We recently spoke with Jolanda SADNI ZIANE, General  Manager of INK Hotel Amsterdam – MGallery on the establishment’s recent win in the category Best Luxury Design Hotel, Netherlands. INK Hotel Amsterdam is one of the leading hotels in Amsterdam, where it is highly regarded for its modern décor. It is a popular choice for both business and leisure travelers, and Jolanda lets us in on why.

Luxury Lifestyle Awards (LLA): Congratulations on your recent win in the category Best Luxury Design Hotel, Netherlands. Perhaps we can start there – what did you think when you first received the news? What went through your mind? 

I was very excited to get the news! It has been a few challenging past years, and winning this award came as confirmation that all our hard work has paid off.   

LLA: What do you believe sets INK Hotel Amsterdam apart from other establishments considering the popularity of Amsterdam and the abundance of hotel options available? 

At INK everyone is welcome, you can feel it when you walk through the door. Take our ‘INK goes PINK’ week for example. Every year we turn our whole hotel upside down and change the name from INK to PINK. Ten days before Amsterdam Pride kicks off, we celebrate that you can be who you want to be by hosting the ‘INK goes PINK Party.’ A fabulous party with the motto ‘don’t stop until you are proud.’ The ten days after the party our chef creates a pink menu, our Bottomless Brunch goes PINK and even one of our suites gets a makeover into the INKlusivity Suite.  

But for us, it doesn’t stop there. We celebrate inclusivity & diversity all year long. For our guests, but also our staff respect each other and accept each other’s differences, then we go a long way together.  

LLA: INK Hotel Amsterdam has a very rich history. How do you keep this history alive and enable guests to experience it firsthand? 

The story of INK Hotel Amsterdam is an interesting one. It all started in 1904 when the building which now houses the hotel became the base of the Dutch newspaper ‘De Tijd’ (The Times). It was a place where stories were born, written, and ultimately printed. You can see that history throughout our whole hotel. With vintage typewriters in our rooms, décor inspired by the art of printing, and the wall of our lobby completely covered in letterpress letters it’s almost impossible to not know our history.  

The walls of our hallways are lined with the first edition of the newspaper, the suites and some rooms are all named after positions you will find at a newspaper office (Editor in Chief, Photographer suite, etc) and of course, our name: INK and Pressroom are both inspired by our history. We always invite our guests, our story writers, to start writing their own story and become a part of the history of our hotel.  

LLA: The last few years have been challenging for the hospitality industry. Can you tell us about INK Hotel Amsterdam’s experience through the pandemic and recovery? 

During the first lockdown, we had to close the hotel completely. It was a very strange time for all of us. We have creatively worked on how to stay in touch with everybody and took advantage of having some ‘time off’ by giving the hotel a good touch-up. We are very grateful we were able to slowly open up again. With hard work from our team, we have managed to get our service and hotel back up to standard, resulting in this wonderful award. 

LLA: In your view, what makes a hotel successful?  

That everyone can be themselves, be it the staff or the guests. Secondly that the concept is still alive after some years. We really pay attention to details and try to keep the hotel at 100%. The moment you walk through the entrance you can feel the good vibe. 

LLA: During your time as hotel manager of INK Hotel Amsterdam, what have been some of your highlights? Are there any achievements you can tell us about? 

Besides winning this award we also have won ‘The Dutch Hotel Award’ for best management team in the Netherlands and twice the Accor Bernache Team Award. It is a recognition of the team and it shows what kind of team we are. Former team members are staying in touch and always feel part of the team or as we say ‘once an INKie always an INKie. It is all about people because, in the end, that is our core business.

LLA: What are some of the more challenging aspects of your work and how do you navigate these? 

Finding the right work-life balance! It’s no exception that you will find me in the hotel at night, or early in the morning. I have recently decided to delete my email app from my phone so I can really switch off for a moment. And it is not new news but like many others, we are struggling with finding the right staff at this moment.  

LLA: When you look at the future of hospitality in Amsterdam, what are you most excited about? Where do you think the opportunities are? 

We are back to the numbers of 2019 so let’s hope that it stays like this. There are so many good hotels in Amsterdam so we are always trying to find ways to be different from the other ones, this will keep us sharp and we will not accept falling into a routine. The guests are getting more and more diverse. A great challenge for us to make sure we understand all different cultures and backgrounds, so we can offer the best possible service to all our story writers!  

LLA: As a member of the Accor group, INK Hotel Amsterdam enjoys significant lineage. What is the value of being part of such a group?

Accor is a big company with many departments to support us. A huge advantage is that whatever we need there is always a team to help us. For our team members, the advantage is that they can grow in our company because of the many different brands in so many countries. 

LLA: Is there anything in the pipeline for INK Hotel Amsterdam? Do you have any news you can share with us? What can we look forward to?

We are always up to something! We are making plans for the holiday season and the end of the year, but I can’t tell you everything. Keep an eye out on our website and socials to see what’s coming up!   

For more about INK Hotel Amsterdam, visit https://all.accor.com/hotel/1159/index.en.shtml?dateIn=&nights=&compositions=1&stayplus=false&snu=false#origin=accor