Hotelier of the week: Oliver Staas

Feb 09, 10 | 1:57 am

Oliver Staas, general manager of the Park Inn Heathrow, talks to ABTN about managing one of the largest hotels at the world's busiest international airport.

Staas first got interested in the hospitality trade as a small boy, when his parents owned two restaurants in Cologne. "I helped out with serving and earnt my first tip at the age of seven, which made me very proud."

But instead of taking on the family business, the international hotel scene was his chosen career path. In 1984, his first hotel job was at the Renaissance Hotel in Cologne.

He worked up through the ranks, doing everything from waiting tables and working as a chef to housekeeping. "I think it's important to really get the feeling of cleaning 17 rooms in one shift. I know how boring and difficult it is. Sometimes it's nice to know these things, as a GM, because then it's easier to speak to your staff."

True to its promise, his career in hotels has taken him to Latvia, where he was the GM of the Radisson SAS Dauvaga Hotel, Riga from 1997, and on to Russia, where he was GM of the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya Hotel in Moscow.

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Source: ABTN