Kerten Hospitality’s focus is to create mixed-use hospitality destinations that add to the communities of their locations, and its next step is to formalize its environmental and social-governance approach, according to its executives.

Founded seven years ago, Kerten began with one boutique hospitality brand in one country and an idea it wanted to do something different than the typical hotel operator. It now has a footprint in 12 countries, mostly in the Middle East.

CEO Marloes Knippenberg said each asset is a unique combination of one or more of the company’s 11 owned brands, which include hotel, food and beverage and co-working concepts and retail, entertainment, art and wellness brands.

The Kerten team manages and operates these on behalf of the development’s owner, creating lifestyle destinations designed to connect international and local travelers and maximize return on investment per square meter, she added.

“When you think of mixed use, it’s usually multiple components, such as [food and beverage], retail and hotel or serviced apartments, in one building, but they don’t have anything to do with each other,” Knippenberg said. “Our idea of mixed use is that everything connects together so the consumer has a full experience. Our business is built up on creating collaborations, which ultimately increase the return on investment of an owner and add to the community of the location we’re in."

Kerten-owned brands include Cloud 7 Hotels, Cloud 7 Residence, The House Hotel, The House Residence and Ouspace, a social hub and serviced-office concept. Kerten also has in-house food and beverage offerings and collaborates with Michelin-starred chefs and local restaurateurs.

The company’s current pipeline includes 35 projects, which range from an eco-luxury resort in the United Arab Emirates to an art hotel and residences in the country of Georgia and an urban city-center destination in Italy.

Wafik Youssef, Kerten Hospitality's chief operating officer, said the process of planning, designing and launching a new Kerten development is time- and energy-intensive. Youssef joined Kerten following roles at Kempinski Hotels, Rotana Hotels and Atlantis The Palm in Dubai.

“We create the story, we go on the ground and see what fits, then we come to the owner and build this with them,” Youssef said.

“It’s not about saying these are our requirements, we’ll see you at the opening," he said. "In fact, we don’t talk about brand standards, we talk about brand guidelines. We look at what makes sense for the operation to bring it to life and what will drive the most value and make it successful for the future.".

Knippenberg and Youssef said they always encourage owners to think about operating their assets sustainably.

“It may require investment initially, but in the long run investing in energy-saving technologies, for example, is a huge return on investment and enhances the brand. Even if the story is good, running it in a sustainable asset is an even better story,” Youssef said.

Kerten hires as much of its workforce as possible from the local area around their properties.

“We want staff who are going to fit into the environment of that particular place,” Youssef said. “We may need to train them, but it’s more stable than bringing in resources from outside because they are connected to their families and to the environment. They also have much more local knowledge."

At The House Hotel Jeddah CityYard in Saudi Arabia, which opened in September 2021, 30% of staff are locals. Employees have been involved in shaping the operation right from the outset, including uniform selection.

There are no abayas to be seen, Youssef said, referring to the one-piece Muslim clothing often donned by women in more conservative Islamic destinations.

“They wanted something that can be practical and part of the new vision of hospitality,” said the hotel’s general manager Maria Bou Eid. “When you give young talent empowerment and ownership of the project, it’s much easier for them to transmit the message outside, to go beyond into the neighborhood and build connections."

Youssef said this is an important part of Kerten’s ethos.

“If we help the businesses around us, that goes back to us and helps us increase occupancy in the property and increase awareness of the activities we do there,” he said.

The 114-room House Hotel is the focal point of the City Yard complex, a lifestyle hub whose owner, Pure Houses, wanted to create opportunities for entrepreneurial networking and pop-up events.

Kerten's executives said this is the type of partnership that is a great deal for them, one focused on human connections and supporting young entrepreneurs.

Bou Eid said many requests have come in for long-term stays. These guests end up building “mini lives” there, working remotely, connecting with the local community and attending events.

Knippenberg said Kerten does not like to hang its hat on buzzwords like sustainability, diversity and community, but that environmental, social, and governance policies are integrated into everything the company does.

Up until now, its ESG targets have not been formalized, except in areas where measurement has become the industry norm, such as in energy efficiency.

An ESG specialist brought on board has been charged with figuring out how to measure Kerten's “softer” ESG activities such as community building.

“We want to become the first operator that has ESG not just as a side vertical but incorporated into the DNA of everything we’re doing, our values, our activities, our [key performance indicators], our reporting. We’re trying to make the entire team part of it,” she said.

Knippenberg said she hopes she never “fully figures it all out.”

"We have no intention to stop. What we do is try new things, develop them with specialists who have years of experience in or out of the industry, test them and see where we get to," she said. “That’s how we started mixed use, that’s how we built our teams, that’s how our community partnerships came to life. We remain very self-critical."

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