Obermüller Hospitality Advisory

Heiko Obermüller

Luxury hospitality and food & beverage advisor
Partner and Operations Director, Duke Beach Hotel & SPA by Preferred

I advise owners, developers and investors in luxury hotels in Brazil and Europe, from the feasibility study through to opening. The decisions that shape a hotel's value for decades are made before it opens: the area programme, the size of the kitchen, the staffing plan, the agreement with the operator. My work is to make those decisions alongside the owner, based on what the operation will later require.

since 1983
in luxury hospitality, starting at the Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in Munich
5 flags
international: three The Leading Hotels of the World properties, one Wyndham, one Preferred
3 continents
Europe, Asia and South America
3 languages
German, Portuguese and English

Contact

The infinity pool at Duke Beach seen from above: five white parasols bearing the hotel’s name, sun loungers aligned with rolled towels and, below, the strip of sand at Maresias beach.
Infinity pool · Duke Beach Hotel & SPA by Preferred, Maresias

Profile

In operation

Heiko Obermüller

I started in 1983 with a Restaurantfachmann (restaurant professional) apprenticeship at the Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in Munich, and I have worked inside hotel operations ever since. Today I am Partner and Operations Director of Duke Beach Hotel & SPA by Preferred in Maresias, a 33-room hotel that opened in November 2024. I run the operation and am accountable for its results. Alongside that, I advise other owners.

I test the assumptions in every financial model against the figures of a hotel in operation: payroll, food and beverage cost and distribution cost, all of which I track at Duke Beach.

Why an individual advisor

I do the work myself, with no junior team between me and the client. I read the material, write the diagnosis, take part in the negotiations and stand behind my recommendations. Because I also run a hotel, I keep only a few mandates at any one time.

Projects

Active mandates

Duke Beach Hotel & SPA by Preferred

Maresias, São Paulo · independent consultant, 2021–2024 · partner and operations director since 2025

I wrote the feasibility study for the owner, Fabio Gomes Duque, when the site was still undeveloped land. As an independent consultant, I developed the concept, the brand and the business plan with him and led the implementation through to opening in November 2024. In January 2025 I became a partner, and I run the operation. In 2026 the hotel joined Preferred Hotels & Resorts as the eighth Brazilian hotel in the collection.

33
rooms
8th
hotel in Brazil in Preferred Hotels & Resorts
R$ 1,645
average daily rate, January–May 2026
84%
direct bookings, with marketing, sales and revenue management handled by the hotel's own team

SPA by Renata França, the brand's first inside a hotel. A 150 m² heated lagoon.

Terra Manglar

Acaraú, Ceará · Hospitality, gastronomy and project planning · since August 2026

An early-stage tourism development on 1.37 million m² on the west coast of Ceará. As part of the developer's team, I am responsible for hospitality, gastronomy and project planning, and for the commercial work linked to them.

  • Hotel and food and beverage programme, space by space, including the beach club with a kitchen for 200 seats, staffing plan and circulation.
  • Technical briefing document for the architects: programme, circulation and operations.
  • Audit of the financial model.
  • Negotiation with international hotel operators on the owner's behalf.

Services

Areas of work

A mandate can cover a single area or the whole project.

Feasibility study and model review

Market, programme, revenue, costs and returns. Returns are shown on total cost including land, alongside the return excluding land.

Owner's representation

With operators, brands and tour operators: term sheet and management agreement, covering fees, guarantees, term and exclusivity.

Representation of European hotel groups and operators in Brazil

Market entry, asset screening and appraisal, negotiation with Brazilian owners and developers, and oversight of the operation.

Pre-opening

From concept to opening: area programme, kitchen design, systems, organisation chart, recruitment, training and schedule.

Gastronomy and food & beverage

Concept for each outlet, menus and recipe cards, food and beverage cost, and kitchen sizing.

Collection affiliation

Preparing an application to Preferred Hotels & Resorts, The Leading Hotels of the World, Small Luxury Hotels of the World or Relais & Châteaux: what each collection requires and what the hotel needs to adjust beforehand.

Repositioning an existing asset

Diagnosis of a hotel in operation and a plan to correct product, service, team, pricing and channels.

Distribution and direct booking

Marketing, sales and revenue management set up inside the hotel, to reduce dependence on online travel agencies.

How a mandate begins

  1. Initial project review

    A conversation and a review of the existing material: study, design, financial model or contract. I reply in writing, setting out the issues I see and whether I can be of use.

  2. Diagnosis

    Where it makes sense to go further, a written diagnosis, with scope and timing agreed before work starts.

  3. Mandate

    Scope, deliverables, timing and fees set out in a contract.

The restaurant at Duke Beach with the tables laid, a timber ceiling with lines of light and, beyond, windows open to the sea at Maresias.
Restaurant · Duke Beach Hotel & SPA by Preferred, Maresias

Markets

Between Europe and Brazil

I am a German citizen and German is my first language. I first worked in Brazil in 1990 and have lived here since 1999. Outside Brazil, my career took me to Munich and Bangkok; in Brazil, to São Paulo, Fortaleza and the north coast of São Paulo state.

I have worked to the standards of European luxury hotels and I run a hotel in Brazil, with everything that involves: labour law, supply, seasonality and building a team. I negotiate with European groups and operators in German, in English when the parties are international, and with Brazilian owners and developers in Portuguese.

Brazil · Portugal · Germany · Austria · Switzerland

Previous projects

Cases

DPNY Beach Hotel & Spa

Ilhabela · General Manager, 2012–2015

Starting point
A party hotel in Ilhabela that had not made an operating profit since it opened.
What was done
A full repositioning, from party hotel to one of the most romantic adults-only hotels in Brazil. Investment in digital media from 2012, when the channel was still the exception in Brazilian hospitality. The Primeira Vivência (“First Experience”) internship programme, run with the state technical schools ETEC and FATEC in Ilhabela, São Sebastião and Caraguatatuba, taking more than 150 students a year.
In the press
“DPNY’s Primeira Vivência programme takes on 40 interns”, Imprensa Livre, February 2013. The programme was also covered by Jornal da Baixada, Diário do Turismo and Revista Hotéis.
Result
Annual revenue up 64% in two years, and occupancy from 65% to 77% over the same period. The first operating profit since opening, with the team halved and no drop in standards. Ranked first in Brazil on TripAdvisor.

Casa di Sirena, by Wyndham

Ilhabela · Pre-opening Director, 2018–2020

What was done
Led the pre-opening: schedule, recruitment, systems, suppliers and service design, up to the point where the hotel was ready to open.

Hotel4You

São Paulo · Founder and CEO, 2014–2019

What was done
A platform and an international service standard for private hotels.
Result
Sold. It now operates as VHC Vacation Homes Collection.

L'Eden Pousada Boutique

Ilhabela · Founder and owner, 2014–2017

What was done
A boutique guesthouse developed from a chalet and run by me.
Result
Sold.
A hot tub on a timber-clad terrace facing Maresias beach: rolled towels on the stone edge and the late-afternoon sky over the sea.
Hot tub with sea view · Duke Beach Hotel & SPA by Preferred, Maresias

Career

Hotels and roles

  1. 1983–1987

    Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten KempinskiMunich

    Restaurantfachmann apprenticeship, IHK München.

  2. 1990

    Hotel TransamericaSão Paulo

    Food and beverage for the return of Formula 1 to São Paulo: VIP boxes and the restaurant for drivers and teams.

  3. 1990–1994

    Hotel Rafael, The Leading Hotels of the WorldMunich · now Mandarin Oriental München

    Opening team and concierge. Germany's youngest candidate for Les Clefs d'Or, in 1992.

  4. 1994–1999

    Paulaner BrauhausBangkok

    Associate Manager. The first Oktoberfest in South-East Asia, with up to 9,000 visitors a day, and La Comedia, the city's first themed restaurant.

  5. 1999–2005

    Club TransatlânticoSão Paulo · German-Brazilian business club

    Brought in as a consultant in 1999, General Manager from 2000 to 2005. Brazil's first sous-vide kitchen.

  6. 2005–2010

    Hotel Gran Marquise, The Leading Hotels of the WorldFortaleza

    Director of Food & Beverage. Responsible for the LQA (Leading Quality Assurance) standard. The first ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certification at a luxury hotel in Brazil.

  7. 2011–2012

    Emiliano, The Leading Hotels of the WorldSão Paulo

    Senior F&B Manager. Responsible for the LQA standard.

  8. 2012–2015

    DPNY Beach Hotel & SpaIlhabela

    General Manager. Repositioning from party hotel to adults-only, with annual revenue up 64% in two years.

  9. 2014–2017

    L'Eden Pousada BoutiqueIlhabela

    Founder and owner. Sold.

  10. 2014–2019

    Hotel4YouSão Paulo

    Founder and CEO. Now VHC Vacation Homes Collection.

  11. 2017–2018

    Abricó Beach HotelSão Sebastião

    Pre-opening Manager.

  12. 2018–2020

    Casa di Sirena, by WyndhamIlhabela

    Pre-opening Director.

  13. since 2021

    Duke Beach Hotel & SPA by PreferredMaresias

    Independent consultant, 2021–2024; partner and operations director since January 2025.

I have looked after internationally touring artists and heads of state. I do not publish the names of guests.

On 10 August 2021, the Municipal Council of Ilhabela made me an Honorary Citizen.

Since 2000 I have set up the same training programme in every hotel I run, together with a local school: Anhembi Morumbi University and Senac at the Club Transatlântico in São Paulo (2000–2005); CEFET Ceará, the federal technical college, at the Gran Marquise in Fortaleza (2005–2010); Hotec at the Hotel Emiliano in São Paulo (2010–2011); the state technical schools ETEC and FATEC in Ilhabela, São Sebastião and Caraguatatuba at DPNY (2012–2015); and today Duke Beach's own training institute.

Contact

Initial project review

For an initial review, it helps to have the location of the asset, the stage of the project and whatever material is available, be it a study, a design, a financial model or a contract under negotiation. I reply personally, and in that first reply I say whether I have the time to take the work on.

Email

heiko@obermullerhospitality.com

WhatsApp

+55 12 99180-4758

LinkedIn

in/heikoobermuller