Waldeck Capital, the developer and – since May 2013 – the operator of The Augustine in Prague announced on the 13th February that it has sold all its shares in the multi-award-winning property to its co-investors and outlined its plans for the future.Waldeck Capital created The Augustine from a complex of six historic buildings, each of which was lovingly restored by hand before it opened in 2009. Since then, the five-star luxury property has gone on to win a plethora of industry awards for the stunning renovation work, for its interior design and for the excellent standards of service attained by its staff. Last year, The Augustine was named one of the Top 100 Hotels in the World in Travel + Leisure’s 2013 World’s Best Awards.
In addition to developing luxury hotels, Waldeck Capital is also in the process of establishing the Waldeck Luxury Academy in Dubai and Johannesburg, South Africa. The Academies will provide etiquette and protocol training, as well as resource management, for the hospitality industry at all staffing levels.
Waldeck Capital sees a gap in the market for superior hotel education, given that current hospitality training is often dependent on individual brand standards that only cover the basics. The Academy training will go well beyond that level with each candidate having to sit written, oral and practical exams; if a student is successful and becomes accredited, he or she will be subjected to a blind inspection at some point in the future and if their standard has dropped below certification level, they will either have to retrain or lose their accreditation.
