In the Made in Hotels family, I ask for the little sister! 12 years after opening his “Made in Louise” on rue Veydt, Martin Duchateau and his family are expanding the brand with the June 2024 launch of “Made in Catherine”, a small, cosy chic hotel with 19 rooms, very centrally located on Quai au Bois à Brûler. In this booming sector, where the major international chains have been multiplying their openings in Brussels since the end of the Covid crisis, this independent hotelier, a connoisseur of the Brussels market, has developed his own recipe: a pretty, freshly renovated building, a few well-thought-out touches of technology and, screwed to the mast, the quest for the optimum customer experience.
No on-site check-in or payment
The basis of his business is the Brussels welcome. If Martin is a firm believer in this, it’s because his dedication has already paid off. For several years now, “Made in Louise” has dominated the rankings of traveler review sites. For “Made in Catherine”, he is adapting his fundamentals by setting up a customer journey with no on-site check-in or payment. All potentially frictional contact points are handled online and upstream, which is much nicer for both the customer and the staff. On arrival, travelers are greeted by a waiter/host at a table in the trendy café on the ground floor. It’s a simple, relaxed contact, where the traveler can fill up on addresses and tips with his or her “local greeter”. A taste of a guest house in a downtown hotel.
A subtle dose of technology
For Martin, technology only makes sense when it’s aimed at increasing efficiency. This is vital in a sector that has seen its margins shrink under the combined impact of inflation and rising labor costs. What’s more, some customers are now more comfortable ordering hotel services over the phone than in person. These are behavioral trends that need to be anticipated. To a certain extent, technology can even alleviate current recruitment problems. In fact, to be more agile in this area, the family-run group manages its employees’ schedules via a specific application, which is very practical in the event of an emergency: a simple notification on the platform and I have answers within the hour.
“hub.brussels is a perfect entry point for all hospitality projects”.
Sustainability? A top priority
This member of the hospitality cluster’s steering committee knows hub.brussels’ services very well indeed. Despite his 20 years’ experience, he still consults them for financial advice, town-planning procedures or technical points relating to the sustainability of my establishments. In fact, on this subject, his opinion is clear-cut: sustainability in the hotel business is no longer even a question, it’s a priority. It’s a proven fact that the societal and environmental approach of the offer is already a strong purchasing criterion for tourists, with requirements that are growing by leaps and bounds, well beyond local products for breakfast. In Made in Hotels, we work on it in a comprehensive way and, rare enough to mention, by integrating the often young employees, who have a lot to teach us in terms of convictions. It’s a win-win approach that also benefits the customer, since an employee who shares the company’s values will naturally pass them on. The word of a holder of the demanding “clef verte” label.
