The Ritz-Carlton, Wuhan General Manager Marcel Damen discusses his remarkable hospitality career, opening a hotel from the ground up, leadership, guest experience, AI and the future of luxury hospitality.
Opening a luxury hotel is never simply about opening its doors.
For Marcel Damen, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Wuhan, the process has meant building the property from the ground up — from recruiting and developing the team to designing service sequences, preparing rooms and shaping the concepts behind its restaurants, bars and guest spaces.
Damen brings more than three decades of Marriott experience to his latest role. His hospitality journey began in a kitchen at the age of 14, when he started working weekends at a local fine-dining restaurant while attending culinary school.
He later studied at the Hotel School in Amsterdam before joining Marriott. Over the course of his career, he has held Food & Beverage and Rooms Division roles in several countries, including Front Office Manager, Director of Rooms and Hotel Manager. He became General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Chengdu, in 2018.
Most recently, he was General Manager of Rissai Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, where he joined the pre-opening team as its first employee.
I first interviewed Marcel in 2024 during his tenure at Rissai Valley. At the time, he spoke about creating a new benchmark for luxury hospitality in China.
Now, his career has taken him to Wuhan, where he is once again leading a Ritz-Carlton property from its opening stages.
In this follow-up interview with Red Bird Travel News, Damen shares his approach to leadership, the people who influenced his career, the challenges of opening The Ritz-Carlton, Wuhan and why he believes technology such as AI should ultimately give hoteliers more time to focus on their guests.
Marcel Damen on His Hospitality Journey
1. What does a typical day look like for you as General Manager?
I wake up around 6:20am and bring my kids to the school bus. I then prepare for the day, review the daily report and guest incidents, and walk the public areas.
I meet guests at breakfast, followed by the morning line-up with the Executive Committee team, where we communicate the direction for the day.
I then walk through the restaurants and public areas, work through emails and review the financial focus. Before I leave at night, I walk the areas again.
2. How did your hospitality journey begin?
My early dream was to become a chef.
At a young age, I started working in a kitchen on weekends, from the age of 14, while attending culinary school.
I continued my studies at hotel school and moved to the service side. I joined Marriott 33 years ago as a waiter and intern and later participated in the management trainee programme.
I then moved abroad for the first time, working as an F&B supervisor in London.
I spent several more years in Food & Beverage before moving into the Rooms Division as a Night Manager, Front Office Manager, Director of Rooms and Assistant Director of Housekeeping, followed by several more Director of Rooms and Executive Assistant Manager roles.
Eventually, I became General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Chengdu.
3. Was becoming a hotel General Manager always your goal?
Not really. I never planned that far ahead.
I simply focused on doing my best at each stage of my career, taking on new challenges and learning along the way. Step by step, those experiences led me to where I am today.
The People Who Shaped His Career
4. Who has had the greatest influence on your career?
It was not just one person. There were various people who supported me along the way across different stages of my career.
I would like to mention some of the individuals who helped me during the earlier years of my career.
The Mentors Who Opened New Doors
Mr. Franz Ferschke, Vice President for Europe, was one of them. I accidentally assisted him by driving him to the airport when his assigned driver failed to show up.
During the conversation in the car, he noticed my eagerness to develop further with the company and that I was flexible about transferring to any location.
He put me in contact with another mentor of mine, Mr. Anil Sampat, General Manager, and together with a team of experienced Marriott leaders from various backgrounds, we converted the flagship hotel in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, from a state-owned property into the Armenia Marriott Hotel through renovations.
Mr. Ferschke was later called out of retirement to become the pre-opening General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach. Shortly after its opening, he asked me to join the Ritz-Carlton brand in the United States as the Front Office Manager.
At Ritz-Carlton, Dr. Iwan Dietschi has been a very good mentor to me. We worked together at The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, and he later became my Area General Manager in China. He has always supported me with good guidance and advice.
Mr. Matthias Vogt, who brought me to China in 2016, developed me further.
There are more people who have been key to my development. In recent years, I have also received so much support from Mr. Charlie Zha, Area General Manager, since I joined The Ritz-Carlton, Wuhan.
Family: His Greatest Support
Overall, however, my father and mother have been my greatest support.
They supported me from the time I was a little boy pursuing my dream of becoming a chef, and they continued supporting me at every step of my career. They often encouraged me to take on new challenges outside my comfort zone and the usual track people follow.
I left my native Netherlands 26 years ago and have enjoyed the experiences that came from seeing the world.
Building The Ritz-Carlton, Wuhan From the Ground Up
5. What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned throughout your career?
Nothing comes easy. You constantly have to prove yourself.
6. What makes this hotel special to you personally?
I built it from the ground up, literally.
I hired every Lady & Gentleman and worked closely with my team to design the service sequences, develop the set-up and concepts for the guest rooms and each outlet, and prepare the hotel for opening.
7. What moment has made you feel proudest since joining the hotel?
Seeing how the team is getting more confident in serving our guests, facing the customer and guiding them in the right direction.
Getting positive reviews from guests is also very rewarding.
8. Can you recall a guest interaction you’ll never forget?
There have been so many.
Sometimes I may recall a short situation, a conversation or a location. Then, when I meet the guest again after a long time, I can remind them how they made an impact.
9. What do guests often overlook about running a luxury hotel?
The number of details and the organisation it takes to run a property.
10. How do you maintain high service standards every day?
Always inspect what you expect.
We need to ensure quality service, adapt to new environments, and listen to guests and employees.
11. What role does teamwork play in your success?
Very much.
It is all about teams cooperating with each other to achieve the common goal. Serving the guest in the best possible way needs to be done together.
12. How do you encourage innovation among your employees?
Give them the freedom to find solutions.
Leadership, AI and the Future of Hospitality
13. How do you maintain work-life balance in such a demanding role?
That is not easy.
I enjoy working and enjoy being there for guests and employees. My family supports me all the way.
I have learned to step back when needed to recharge and see my family grow.
14. Which hospitality trends are you most excited about?
I am looking forward to seeing how AI can help us be more efficient, so we can focus more on the core of our profession, which is to take care of guests.
That is the part I enjoy most.
15. How do you see guest expectations evolving over the next five years?
There will be more focus on unique experiences and creating memories.
Very experienced travellers are becoming more critical.
16. If you could improve one thing about today’s hospitality industry, what would it be?
Attract the younger generation to join this amazing industry.
There are tremendous opportunities.
Discovering Wuhan Through a Hotelier’s Eyes
17. Which hidden gems around your hotel would you recommend to visitors?
FLAIR, the rooftop bar on the 59th floor.
It offers views of the famous Wuhan bridges and rivers. We have a cocktail menu that connects the bridges with the cocktail recipes through storytelling.
18. If someone only had one night at your hotel, what experience should they absolutely not miss?
A Chinese restaurant meal with us at Chu Yao Xuan.
19. What advice would you give your younger self when starting your hospitality career?
Never stop learning.
Grab every opportunity that comes across and never say no.
20. Finally, what message would you like to share with our readers?
Come and visit Wuhan.
There is so much to do and see — food, culture and much more. It is also very easy to reach from most cities and provinces in China, with many destinations accessible within four hours.
Marcel Damen’s Rapid Fire
Your favourite hotel anywhere in the world?
There are many hotels I have fond memories of.
Most recently, this summer, I stayed at Sommerro in Oslo, Norway, since we don’t have a Marriott hotel there.
I must say this was a great experience. It has beautiful Art Deco-style interiors and the most amazing breakfast spread I have ever seen.
Window or aisle seat?
Aisle, always. I have long legs and like to be able to walk the aisle.
Sunrise or sunset?
Sunset.
Room service or restaurant?
Restaurant, unless it is late at night after check-in. Then I may order room service.
Favourite cuisine?
Asian.
First thing you pack for every trip?
Charger.
Favourite country you’ve visited?
Armenia left a very deep connection with me, as I spent three years there.
Dream destination still on your bucket list?
Iceland.
Three words that describe your hotel?
Contemporary, Convenient & Comfortable — CCC.
Three words that describe yourself?
Curious, Detailed & Strategic.
From Rissai Valley to Wuhan
Marcel Damen’s career has taken him from one very different Ritz-Carlton opening to another.
At Rissai Valley, he was part of the pre-opening team for China’s first Ritz-Carlton Reserve and spoke about setting a new benchmark for luxury hospitality in China.
In Wuhan, the setting is dramatically different.
Instead of a secluded valley surrounded by mountains and forests, The Ritz-Carlton, Wuhan rises high above a major Chinese city and the Yangtze River.
Yet the leadership challenge is remarkably similar: build the team, establish the service culture and create an experience that gives guests a reason to remember the property.
As Damen puts it, the process at Wuhan has involved building the hotel “from the ground up, literally.”
That may ultimately be the most revealing insight from our conversation.
For a General Manager, opening a hotel is not simply about launching a new luxury address. It is about creating the people, systems and culture that will determine what that hotel becomes for years to come.
My Previous Interview with Marcel Damen
I first spoke with Marcel Damen in 2024 when he was General Manager of Rissai Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. Read my previous interview with Marcel Damen.
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