, so that it remained
attractive and exciting to guests. They went about this by
enhancing the destinations so that they continued to be a lively
neighbourhood location hotel that appealed to the people
surrounding the hotels through its unique and timeless interior
design, and making each hotel uniformed so guests know they
are in a Penta hotel whether they are Berlin in Germany or
Warrington in the UK.
“The Pentalounge concept across the portfolio remains one of
our USP’s. They are designed as the pulsating heart of our hotels, a
gathering space with Wi-Fi all around where people can check-in at
the 24-hour bar, have a drink or a steak at the bar or a sandwich in PENTA HOTEL
the cafe, have a game on the latest game console or take advantage Köpenick, Berlin, Germany
of the billiard and pool tables or even choose to relax in the seating
area of this unique living room vibe,” explains Braakman.
Discussing the wider hospitality industry, Braakman believes the
question is not how are we coping now but rather how will we
recover after this temporary abnormal? “I’m an optimist and I still
think we are talking about a temporary situation and I believe it is
the companies who adapt the best to these temporary changes
and who are the most agile in recovering once the market
changes that will come through this situation in the best shape.”
With this in mind, Penta are maintaining their locations so that
guests that are still allowed to travel feel warm, welcome and safe
in their locations so that when the market does have an upswing
they will be in the best position possible to welcome more guests
back on-site.
Already active on social media, what Covid-19 has offered the
hotel company is the opportunity and time to create an app
to improve the interactive experience for customers and make
sure that people can simply bring their own device and have a PENTA HOTEL
one-stop shopping platform whether that is booking a room or Moscow, Russia
ordering a burger in the room so contact and physical touch is
as minimal as possible.
The ongoing challenges for the business is maintaining brand
standards and genuine interaction between staff and guests in a
current and post Covid-19 world. Braakman feels that with all the
rules in place the hotel experience can quickly become lost so
the challenge moving forward is to combine this need for safety
and wellbeing with the good vibe and good experience Penta
locations have become known for.
“In these difficult times, we need to keep our brand on the
pulse, update our products and convert our ideas whilst taking
risks. I think it is important to do this as it sits well within the
Penta ideal. We need to be resilient and work our way through
this period to reach what will hopefully be a much brighter
future,” he concludes.

PENTA HOTEL PENTA HOTEL
Paris, France Leipzig, Germany