News Fred Hotels
Ever since his youth, Cedric Nake has been passionate about the hotel and restaurant industry. Ten years ago, he started as a restaurant manager at Fred. Today, as COO, he oversees the day-to-day operations of the group’s hotels and has played a pivotal role in shaping their transformation from individual establishments into a modern hotel group. A look back at a decade marked by personal growth, the courage to pioneer digital innovation, and the constant pursuit of the perfect guest experience.
Cedric’s career in the industry began early with typical student jobs in the dining room and behind the bar. After completing his apprenticeship and holding various positions in the restaurant industry, he was eventually drawn to Zurich to work with Fred. There, he was able to design and implement a new direction for the business. This project served as the perfect springboard for him to further his career and make the transition from the restaurant industry to the hotel industry: “I had always worked in hotel restaurants, but I saw them as just a small part of the bigger picture. I wanted to take on more responsibility and understand the guest’s entire travel experience.”
In the early years, Cedric was on hand wherever there were pressing issues. He was involved across all divisions, pitched in on the front lines, standardized processes, and reorganized workflows. In this way, he gained a comprehensive understanding of the company and developed the necessary big-picture perspective. At the same time, Fred gave him the freedom to continue developing personally: He completed the Hotel Management program at NDS HF, earned an EMBA, and pursued further studies at the renowned Cornell University.
He immediately put this theoretical knowledge into practice. He played a pivotal role in the acquisition and integration of the Hotel Zürcherhof in Niederdorf in 2024, while also using the project as a case study for his master’s thesis. In particular, bringing the teams together and establishing a shared culture of values made this real-world project a milestone for him.
When Cedric took on the role of COO in 2021, Fred was in a crucial phase of development. Individual properties were increasingly coming together to form a hotel group with shared standards, centralized processes, and a clear brand identity.
Cedric was able to make the most of his in-depth knowledge of all aspects of the hospitality industry to play a key role in shaping the group’s professionalization and modernization. Working together with many stakeholders, he helped create structures that enable further growth while maintaining close ties with guests and employees.
These included, among other things, the introduction of group-wide standards, the standardization of operational processes, the further development of leadership roles, and the establishment of new organizational structures with clear responsibilities and decision-making authority. Whenever Cedric encounters a monotonous, repetitive task in his day-to-day work, he immediately asks himself: “How can we improve this? How can we optimize it?”
For him, it’s never about digitalization as an end in itself, but rather about creating real added value for guests and employees. Often, it’s the seemingly small details that make a big difference—such as switching from a physical room key to a digital room key on the guest’s smartphone. Cedric’s clear goal is to consistently break down administrative barriers:
It bothers me when employees have to do monotonous, repetitive tasks. When we automate routine processes like programming key cards or manually processing credit card statements, we gain one thing above all else: time for the guest.
Cedric Nake
COO
Thanks to these automated processes, the front-of-house team is freed from administrative burdens. This creates the space to focus on what really matters: genuine, generous hospitality on an equal footing.
For Cedric, the journey of continuous improvement is far from over. As COO, he works every day to ensure that visionary ideas are successfully brought to life. He follows new technologies and trends in the hospitality industry with great passion and already sees the use of artificial intelligence for administrative tasks as the next major area of potential.
Despite all the systems and digital processes, he believes the hospitality industry remains, at its core, a people business. Flat hierarchies and physical proximity to people are non-negotiable for him. It is with precisely this balance of innovative spirit and human connection that Cedric is moving forward into the coming years at Fred.