Say ‘Hotel Okura’ and for most people a (Christmas) bell will ring. For those for whom it stays quiet: this hotel has everything you associate with luxury. From a restaurant on the 23rd floor with no fewer than 2 stars, to of course those crisp, fresh DOUXE sheets in the suites: five-star feeling squared, so to speak.

Jorine Heutink has been executive housekeeper at the Okura for seven years - and knows both the hotel and the profession better than anyone. Time for a short round of questions. 

Jorine, a word about your role. Executive housekeeper. What exactly does that involve?

“It means that I ultimately make sure that everything that isn’t a kitchen is clean. So from hotel rooms in perfect condition to staff in the right uniform and all the flowers and plants in top form: I make sure everything is just right.”

That sounds quite intensive. How big is the team?

“It is, yes. And certainly now, at Christmas time, because then I am also responsible for all the Christmas decorations. In normal times the team consists of ninety men and women, who incidentally mostly speak Dutch, Spanish or English.”

And how is your Spanish?

“Er… well, with ‘Hasta manana (see you tomorrow) and manana trabajar (work tomorrow)’ you get a long way.”

What do you like most about your job? 

“The best thing is that, with a whole group of people, you have got the job done again at the end of every day. And in an environment where there is always a sense of urgency and where it is always busy. But I love it. I also love the irregular shifts and working at weekends, that is exactly what makes it dynamic. I once worked on a project at a bank for six months, and there you went home on a Friday and started again on Monday as if nothing had happened over the weekend. I found that so strange, I could not get used to it.”

I imagine you share some lovely moments with each other. And with your guests.

“Oh, absolutely. Here we sometimes make someone’s final wish come true, which I always find very special. But we also organise lovely things for colleagues. I secretly regret a little that I didn’t write something down every day when I came home, throughout my whole career. I could have made a book out of it. 

We recently did something nice for someone who had worked in room service here for at least thirty years. I made sure there was a guard of honour on the weekend of his last shift. And for the first time in his entire career he left through the front door of the hotel. Moments like that really give me goosebumps - and they stay with me for the rest of my life. Just like when we were allowed to open again for the first time after the lockdown last year. That was also such a memorable moment, because nobody could ever have imagined that such a long closure was possible.”

Do you actually have a favourite place in the hotel?

“Oh, tricky question. Let me think… I would say the basement, after all. For me that is the beating heart of the business. Everything comes in there. Purchasing, the technical department, everyone who wears a uniform comes to collect it there. That is where it happens.”

Can you tell us something about the hotel that few people know?

“We get the craziest questions from guests. Whether an aquarium can be placed in the room, for example. Our answer? Always yes. We don’t know the word no and will always go to the utmost. What people often don’t realise either is that we experience everything in a hotel. From weddings to rows and from new life (a baby was born here recently) to death. The hotel is an extension of home.”

For the rich and famous too, I suppose? 

“Definitely. A great many well-known guests come here - mainly because the Okura Hotel is so careful about it, so I don’t name names. I do sometimes feel sorry for VIPs who sneak in and out of the hotel via the back entrance, past the waste containers. But others make no secret at all of staying with us. Lil’ Kleine, for example, is here regularly. And the king’s inauguration took place here. Oh, and football teams. They are hard to keep secret too.”

The Okura is a five-star hotel. What does that level of luxury mean for you?

“If you look at all the five-star hotels in Amsterdam, they all have good beds, everything works. You see? But what sets Okura apart is ‘omotenashi’: when you are here as a guest, everything has to be just right. You can have all the hardware, but in the end it is about the software. That we, as a team, can anticipate the things you already think you need. Doing things in a way that makes guests happy, and us too. Without wanting anything in return. That is what it is about.”

And what does hotel luxury mean to you?

“Ultimately, for me it really comes down to that extra service that makes it a luxury experience. The people who are looking after you at that moment, they make the difference.”

You have something to celebrate this year, because the hotel is 50 years old. What does that celebration look like? 

“We are celebrating it with the Art of Okura. For the first time we have replaced the Christmas tree in the lobby with a Ginkgo tree, which stands for a long life. At that tree you can scan a QR code to read all the stories that have been told about the Okura. A film has also been made - with the voice-over of Mr Okura himself - that shows what the hotel stands for. Which hotel still has that kind of soul?”

And all of you as staff get a fifty per cent pay rise? 

“Ha ha, no. But the staff are being put in the spotlight. Everyone can stay a night with a +1, have breakfast and drink the 50 years cocktail at the bar. That way everyone gets to experience that five-star luxury once and can show where they work. We are really a small village, with everything that goes on and the four hundred people who are here almost every day.”

You just told us about the special Christmas tree. How else is Christmas celebrated in the hotel?

“Normally there are special menus in the restaurants and of course there is the traditional Christmas brunch. Unfortunately, that cannot go ahead again this year because of the new Covid-19 measures. We are trying to translate everything to online and with the 24-hour Okura at home we still give people the opportunity to create our experience at home. 

But actually Christmas is not celebrated on a grand scale in Japan. What matters there is New Year, known as oshogatsu in Japanese. On New Year’s Day there are big buffets and large barrels of sake are smashed open. A great Japanese ritual that takes place in the hotel, very beautiful and special. Let us hope it can take place again next year.”

Do you still have a good Christmas gift tip, in spite of that?

“Of course. I would always advise bringing home the pillows from our Okura collection by DOUXE. That is how you really create that five-star luxury feeling in your own bed. And besides that, I hope everyone can celebrate it with the people who matter to them. That is the most important thing of all.”