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24/07/2008 02:44 PM - (SA) Farewell to Erik
Jansen's replacement is the former GM of the NH Hotel Rotterdam, who officially takes over on Friday next week. Belgian-born Searge Foulon has already started working at the hotel as part of the hand-over. Jansen, whose official title was managing director for NH Hoteles SA, has been appointed GM of the La Hulpe Hotel in Brussels - a large conference and resort hotel comprising some 300 guest rooms and suites, large and varied conference facilities, and two restaurants. It is owned by Dolce, a company with 26 properties in the US, Canada and Europe. "I am excited about this new opportunity in my career, but will miss South Africa and more specifically, the Helderberg. It was not an easy choice, because I worked for a good company, with a good staff and was embraced by the local community," he says. Jansen joined the four-star, 197-room NH The Lord Charles, in March 2003. In his five years as manager, the hotel's room and lobby lounge were renovated, the La Vigna restaurant was rebuilt and half the hotel's bathrooms have been refurbished. The remainder will be done in September. Under his stewardship, the Garden Terrace restaurant also underwent a soft re-furnishing. Jansen has been actively involved in the planning of the NH group's latest hotel, the five star NH Oscar Pearce due to open in the Cape Town CBD in July 2009. He says when he started at the NH The Lord Charles, NH had just over 90 hotels worldwide. Now they own almost 350. "It is an exciting group to work for the company and I enjoyed my time with them. It is sad to bid them farewell." He says to resign and move back to Europe was not an easy decision. He and his wife, Monique, spoke about moving back once their children, Carlotta and Sebastiaan, finished studying. They will be writing their matric exams this year, but decided to study in the northern hemisphere from September 2009. "Carlotta will go to either Bath or Newcastle in the UK to study architecture and Sebastiaan is a total USA-addict and wants to study there. He is currently on two athletic/soccer scouting camps to Duke and Brown Universities, and hopefully he will be successful," says Jansen. The wheels for his move to Brussels were set in motion in April already when a former boss and good friend called to say he was taking up an opportunity at the company's head offices in the US, and asked if Jansen was interested in taking over from him. "Although a bit too early, I still went through the application process and interviews, and was successful." He has his work cut out for him. The hotel, which opened last year February, is currently adding 10 new meeting venues with plans for a new spa for next year. Monique, who is a keen artist and has held a number of exhibitions in the Helderberg, will stay with their children until their exams at Somerset College are completed. They will join him in Belgium at the end of the year. Jansen says he will sorely miss the good weather, beautiful scenery and the quality of life. He has had a varied career and says one of the highlights was working in Naples, Florida, where he ran the Ritz Carlton Hotel. "Working in Naples was an awesome experience, but Somerset West and Stellenbosch are not far behind," he declares. Jansen says his five-and-a-half-year stay in SA has taught him many things, especially humility and appreciation for what he has. He is also humbled the eagerness people put into making SA's democracy work. "It was a privilege to work at a big hotel such as the Lord Charles in a relatively small community in which we tried to make a difference. We played a role by supporting three local projects - the Erinvale Care and Help Organisation (ECHO), Imibala and the DistrictMail's Newspaper in Education (NIE) project, as literacy is something that has always been close to my heart," Jansen says. The man to follow in his shoes, Searge Foulon, is married and has a baby boy. His wife is pregnant with their second child and will join him in Somerset West in the new year.
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