The path to Europe is clear – Austrian hotel consultant MRP hotels invests in German hcb and combines forces

Leading Austrian hotel consultant MRP hotels acquires a majority interest in Hospitality Competence Berlin (hcb for short) – currently a Horwath HTL franchisee for Germany. The franchise contract with Horwath HTL will be terminated on 31.12.2019.

(Vienna, Berlin 24.09.2019) MRP hotels has been guiding hotel owners, developers and operators through the entire hotel property cycle for more than 10 years. With the acquisition of a majority stake in the German Hospitality Competence Berlin, the Austrians are not only flying the flag in Germany, they have also brought a strong partner on board in HCB. The aim is to grow in a focused manner and to position itself as twice as competent throughout Europe with technical competence and core economic competence. Hotel owners thus have a comprehensive service portfolio at their disposal.

From now on, 25 employees in interdisciplinary teams will take care of planning and development, concept design, project and asset management, the search for hotel operators and transaction support as well as reorganisation and interim management. With a fee volume of approx. 5 million euros, the aim is to achieve quality and innovation leadership in Austria, Germany and on numerous European markets. At the end of the year, hcb will be separating from the Horwath HTL brand and will also be operating as MRP hotels in Germany from 1 January 2020.

„Together we can achieve more. Win-win across the board. This is really exciting for us and our customers. We are pleased to be taking this first step together. We are a good fit and we do  everything we can to impress our customers with even broader expert knowledge,“ says Martin Schaffer, Partner at MRP. „After almost 15 years of successful development, the partnership with MRP hotels offers us and our customers considerable added value in all aspects of hotel operations and hotel real estate,“ says hcb founder and Managing Partner Olaf Steinhage.

Olaf Steinhage, qualified architect and real estate economist, long-standing hotelier with positions during his career at the German Interhotel and Drees & Sommer, will also be joining the management team. MRP hotels partner Jan Hein Simons will support him with immediate effect. Jan Hein Simons has decades of experience in management and board functions in the international hotel industry such as at NH Hotels, Astron and Falkensteiner.

General facts about MRP:

MRP hotels is a leading European expert in advising and supporting owners, investors, project developers, banks and hotel operators. The consulting expertise ranges from strategy consulting to development, technology consulting and transaction support to performance and turnaround management. All the experts in the team come from the hotel industry and have a unique wealth of experience in the field of hotel & tourism. The company has a broad European network with offices in Berlin, Amsterdam and Istanbul.

General facts about hcb:

hcb hospitality competence berlin GmbH is a company based in Berlin that specialises in consulting on challenging hotel and tourism projects. The company supports owners, project developers, financing partners, operators and municipalities in the strategic development, planning, realisation and optimisation of concepts, projects and destinations.

With a professional team of architects, engineers, business economists, hotel and tourism specialists, hcb has managed over 300 hotel and tourism projects since 2005, making it one of the leading hotel consulting companies in Germany.

HCB understands hotels as a whole – as strategically conceived development, optimised specialised real estate in the property market and successful operating managed real estate.


Strengthening a shared focus with combined forces:
Jan Hein Simons, Olaf Steinhage, Martin Schaffer

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Bianca Ernst

Bianca Ernst ist seit 2024 Office Managerin bei mrp hotels. Neben einer fundierten Ausbildung in der Hotellerie sowie einem Studium der Hotelbetriebswirtschaft bringt sie umfangreiche Erfahrung aus Führungspositionen in der internationalen Luxushotellerie mit. Ihre beruflichen Stationen führten sie von Deutschland über Großbritannien nach Österreich.

Mit ihrer umfassenden Expertise und exzellenten organisatorischen Fähigkeiten übernimmt Bianca eine Schlüsselrolle im Unternehmen und sorgt dafür, dass alle administrativen Prozesse effizient und reibungslos ablaufen. Sie trägt maßgeblich zur Unterstützung und Optimierung des Tagesgeschäfts bei und stellt sicher, dass das Team in einem gut strukturierten Umfeld erfolgreich arbeiten kann. 

Yuki Pape

Yuki Pape sammelte während und nach ihrem Bachelor-Studium am Glion Institute of Higher Education umfassende Erfahrungen in der internationalen Luxus-Hotellerie, mit Stationen in Tokyo und Dubai. Zuletzt absolvierte sie ein Management-Training im Bereich Business Development im Waldorf Astoria Berlin.

Seit September 2024 ist sie Teil des Wiener Teams von mrp hotels und unterstützt sowohl im Asset Management als auch in Strategy & Advisory.
„Die Hotellerie fasziniert mich, weil sie ein echtes People-Business ist und sich individuell auf Gäste einstellt. Besonders spannend finde ich es, Optimierungspotenziale zu entdecken, ohne dabei die Gastfreundschaft aus den Augen zu verlieren.“