Meet Kassiem Samsodien — Front Office Manager at Hotel Verde

Kassiem Samsodien began his career in the early 2000s when he started working for Cape Falcon Travel & Tours as a porter. From these humble beginnings he began to climb his way up the ladder through hard work and dedication, and was recognised and was promoted to concierge within his first month of working.

His passion and flair for the industry pushed him to strive for more, and establish a name for himself. This would stand him in good stead when his path crossed with James Murdoch, GM at the Holiday Inn Garden Court De Waal at the time. Noticing Kassiem to be presentable and charming, he head-hunted him with the promise of being groomed for a manager position down the line.

Gaining experience at some of Cape Town’s finest hospitality venues

“I gladly accepted, knowing that this would be the start of a prosperous and fruitful career,” says Kassiem. “During my time at Cape Sun, I worked in various positions, including reception, porter and night auditor. I also travelled with the GM to various properties, and took part in a skills management program that groomed the next generation of managers. This allowed me to gain experience across all departments to broaden my knowledge of overall functions in order to become a successful manager one day.”

Kassiem was ultimately the first candidate out of seven who were approached by the GM to fulfil a management role at the Cullinan Hotel, and excelled in the role of Night Manager. With this experience under his belt, be then became seeking external opportunities and gained further invaluable insights into the industry working at Cape Heritage Boutique Hotel, and becoming Food & Beverage Duty Manager at Stay Easy Southern later along the line.

“I was also part of the launch team in the Alphen Boutique Hotel which is part of The KOVE Collection. Since then, I have been fortunate to work at some of Cape Town’s finest properties, including Steenberg Hotel and Spa, The President Hotel, The Marriot Group. However, the day I came to Hotel Verde stands out as the pinnacle of my career to date,” he enthuses.

Why Hotel Verde is a wonderful fit for Kassiem

“Hotel Verde is not just another business,” says Kassiem. “It was the pledge to making a difference to the planet really stood out for me. The opportunity came at the exactly right time as well, as I was ready to settle down and grow further.”

“I also love the fact that the team at Hotel Verde is incredibly service-orientated. It make sour job much easier when everything we do throughout the day is aimed at providing excellent service to our guests, and understanding that we are the face of the business.”

Working with a fairly young and dynamic team, Kassiem puts his exceptional leadership skills to good use to uphold all standards of service, and feels very proud of the work they accomplish together.

Going the extra green mile

Kassiem believes that all hotels should be striving to invest and operate their businesses in an eco-friendly manner as this is the responsible way of conducting business. He looks forward to a future where more hotels and businesses are carbon-neutral, and people are generally more conscious of the things they can do to be kinder to the environment. It all starts with taking small steps, in his opinion.

“There are many things we do in the day-to-day running of the hotel to contribute to the business’ overall green initiatives. For instance, the products we purchase for the Verdeli comes directly from local suppliers. We also rely on systems rather than a paper trail in order to minimise paper wastage.”

“In order to encourage guests to make better choices during their stay, we have an in-house currency called the Verdino, which guests can earn by following our sustainable initiatives. One Verdino is equivalent to R5, and guests can use this to settle a part of their accommodation bill or their restaurant bill, or spend it at the Verdeli,” he explains.

The Hotel Verde green ethos has also spilled over into Kassiem’s personal life. He has installed a solar geyser and borehole at home, and also chooses the stairs over the escalators at work to get his steps in while saving some energy as well.

When he is not working alongside his team at Hotel Verde to smooth the way for seamless guest engagement, he loves spending time with his family, particularly at the beach, which is his happy place.

Ever since Kassiem joined our team, his presence and passion has been felt. We count ourselves privileged to have a man of his experience and calibre on our team.