Martin Hendricks attended Maastricht Hotel Management School with the ambition of becoming a General Manager for hotels. His love for hospitality was a red line throughout his career. After working for an American hotelchain in the Acquisition & Development department his love for development was sparked.
In 2019, Hendricks founded Black Label Hotels with the opening of the first Black Label Hotel: Hotel Valkenburg by Mercure. Shortly after this opening he acquired and modernized Merici Hotel, a landmark property in central Sittard. Despite COVID-19 challenges, Hendricks kept momentum. In 2021, Black Label launched the first DoubleTree by Hilton outside of the Amsterdam Area.
On 11 January 2023, Hendricks was officially named Hotello of the Year at the Hotello TOP Year Event in Amsterdam’s RAI, a top accolade in the Dutch hotel industry, awarded through a rigorous jury and public vote process. In his acceptance speech, he credited his team's resilience in overcoming both COVID setbacks and flooding damages to various hotels, caused by massive floodings in 2021 in the Netherlands.
Martin is pushing Black Label Hotels in expanding into BeNeLux and DACH. The exceptional growth path of BLH was was picked up on by a Dutch Family Office; Somerset Capital Partners in 2023. Their evergreen vision for company investments, together with the family office and entrepreneurial view on the hospitality BLH and SCP are signing very interesting projects in Europe.
BLH drives a bold growth strategy: together with shareholder, family office Somerset Capital Partners, the ambition is to add 25,000 new hotel rooms across his expanding portfolio in Europe. His leadership blends heritage preservation, strong local ties, and major brand partnerships, reinforcing his reputation as one of the most dynamic hoteliers in the Netherlands.