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Integrity means: ‘walk the talk’
With a Belgian father from Namur, a childhood in France and Switzerland, and a career that has taken him from Lausanne to Bali, Singapore, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Marc Dardenne is an internationally seasoned hotelier of Belgian descent. For more than 40 years, he has helped build leading hotel brands and luxurious guest experiences.
“I am 50 per cent Belgian, through my father,” laughs Dardenne. “I myself have never lived in Belgium, but I have always kept my Belgian nationality. My children also have Belgian passports. And even though sometimes there was little to celebrate, I always celebrated with the Belgian national football team.” He says there is something in Belgian culture that drew him to the hospitality sector. “Belgians are known for their hospitality, their love of food and a good glass. It's in our nature. It fitted perfectly with my passion to travel and bring people together.”
After studying at the hotel school in Lausanne, Dardenne consciously chose an international career. “I wanted to travel. My first job took me to Kuwait, then Africa. There - more precisely in Benin - I even got married. In a garage. My wife never forgave me for that,” he jokes. A passage in Germany was followed by a strategic move to Asia, where he gained experience at the absolute top of the hotel industry. In Singapore, he managed the iconic Grand Hyatt and later the Ritz-Carlton. “There I understood what luxury really meant: not the marble floors or the size of the rooms, but the culture of service deeply embedded in an organisation.”
In 2002, Dardenne was appointed general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Dubai. Five years later, he moved to Emaar Hospitality Group, where, as CEO until 2011, he developed The Address Hotels & Resorts brand concepts and co-founded the Armani Hotel at the Burj Khalifa. He later became CEO of Patina Hotels & Resorts, a brand of Pontiac Land in Singapore. The flagship hotel, The Patina, Capitol Singapore, was scheduled to open in late 2014. The project eventually opened in 2018 under a new name: The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore.
“I was lucky enough to be part of new launches each time. I find that creative process - building a brand from scratch - quite exciting, complementing my work at large established organisations. You can really make your mark then.”
Where marble, gold and grandeur used to be the benchmark, Dardenne says today it's all about experience and well-being. “Everyone talks about experiences, and rightly so. Luxury is now about memorable experiences, about wellness in the broad sense: nutrition, mental health, sleep quality. Even a basic villa can be ultra-luxury, if the experience is unique.”
In addition, he sees personalisation as key. This is where technology plays an increasing role. Already at the Armani Hotel 15 years ago, he experimented with the idea of doing away with the reception desk.
“A front desk is a barrier between guest and employee. Today, facial recognition makes it possible to literally walk into hotels without checking in. That doesn't mean you need fewer staff - quite the contrary. You give employees more space to really connect with guests.”
For Dardenne, technology should eliminate repetitive tasks (check-in, passport scanning, payments), freeing up time for personal interaction. “Some guests want full digital self-service, others like the traditional reception. Technology makes it possible to combine both.”
With thousands of employees under his leadership, Dardenne emphasises that everything starts with culture. “You cannot copy a Ritz-Carlton culture. You have to build your own identity, together with your team. And then you have to live that culture. Integrity means: ‘walk the talk’. If I ask for respect, I have to show it myself, down to the smallest details.”
He believes ‘beautiful people’ are crucial in hospitality. “Isadore Sharp of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts once said: we only hire beautiful people. You can't have a brilliant chef who is an asshole. Beautiful people with talent, that's the key.”
For Dardenne, sustainability is more than a buzzword. “Greenwashing doesn't work. The young generation punctures through that immediately. You have to do what you promise, otherwise both guests and employees will walk away. Moreover, financiers today demand a solid ESG plan before they talk about investments at all. So sustainability is no longer optional, it is essential.”
After more than forty years, Marc Dardenne is far from finished. “For me, this is not a job, it's my hobby. I love it. I would do anything again.” Today, he also shares his passion for the profession with the next generation: as a guest lecturer at the hotel school in Lausanne, he helps young professionals find their way in an increasingly complex sector. “We used to have fewer choices. Today, it is sometimes difficult for young people to know where to start. A mentor can really make a difference then.”
To young professionals, Dardenne offers three key pieces of advice:
