You can find material on the announcement here: PM COO change
The Chocolate on the Pillow Group (COTP) announces a change in the management team: After almost 20 years with the company, Jens Lehmann, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Managing Director, will be leaving the company. His departure marks the end of an era in which Jens Lehmann has decisively shaped and advanced COTP as a multi-brand hotel operator.
Jens Lehmann explains: “I can look back on almost 20 years of company history and am proud of the steps we have taken together and the progress we have made. I have learned a lot during this time, not only professionally but also personally. I am very grateful for these experiences and the trust I have felt on a daily basis. I would also like to thank my partners in the management and the shareholders, as well as our employees in the hotels and at head office. It is their commitment, loyalty and daily efforts that make COTP’s success possible in the first place. Together, we have created structures that are sustainable today – and can continue to grow tomorrow.”
“We bid farewell to Jens Lehmann with great respect and deep gratitude”
says Erik Florvaag, CEO and Managing Partner of The Chocolate on the Pillow Group. “Over the past two decades, he has not only developed COTP operationally, but also enriched it as a person. His loyalty, sense of responsibility and management style have had a strong impact on the company.”
Arnulf Daxer will take over the position of Chief Operating Officer on December 1, 2025. With him, the Group is gaining an internationally experienced leader with extensive and long-standing operational expertise in the hospitality and service industry. Daxer comes from Robinson Club GmbH and previously spent ten years at Bierwirth & Kluth Hotel Management in various management roles, most recently as Corporate Director of Operations.
“Arnulf Daxer brings experienced operational expertise, strong analytical skills and a modern management style,” says Erik Florvaag. “He is very experienced in the operation of franchise hotels and knows transformation processes and challenging operational set-ups from his own experience. We are convinced that he will provide new impetus and drive forward our pursuit of operational excellence.”
Managing Director and CFO Christoph Rosenschild also emphasizes the importance for the future direction of COTP: “With Arnulf Daxer, we are positioning the operational responsibility of COTP broadly, professionally and for the long term. His experience from international companies and structured operational organizations fits in perfectly with our requirements and our culture.”
Jens Lehmann will be leaving the company on 18.12.2025. COTP would like to thank him most sincerely for his many years of commitment and his contribution to the establishment and further development of the Group.
You can find material on the announcement here: PM COO change
The Chocolate on the Pillow Group (COTP) stands for a portfolio of 30 hotels in the DACH region. With around 800 employees, the group operates hotels under the brands of the international hotel operators Accor (Novotel, Mercure, ibis Styles, ibis, ibis budget, TRIBE, the hoxton), Marriott (Moxy, Four Points Flex by Sheraton, TRIBUTE Portfolio) and Intercontinental (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express). The hotel group, founded in 1994 and most recently operating as the GHOTEL Group, has set itself the task of setting new standards for hospitality with state-of-the-art hospitality concepts and aims to revolutionize the way hotels are managed. As an expert partner for institutional investors, private investors and joint ventures, The Chocolate on the Pillow Group, in close cooperation with Art-Invest Real Estate and the Zech Group, covers the entire value chain from hotel construction, planning and realization to hotel operation.
