Bold Rooftopbar

Maastricht has its own rooftop bar thanks to entrepreneurs Rob Dresen and Pieter Van Veldhoven. They sold a number of other businesses to embark on a new adventure and give Maastricht a bar with international appeal. At the beginning of 2020, Rob looks back on the opening year and the collaboration with Tunify.

Above a student hotel

Bold Rooftopbar is above The Student Hotel in Maastricht, located in the old Sphinx building, a stone’s throw from the Markt and the Vrijthof. Rob: ‘The interior design of the bar is suited to the hotel and the hotel guests. We aimed to create an international experience. As a guest, you never get the feeling that you’re in Maastricht, but in a global establishment. And that works spectacularly well with international students and tourists.’

‘Even the kitchen fits into that story,’ Rob continues. For lunch and dinner, we serve meals from around the world. One of the chefs, for example, comes from Indonesia and brought his grandmother’s recipes to the Netherlands.’

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A surprising start

Rob has had a particularly busy few months, he says: ‘The place was packed from the very start. Both hotel guests and other visitors immediately found their way upstairs. It’s a luxury problem of course, but due to the busy times, we still have a few things on our to-do list. Luckily, thanks to Tunify, we never have to waste any time looking for the right kind of music.’

‘I had used the Tunify music player before in another business,’ explains Rob. ‘As a result, I know what Tunify is capable of. Plus, Tunify is better priced than the competition. We immediately signed up for a subscription to the most expensive version, Tunify Orange. This way, we make use of Tunify’s pre-programmed channels and put together our own playlists.’

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Channels for every moment of the day

At the moment, Rob and Pieter are mostly making use of Tunify Blue. That’s the part of the music player where you put together a mood or atmosphere by combining different music channels. Rob: ‘We adjust the arrangement based on the time of the day. During the day, we mostly work with jazz and lounge, in the evening we switch over to new jazz and clubby music.’

The current approach barely costs any time—just a few seconds a day. ‘We make adjustments à la minute,’ explains Rob. ‘And we get exactly the feedback we hope for: guests often comment on how the music is well-tuned to the atmosphere in the bar. Tunify has given us the perfect help through our first months. And as soon as there’s free time again, we want to do even more. Then we’ll also put a few of our own playlists together in the music player.’

Interested in the latest hotspot in Maastricht? You’ll find all information at www.boldrooftopbar.com.