More than anything else, Jeremy Samuels remembers the scent of freshly baked croissants filling the breakfast rooms of the hotels he stayed at as a child. “I fell in love with that smell and what it signified – a beautiful hotel and total luxury.” Today, Samuels is the General Manager at Queenstown’s Sofitel Hotel where he uses scent to create the same powerful emotional connections for his guests. On Samuels’ watch, there’s never a day that the Sofitel’s signature scent of bergamot and sandalwood doesn’t combine with the aroma of fresh croissants to conjure a sense of Parisian elegance while showcasing the stunning scenery of New Zealand’s South Island.
Samuels has been with Sofitel for six years, but has been working in his beloved hotel industry for much longer. “I’ve been incredibly lucky to work in unique locations including the Whitsundays, Melbourne and Alice Springs,” he says. His work has even taken him as far as the Maldives where he was involved in opening two luxury resorts: “They were completely self-sufficient so if we needed more fish for the chefs in the kitchens, we went out in the boats and caught more fish!”
So was the switch to Queenstown a tough decision? “I proposed to my wife in Queenstown in 2012 so it’s a very special place for us and when the offer came through to work in such a renowned hotel, well, it was a short conversation.” It’s a peripatetic lifestyle that Samuels has long been used to. As the child of parents working for the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs, he became a seasoned traveller at a young age, the glamorous hotels they stayed in making a powerful impression on him.
And while he’s had amazing experiences over the course of his career, there have also been significant challenges which have shaped his approach to management. “I’ve been with the Sofitel in Queenstown through its most successful years and some of the hardest years of covid,” says Samuels. “The vast majority of our team are a long way from home and so we really needed to gather them in like a family over that period. It was a galvanising and meaningful experience.”
But one of the lasting ripple effects of the pandemic has been talent acquisition and retention. “We lost 80 per cent of our team in 2021 – after three lockdowns, people understandably wanted to return to their families. It’s been tough to build it back up but we’re nearly there.”
Similarly, economic headwinds have had an impact with travellers less inclined to spend on extras they may deem a luxury. But Samuels is confident of recovery. “We must stay the course. Ramping up training, re-opening facilities and maintaining the level of service for which the Sofitel is renowned means our product stays strongly aligned with our values.”
And one of those values is sustainability, something he has come to embrace more than ever working in Queenstown. “Just as our customers’ understanding of sustainability has evolved over the years, so has ours as a business,” he explains. “Here in New Zealand, it’s closely linked with the philosophy of tiaki – care of people, place and culture. It’s about celebrating and sharing the country’s natural beauty but working hard not to upset its delicate balance.”
Sustainability and tiaki now inform all strategy decisions. One such decision has been to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastics. “Five years ago, I would have said it was an impossible task – logistically and also because customers are very attached to the amenities they associate with luxury hotels. But once we’d done an audit of the amount of plastic we were sending to landfill – well, it was a no-brainer.”
Eighteen months later, with the help of suppliers also willing to make changes, the challenge has been met, including getting rid of the 77,000 plastic water bottles used each year. “We invested twenty thousand dollars in building a bottling, cleaning and filtering system and now deliver water in beautiful glass bottles.”
Next on Samuels’ agenda is the creation with his team of a unique destination restaurant to match Queenstown’s best. “It’s well and truly time to move on from the old model of hotel restaurants that cater only to guests. We want to create something that the whole city can enjoy.”
And that community is a big part of why Samuels and his family are calling Queenstown home – at least for now. “Queenstown is special – the community really has your back here. In challenging times – like with the recent landslide – everyone stepped up to help, including our competitors. People here will bend over backwards to make sure visitors have an amazing time.”
