In conversation with Stephan Interthal, General Manager, Kempinski Corvinus Budapest (Exclusive Interview)

How is Kempinski Hotel Corvinus positioned in Budapest’s luxury hotel sector? USPs, comp set, guest profile.

I can humbly and proudly say that we were the first international joint-venture hotel to open in this market 33 years ago. Over the past decade, we have witnessed the arrival of several prominent global brands in Budapest’s luxury hotel scene, including W and The Luxury Collection. Soon, we will also welcome St. Regis, the rebranded So Hotel (formerly Sofitel), and, estimated for year 2028, the Mandarin Oriental at the historic Gellért Hotel.

Our unique selling proposition at Kempinski Corvinus Budapest, lies in our long-standing presence as an international brand and a trusted player in the local market. We take pride in our exceptional consistency of service, driven by a highly competent and long-serving team. Staff retention is one of our greatest strengths, and our management team has worked together for many years, complementing one another’s expertise to maintain our reputation for excellence.

Our guest profile has evolved in recent years. The United States remains our top source market, followed closely by Israel, which has become particularly significant over the past three years due to the growing ties between the two capitals and countries. Other key markets include the United Kingdom and Germany, along with a diverse mix of international travellers. Approximately 60% of our business comes from individual guests, while 40% is group business. Within this, about 35% is meeting-related and around 54% comes from public and leisure segments.

What has been the evolution of rates in Budapest?

It is an excellent question, as Budapest has experienced a significant rate growth since the pandemic. During and immediately after the COVID-19 period, our team recognised that the business landscape, both in terms of rates and occupancy, would change fundamentally upon recovery, and that has indeed been the case.

The MICE segment took longer to rebound, only showing a strong recovery in 2024–2025. We began our renovation programme before and during the pandemic, with the majority of the work completed between 2022 and 2025. With a fully renovated rooms product, not merely a facelift, we repositioned the hotel strategically. Today, we operate at a deliberately lower occupancy while achieving substantially higher average rates, consciously avoiding the lower-paying market segments post-COVID-19.

This trend reflects a broader evolution across Budapest’s hospitality industry, where most hotels, much like airlines, have significantly increased their average rates over the past five years.

The property has been undergoing extensive renovations. Please tell us more, including the interior design aesthetic.

In the past four years alone, we have invested approximately EUR 30 million in the renovation of our rooms and suites. The design concept was developed before the pandemic by London-based architect Alex Kravetz and has been thoughtfully adapted across various room types and, over time, our suites.

Among our suites, five belong to the Corvinus Art Collection, and one is the Presidential Suite, each featuring its own distinctive design. Some embody modern and contemporary aesthetics, while others pay homage to classical elegance and Hungarian heritage. For instance, our Herend Suite celebrates timeless craftsmanship, while Suite 700, the Art Collection Suite, was created by the local design studio Haken, offering a more residential atmosphere than the conventional hotel suite.

Overall, the design approach embraces diversity while maintaining a cohesive sense of understated luxury. We offer five room categories and four suite categories: Junior, Executive, Corvinus Art Collection and Presidential.

How are the dining and wellness offerings conceived?

Our hotel features two signature restaurants and a highly successful bar, Blue Fox The Bar. Our own signature venue ÉS Bisztró, has been a key player in the local dining scene for 13 years with its current concept and design. Starting in January 2026, the restaurant will undergo a complete renovation, during which it will be temporarily closed.

While the culinary concept will remain rooted in its beloved bistro style, the interior design will be entirely refreshed. We are delighted to collaborate with the renowned local architect Ákos Bara, who will lead the redesign and reconstruction. Blue Fox The Bar has been one of Budapest’s top three hotel bars since its relaunch a decade ago and remains one of the city’s most vibrant downtown hotspots, particularly from Thursday to Saturday evenings.

Additionally, the hotel is home to Nobu, the only one in Central Europe and one of just two Nobu restaurants located in European capital cities, the other being in London. We enjoy a strong and dynamic partnership with the Hungarian owners who operate it as a franchise, while the hotel serves as the landlord. Following a change of ownership last year, Nobu will undergo a major renovation beginning after 15 March.

By mid-next year, we will unveil a completely renewed and elevated restaurant scene, which we proudly promote under the narrative ‘Gastronomic Quarter Downtown Budapest’.

Turning to wellness, our exclusive Kempinski The Spa, located on the hotel’s second floor, was fully renovated in the summer of 2023. Featuring five treatment rooms, it delivers the refined standards expected of a five-star city hotel. The spa has been exceptionally well-received, with high occupancy levels and strong guest satisfaction, confirming the success of the new product and concept.

Luxury properties in the most diverse destinations continue to be challenged by staffing. What has been your approach?

Fortunately, we are not facing staffing challenges, a rare situation in today’s hospitality environment, but one that reflects our strategic approach. The main reason lies in a decision we made during the COVID-19 period: we retained 165 employees on our payroll throughout 2020–2021. We were fully aware that maintaining our team during the crisis would be essential for a smooth recovery, and this decision was strongly supported by our owners. The total investment amounted to approximately EUR 7 million in payroll, an expense we viewed as a long-term return on stability and service excellence.

As a result, many of the few employees who did leave during that time, and even some we had to let go, returned to us, often recommending family and friends to join as well. Today, we are proud to maintain a staff turnover rate below 20%, among the lowest in the city, and enjoy exceptionally high staff retention, with many long-serving team members deeply committed to our organisation.

Is there a recipe to achieve and maintain high customer service?

If there truly were a recipe, every hotel would follow it, and the entire industry would deliver equally high service standards. In reality, it all begins and ends with the team. In our business, everything revolves around people, our guests and our staff. Every touchpoint in the guest journey requires attention, empathy and consistency.

The principle is simple: happy staff, happy guests. I am often told by visitors, ‘I feel good about this hotel’, which, to me, is the best compliment we can receive. It captures the intangible connection guests feel with our people and our atmosphere, serving as the truest reflection of exceptional service.

How do you motivate your team?

I cannot motivate the team only by myself. I am surrounded by a group of senior managers who share the same values, the same DNA and who support me in inspiring our team every day with energy, enthusiasm, empathy and trust. We believe in granting our colleagues the freedom to deliver genuine service and the freedom to make mistakes, from which they can learn.

There is a strong sense of self-motivation among our wonderful 300 employees, supported bythe fact that many have been with us for a long time. At the same time, we maintain a healthy mix of newcomers and next-generation talents who bring fresh perspectives. The exchange between generations is invaluable – the experienced learn from the young and the young learn from the experienced.

Motivating a team is not something that can be explained in a few sentences – it is what I dedicate most of my daily time to. I strive to pass on my energy to my people, with the goal that it cascades naturally through every level of the organisation.

Which are the most challenging aspects of your job? Which are the most rewarding?

To be honest, I focus more on the rewarding aspects of my work than on the challenges. I have never started a day thinking about the difficulties that may lie ahead. Challenges are part of our profession – they are ever-present, and it is our responsibility to manage them successfully.

As we work in a people-driven industry, there are always unexpected moments and complex situations with guests or clients. Yet, I never view these as negative experiences – I take them as they come and even enjoy resolving them from time to time.

The most rewarding moments come from seeing the hotel perform well and our 300 colleagues grow and thrive. It is fulfilling to see people aligned and moving in the same direction. The greatest challenge in leadership would be to turn around and find no one following, but I am proud to say that when I look behind me, I see all my colleagues standing there. That gives me a profound sense of reward and recognition.

Please share more about your favourite off-the-beaten-track tips in Budapest.

I am quite a simple person – I enjoy going to places I like and I am a loyal guest. When I have a good experience, you can be sure I will return. At my age, I do not often visit the truly off-the-beaten-path venues, but there are many wonderful restaurants both in Budapest and in the countryside that my wife and I enjoy. Over the years, we have built warm relationships with local restaurateurs and owners.

Having lived here for a long time, I have witnessed the city’s remarkable evolution and growing diversity. Today, Budapest offers everything a gastronomy lover could wish for, from casual hamburger places to two-Michelin-starred restaurants. The Israeli community has also become a vibrant part of the culinary scene, with many excellent Israeli restaurants across the city.

Another passion of mine is art and culture. My wife and I regularly visit the Hungarian State Opera, which is stunning after its renovation and remains a truly one-of-a-kind opera house.We also collaborate with the venue for our outside catering events. We love MÜPA – the Palace of Arts, where we can enjoy both Hungarian performances and world-class concerts by orchestras such as the Berliner or Dresdner Philharmonic orchestras– it offers some of the best acoustics among all concert halls.

I am also much interested in Hungarian art, and together with our owners, we support local artists by bringing their works into the hotel for our guests to enjoy, helping to promote the country’s rich creative talent.

More from LEADERS

---