Protea Hotels 2012 General Manager of the Year and current Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Cape Town Number One Johan Cronjé will lead the team at what will be Pretoria’s new hotspot when the 178-room Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Menlyn opens early next year.
So what did it take to hook the hippest and most happening job in the whole of Mzansi? The answer is simple: being the embodiment of Cool!
Cronjé has lived, breathed, slept and eaten the art of cool since 2007 when he joined the new hotel in Cape Town as Food & Beverage Manager. He then turned his hand to the Rooms Division before becoming Head Honcho of Hip (aka General Manager) in June 2010.
Cronjé says the opportunity to launch a new Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! is one he simply can’t turn down.
“Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! is my passion. I love the brand and I’ve lived it for so long that I’m not entirely sure I’d even know how to manage a ‘normal’ hotel! Seriously, though, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about anything in my entire career.”
Mark Satterfield, Marriott International SA Business Leader, says Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! is a lifestyle brand like no other.
“It’s urban, young thinking and playful. Each property boasts a select genre, offering a new age take on comfortable and social hotels. It’s not home and it’s not a normal hotel; it’s a third space to work, stay and play and it’s a unique space that people love.”
Satterfield says there’s no question that Cronje is the right person for the job.
“Johan has helped to grow Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! into an internationally recognised brand that has won numerous awards and nobody else could do a better job at launching the new concept hotel.”