Alexander Siebentritt

  • Branch President
  • Nelson

Born in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) I soon found my passion for people and hospitality. Having been fortunate enough to travel a lot as a child, staying in hotels and going to restaurants with my parents and brother, I was soon fascinated by the flair of it all. After finishing secondary schooling/ grammar school (Gymnasium in German) I started working in Frankfurt’s gastro pub/restaurant scene before having the opportunity to work in a small private resort hotel in Austria for a season. This was immediately followed by a 3-year formal study in the Austrian hotel scene; one quote of my time there stuck with me in relation to guest service:” … the answer is always YES! – what was the question again?”. In 2006, when I finished my studies, I decided to explore the world and went onto a hotel traineeship in upstate New York for almost 2 years. With experiences gained here I came to New Zealand in late 2007 initially on a work and holiday visa working in some of NZ’s well known luxury lodges which at the time belonged to Relais & Châteaux.

Fast forward to late 2015, after working at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Rutherford Hotel Nelson, a brief stint in Australia, a season in the Hawke’s Bay and a GM role south of Auckland, gaining NZ citizenship, I returned to Nelson’s Rutherford Hotel.

Nelson holds a special place for me, ever since I lived here between 2010 and 2012, it’s people, the geographical position, outdoors, art, craft, in simple words “Nelson’s extraordinary flair”.

If I am not on my motorbike, playing golf or sampling NZ’s finest and locally produced chees and wine, I am likely at the hotel working with an amazing team of people on ways to improve guest experience in NZ’s hospitality scene.

My favorite quote: “If you treat everyone like royalty, you can treat royalty like everyone!”