An Exclusive Interview with Kolja Stegemann, Managing Director of Suite.030, Best Luxury VIP Service
Suite.030 provides luxury hand-picked VIP serviced apartments in Germany with a dedicated concierge team, ensuring that your stay in Berlin will be as stress free and relaxed as possible. Therefore Suite.030 is this year’s winner of Luxury Lifestyle Awards in the category of Best Luxury VIP Serviced Apartments in Germany. We spoke with Kolja Stegemann, Managing Director of Suite.030 about his company’s journey and the successes that have allowed him to be recognized as one of the best in the hospitality industry.
Kolja, thank you for taking the time to speak to us. Please, give us an introduction about yourself. What was your position before you started at Suite.030?
Kolja Stegemann: I’m grown up in the advertising industry and the last years before Suite.030 I worked as Strategy Consultant with the focus on brand development and business model design.
Tell us about your journey as managing director of the company?
Lead by my own experiences, I decided to build a platform for design and luxury furnished apartments and bring the serviced apartment industry a bit closer to the hotel industry. Our core promise:
quality – we check every apartment according to the international star classification standards (4+5*)
style – each apartment is handpicked, and we know it by heart
service – our concierge services make the stay easy, comfortable and the apartment a real home away from home
The political and legal changes of the last years challenged our business model but we’re now very confident to stand on stable ground.
Our focus moved from letting luxury private homes to manage and rent out commercial luxury serviced apartments.
Today we’re less a platform and more a management service company.
You have been crowned a Luxury Lifestyle Award Winner in the category of Best Luxury VIP Serviced Apartments in Germany. How do you feel about this title?
It is a great honor to us. The luxury serviced apartment market is very young in Germany and we’re proud to be recognized as one of the first movers. This encourages us to grow and move on to new cities.
In your opinion, what sets you and your team apart from other luxury serviced apartments in Germany?
All our apartments are individually selected, and we know each apartment personally. This is a big difference to all bog platforms.
In addition we personalize the stay with our concierge service and make it that easy and comfortable like staying in a hotel, bit with three big advantage: more space, more privacy and more individuality.
According to our internal claim: “the whole city is your hotel, you chose the location and the style, we ensure consistent quality and service.”
What is your motivation and inspiration behind Suite.030?
Making the difference and hosting friends we admire. Just as I personally appreciate each apartment because it is special, I admire our guests because they have all made a difference and achieved something special in life.
How do you stay updated with interior and quality trends in your industry?
We collaborate with designers and artists but the best insights we receive from our guest with their feedbacks and booking behavior.
I don't claim to have a certain style, but we take great care to ensure that the apartments are coherent and of high quality.
How do you accomplish such a high-ranking level of service at Suite.030? How does your team keep motivated?
We work in the nicest and most exclusive apartments of the city, and we host guest which are one of kind – if this doesn’t motivate, I don’t know.
And yes, this motivation is the key to success.
What do you most enjoy about your position?
I like beautiful things and hosting guests; both is part of my daily business. Beside this I wanted to build something from the scratch as entrepreneur, being successful with it is my biggest pleasure.
Did the pandemic have an affect on Suite.030, and if so, how did you manage this?
Yes, the closure and travel ban seriously impacted our business, but we are fortunate to offer short- and medium-term stays, so at least one pillar kept us going.
What projections do you see for the company’s development, and do you have any exciting plans set out for the future?
During the lockdown we developed a new branch, Invest.030, with which we wan to develop our own luxury serviced apartments projects. We see it as a big advantage for investors if we offer the properties to invest as well as the business model and rental service. We will start beginning of 2022.