Eric Toren, European hotelier of the year 2014 and owner of the Toren Hotel and Hotel Sebastian’s in Amsterdam, worked his way up in the hotel business since he was a child helping his family with their hotel. Eric’s strong command of the hotel industry and the teams he managed was evident and at the age of 21 he earned the position of hotel general manager for a 3 star property in Amsterdam.

In 1991 Eric bought The Toren Hotel from his father, at the time it was a 2 star hotel. He had a focused passion and vision of making The Toren the best 2 star hotel in Amsterdam. Under his management and drive to constantly improve for his guests the hotel achieved that and much more, he transformed the hotel into a 4 star luxury boutique hotel recognized worldwide for its impeccable service and strong outperformance of pricing and occupancy benchmarks of the top 5 star hotels.

These efforts resulted in winning the Tripadvisor Traveler’s Choice Award for Best Hotel in The Netherlands in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 among numerous other awards including Best City Boutique Hotel in the World 2012 by Boutique Hotel Awards, Most Luxurious and Romantic Hotel in 2013 by World Luxury Hotel Awards and Best City Boutique Hotel Award by Boutique Hotel Awards 2014.

Additionally in 2010 Eric acquired the former Keizersgracht Hotel, which at that time was listed as one of the worst hotels in the world. Eric completely transformed the hotel and renamed it “Hotel Sebastian’s”, after his son Sebastian, he built the hotel into a top hotel in Amsterdam. As a 3 star hotel Sebastian’s has also been highly outperforming all benchmarks of 4 star hotels in pricing and occupancy and receiving top ratings on review and travel websites. In 2015 both of his hotels received a Traveler’s Choice Award for Best Service Hotels in The Netherlands, The Toren was rated #1 and Sebastian’s #4

Eric Toren has also been nominated for Amsterdam’s Entrepreneur of the year for his outstanding performance in the hospitality industry. His success is driven by genuine passion to offer unique and memorable experiences for all guests while having the ability to adapt to guests needs and wishes on a daily basis.

During his career Eric also became a trained psychologist, certified as a Neuro Linguistics Coach and Trainer as well as a business coach. He uses this knowledge to understand his guests feelings and to anticipate on their every need. He has trained his entire team in “The Toren Philosophy”, a passionate and unique approach to service, which has resulted in a 97% occupancy rate year round and a highly motivated staff and a successful business model.