How did the idea for The Social Hub come about?
It came about through student housing, which I used to build in the UK. I moved to the Netherlands and saw a massive demand for it there: European student housing was non-existent at the time. I also realized that the industry didn’t treat students very well. The reputation of students, especially for our generation, was along the lines of they’re just going to destroy the place. Today’s students are not like that: their workload is huge and yet they perceive themselves as the lucky ones. We wanted to create a space where people could meet together and share ideas. We took our cue from Facebook, which came not from a university so much as from the dorms. We connected the professional local community with the student community, so the atmosphere is much more like real life.
Tell us about your decision to rebrand TSH from The Student Hotel to The Social Hub, whether this is a shift in ethos as well as identity, and what it actually entails for TSH’s daily activities.
We have changed our name to The Social Hub to put social at the heart of everything we do. Now more than ever, there’s a need for genuine connection and positive change. Together, we believe, we create a better society. The Social Hub sees our community through a new lens. Not only as students, travellers, digital nomads or entrepreneurs, but as one community with a shared mindset. The new brand identity has been created to amplify The Social Hub’s hybrid hospitality offering, reflecting guests’ needs for flexible spaces that allow people to connect and find community, whether they are getting to know a new city or building a business network. One of The Social Hub’s steps towards creating better societies is our events program, which aims to improve social connections and features 200 events per month across the portfolio, including learning experiences, awareness days, networking events, sports classes, as well as a wellbeing and mental health program and more.
In what ways can a market leader like TSH impact a city’s tourism policies and effect change for the hospitality industry on a local level?
By redefining hospitality with a new hybrid model, as The Student Hotel, the spaces welcomed travellers, entrepreneurs and students all in the same place. By welcoming a diverse range of visitors who were in the city for learning, work, fun and exploring, the hubs act as a social connection point to the cities. As The Social Hub has matured, so has its mission to create more positive impact. For example, the company is now working with local municipalities on its green energy transition, piloting projects on retrofitting existing properties with energy saving solutions. As a market leader, we feel it’s our role to be transparent about our sustainability and impact goals and achievements. This year, we will set our science-based targets and next month we will launch our impact report from the past 12 months. Like others, we know we have areas to work on, but we will share our journey on how to accelerate these and aim to net to zero by 2030. In addition, local connectors in each hub work to create a publicly accessible events programme. For example, in Florence we hosted an art gallery exhibition about love and inclusivity by the well-known photographer Sara Lorusso, talks about Black History Month by Giorgia Insalata, and organized a vintage shopping market. Because of our unique offer and with the connectors really involved in finding and sharing hidden gems, we also attract tourists who are interested in discovering the “real” city and seeing something different. By offering a different creative events and suggestions programme, we attract curious and interesting visitors to our host cities.
We keep seeing changes at TSH Florence Belfi ore as construction continues to speed up. How is the project proceeding and do you have an opening date yet?
The project is progressing well and our vision for this hub is now really taking shape. We are still around 18 months away – mid-summer 2024 is our aim. It will be our biggest asset in Italy so far and it’s at a very exciting stage in the development. We are designing a rooftop park that’s open to the public with a swimming pool, an outdoor event space, an urban garden, and we will be offering a lot of different sports facilities too. It’s going to be a cool place to hang out for our students, guests and local community – with over 650m2 of coworking for local entrepreneurs.
