Published: October 27, 2020 | Updated: 27th October 2020
Our new monthly feature profiling some of the leading players in the hospitality sector begins with Karl Goebel, Head of Operations, Nq2 Bournemouth.
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By any standards it’s an impressive feat.
A £3.5m top to toe overhaul of a 52-year-old Bournemouth hotel.
Flashback to our top story in July.
Turning it into a four star establishment for one of the world’s biggest hospitality brands.
Completed in seven months.
And despite lockdown and, arguably, one of the biggest disruptions to ever hit the hotel industry.
At the centre of the project the calm – very calm – figure of Karl Goebel.
The man charged by Nq2 Bournemouth, the owners of the now named Mercure Bournemouth Queens Hotel & Spa, to oversee the makeover.
It’s stressful enough having minor building works carried out to your home.
But a project on this scale with all the inevitable challenges it can bring?
So with his calm appearance perhaps Karl is like a swan.
Graceful on the surface but paddling like fury under the water.
The 37-year-old laughs.
“I’m not sure about that but I am a very organised person,” he said.
“I like to prioritise and while, of course, I can feel overwhelmed at times, I am good, perhaps, at not showing it.”
For a somewhat beleaguered sector, this year’s multi-million pound overhaul could not have come at a better time.
A real shot in the arm for Bournemouth’s hotel industry and a big vote of confidence in the future of the resort.
All 109 bedrooms, as well as two function rooms, restaurant, bar and leisure and spa facilities, were completely refurbished.
The interior of the hotel, celebrating all that is great at the British seaside and with an art-deco inspired feel, has already won a legion of fans.
The Mercure Bournemouth Queens Hotel & Spa is now one of 5,000 hotels with 740,000 rooms in 110 countries operated by Accor.
But its Bournemouth hotel is a world away from brands where mass market furniture and fittings mean any sense of a local identity has been lost.
“So much thought and attention has gone into every aspect of the hotel.
“I’m incredibly proud of it.” said Karl, Nq2’s Head of Operations.
Without doubt the project has been the high point of Karl’s career to date.
Originally from South Africa, his heart was set on hospitality from his teens.
After completing a two-year hospitality diploma in hotel administration and management at Allenby College in Johannesburg, he joined the City Lodge Hotel Group.
“I spent four years working in one, two and three star hotels and did everything.
“From serving breakfast, folding sheets, answering the phones. It was a great learning experience,” he said.
In 2007 Karl arrived in the UK after getting a free ticket from his sister, already here.
Following a six-month spell working as a reception supervisor he joined the team at Kensington’s Park International Hotel, initially as Front Office Manager.
Promotion quickly followed and, just four years later – and at the age of 28 – he was made Hotel Manager, a position he held for four years.
In 2015, Karl – who has a French wife and a daughter aged four – was appointed General Manager of the newly refurbished Mercure Milton Keynes.
However, during his time with the Park International Hotel, Karl’s path had crossed that of designer Janine Powell.
The pair had stayed in touch and, in 2018, Janine contacted him to say an opportunity had arisen for a Head of Operations at Nq2, a company with ambitions to build a hotel group, and where she was a Director.
Karl landed the position and then, in January this year, Nq2 acquired the Queens Hotel and Spa Bournemouth, the group’s first venture into the hotel sector.
Within a month work was underway.
Karl’s experience of Mercure has proved invaluable in his role.
As has his ability to motivate and lead the hotel team.
But, he said, that’s what attracted him to the hospitality sector in the first place.
“It’s all about people – and I enjoy people.
“I have a very open line when it comes to communication and will share as much as possible with my team.
“I won’t pretend that there aren’t challenges, particularly at the moment with Covid, but I get huge job satisfaction.
“It’s such a good feeling when a guest has had a good stay or a conference has gone off well.
“The hospitality sector is an endlessly fascinating and enjoyable industry to work in and I have never regretted choosing to go into it all those years ago.”
As for the future, Karl said: “Nq2 is on the look-out for other properties so who knows.
“We’ve had a tough time as an industry but I’m very optimistic.”
