Who’s Who in 2022, Business: Jeremy Kreft

Best Western North Lakes Hotel general manager Jeremy Kreft was one of the faces Moreton Bay Regional Council’s Back a Local campaign in 2022, encouraging residents to support businesses doing it tough while COVID-19 travel restrictions were in place.

With the travel and hospitality industries hit hard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeremy urged people to book a staycation closer to home during the campaign, which ran earlier this year.

While the number of tourists visiting Queensland was slowly rising, Jeremy said he also relied on the support of locals to help keep the business afloat.

“Our employees are all local residents, because not only have they proven to be very dependable, but it keeps the money circulating locally, which is important to us all,” Jeremy explained.

“By supporting one another we are stronger and less prone to outside factors which we can’t control.”

The Boardwalk Café serves up a variety of meals including salads, burgers, pastas, steak, seafood, curries and desserts, as well as an extensive drinks menu, with an unrivalled view over the water.

“We aim to provide additional value to the local community who use our Boardwalk Café by buying local produce and rewarding locals for their support by running two loyalty programs,” Mr Kreft said.

“The most rewarding of these is our Birthday Club, where locals who are celebrating a birthday can eat for free, providing one meal is purchased.

“Daily specials featuring our delicious meals are available at prices well below many of our competitors – it’s just our way of saying we are local, and we are a small part of a larger local community whose support we sincerely value.”

The hotel also reduces the price on its conference and functions rooms for businesses and community groups to meet.

“We need the support of local business and to attract their attention we do our very best to give them the best deals we can – that way we encourage locals to think local first for any of their hospitality requirements,” Mr Kreft said.

About Jeremy Kreft

Jeremy has been the general manager of the Best Western North Lakes Hotel since 2018 and firmly believes in the power of supporting the local community.

Despite the challenges the hotel has faced in the past two years, Mr Kreft is committed to supporting others who are also feeling the pinch.

“We work with local not-for-profit organisations across the board to help them raise much needed funds for their various charities by keeping our rates low or by providing sponsorships in many cases.

“Additionally, we also sponsor a wide variety of local sporting clubs including the North Lakes Eels and Queensland Off Road Racing, just to mention a few.”