I do love history, but the two most important things which connect me to the castle are our two collections. We own the biggest South African wine collection outside South Africa, because the owners used to live and work in the Cape. Our other collection is the Scotch single malt whisky collection, which connects me with the castle and with the time I lived and worked in Scotland.
Me, the head-chef and many others already work together for 14 years. We had the opportunity with the current owner to improve quality step by step from year one! In terms of quality our standards of hospitality, culinary, wine and all other important factors improved slowly, but steadily. We grew together with our guests, which makes them feel at home at castle Engelenburg.
I always intend to improve myself and my team everyday. You need to want to learn everyday. In terms of wine, beer, single malt whisky and other things our knowledge is of very high standards. This is necessary to keep up, and to distinguish us from our colleagues. This is also a good way to motivate our staff.
Love the work you do. Look around everyday as experience for yourself how beautiful the castle and the surroundings are. Make contact with the guests through the beauty of the place you work at.
Hospitality needs to be in your blood. You can gain knowledge of ingredients, wines, etc. but knowledge of people and how they behave and experience our hospitality is something you cannot learn totally. It needs to come from your heart.
