Tides - A word with ... Toni

I meet Toni for a coffee in the beach shed. It's my first visit to the running business; he had already given me a tour of the building site a year ago. A good moment for a before-and-after chat! I'm curious to see if everything has turned out as he had imagined. Let's go, here comes Toni!

The Tides:
Hey Toni, the place has been open for almost exactly a year now, at the time of our interview. How has it been going so far?

Toni:
Yes, hello, it's been good! Sure, it was a bit of a cold start at the beginning because we opened just before Christmas - but the team rocked it really cool! Everyone pitched in and felt responsible. It was quite a great team spirit that we had there. And I think the guests felt it too. We definitely had a great New Year's Eve party (laughs).

The Tides:
That sounds great! What happened after the holidays?

Toni:
At the beginning of 2023, we took a breather, sorted ourselves out, looked at where we still needed something and went back to recruiting. We quickly found technicians, but the search for kitchen and service staff was a little more intensive. However, we had to increase the number of staff because the Beach Apartments next door were added. But we found great people, who fortunately even sent us an unsolicited application - because they were so keen to join us. Of course, that makes our hearts happy and now we have really arrived: with the team, in Büsum and in the house.

The Tides:
You also had cool events here in the house in the summer, didn't you? Were they well received?

Toni:
The summer of 2023 was awesome, we fired on all cylinders as far as events were concerned and had a huge turnout. But we also had some cool party ideas: Halloween, Silent Disco, Oktoberfest, concerts outside at the Fishbowl ... even Fury in the Slaughterhouse were there.

The Tides:
That sounds like a lot of fun - but also a lot of work!

Toni:
Yes, it was. But it was important to us right from the start that we weren't just putting up a hotel, but that we were also doing something for the people here. The Bretterbude should also be a place for the people of Büsum where they like to go, where things happen, where you can dance a bit or get a delicious meal or drink.

We realised even before the opening that there was a lot of curiosity. At the open day, shortly before the opening, there were around 1000 people there! Everyone was keen to have a look.

And that's why we didn't want to cut any corners with the events.

The Tides:
What would you say goes down particularly well with the Büsumer:innen?

Toni:
I think the catering. We've had a lot of positive feedback for our breakfast, but also for dinner. You also have to realise that a lot goes over the counter here, in summer we sometimes had 300 meals on the clock. You first have to manage that as a team. But I think we rocked it really well with our people. Nevertheless, it's good that we're taking on more staff this year (laughs).

The Tides: More people are always good! Is it difficult to find staff? Büsum isn't exactly Berlin.

Toni: No, it's not - and that's a good thing. I even come from Berlin myself and came here of my own free will (laughs). I was kind of done with the big city. I lived there for a long time, partied a lot, took a lot with me. But I also wanted a new challenge. Marco (Head of Operations and former Director of Beach Motel SPO, editor's note) brought me to St. Peter-Ording back in 2015 and I worked at reception for two years. I then moved back to Berlin for personal reasons. But the sea hasn't let go of me ...

The Tides:
And isn't that exhausting, commuting to Berlin and back?

Toni:
Sure, it was stressful for a while. But my girlfriend has now also moved to Büsum and my friends love coming here - it's perfect at the moment.

The Tides:
Cool, that makes me happy! Back to the Bretterbude and the work here: How would you describe the vibe of the Bretterbude?

Toni:
The Bretterbuden vibe comes 100 per cent from the people who work here. We're a great team that likes to have a beer together after work or just hang out together. That's always a very good sign: When colleagues don't want to go home after their shift (laughs). I feel the same way, by the way.

And I think another special thing here is that everyone feels responsible for the whole place. It's not really the case that someone says: "Nah, I'm just working on the review and I'm not interested in the rest. When we started here with a relatively small team, everyone simply had to think and lend a hand. I would say that's what makes our spirit.

The Tides:
Thank you for the interview, Toni!