15 Years of Building Hoteza: Vasily’s Journey from Engineer to Team Lead
Fifteen years, countless hotel projects, and a journey that took Vasily from hands-on engineering to leading his own team. Vasily Chizhkov shares how he grew with Hoteza, helped shape some of its early products, and what has made his journey at the company so rewarding.
Q: Vasily, how did your journey with Hoteza begin?
I joined the company in 2011. At the time, I was looking for a new opportunity and came across an engineering position at Hoteza’s predecessor company.
During the interview, I met my namesake, Alexey Chizhikov — perhaps that was a sign! I really liked the atmosphere and the people, so I accepted the offer.
Shortly after joining as an engineer, I had a chance to travel to Rome for an exhibition. It was a very interesting and memorable experience, a mix of learning, new impressions, and a bit of fun. It was definitely a nice bonus for someone who had just started a new job.
Q: What was your work like in those early years?
The technical tasks were quite creative and hands-on.
"As we used to joke, sometimes you had to use both your hands and feet — and, of course, your head!"
During my first years, there was a lot of on-site work. I traveled to hotels, installed and configured equipment, solved technical issues, and worked directly with customers. I generally enjoyed it, though sometimes it was quite exhausting.
Q: You were there when some of Hoteza’s key products were taking shape. What do you remember about that period?
When I joined, the company was mainly focused on providing TV solutions for hotels. I was lucky enough to witness the very beginning of an idea that would later become a major part of Hoteza’s product ecosystem: creating a mobile application for hotel guests.
The idea was to connect the new guest app with the interactive hotel TV and manage both through a unified system. This became the foundation for what we know today as Hoteza TV.
Q: What was it like working with the first hotels?
"We learned a lot together with our first hotel customers. We made mistakes, fixed them, learned from them, and continuously improved the product."
Those first implementations were really our testing ground, and every project gave us new experience.
Looking back, it was an exciting period. We weren’t simply implementing an existing product. We helped build and shape it.
Q: How did Hoteza’s product portfolio evolve?
Soon after Hoteza TV, we decided to develop another product ourselves, High-Speed Internet Access (HSIA) with guest authentication. Before that, we had been selling a third-party solution.
I supported the team on the technical side and with troubleshooting, but further development required a dedicated team, so our long-time partner in Kazakhstan eventually took over HSIA, and they still handle it today.
Step by step, Hoteza continued to add new products. What started with a few individual solutions gradually grew into what we now call the Guest Journey Platform, bringing different stages of the guest journey together in one platform.
Q: Looking back, what has kept you at Hoteza for 15 years, and how have you changed along the way?
For me, it’s the creativity and the fact that the work is never too standard or repetitive. I like the team, the freedom to make decisions, and the flexibility to plan my own time. There’s no micromanagement, which is a huge bonus. I’d describe it as a real work-life blend.
As the company and technologies have developed, I’ve continued to expand my knowledge and learn new things. At the same time, I’ve grown as a manager and built a team of engineers over the years. Of course, that comes with its own challenges. Now I have to balance my own responsibilities with managing the team.
Q: What do you think are Hoteza’s main strengths?
I think one of Hoteza’s main strengths is the all-in-one approach: having everything in one product, with a single point of access and communication. It makes implementation much easier.
We’re flexible with our clients and can accommodate many of their specific requests. Over the last few years, we’ve significantly improved our support processes, both in speed and quality. A big contribution to that came from our Head of Support, Ekaterina Loseva. She’s really energetic and responsible.
Q: Fifteen years at Hoteza have been a big part of your life. What does life outside of work look like for you?
I joined the company in May 2011, and in October that same year, I got married. My namesake, Alexey Chizhikov, was at my wedding. Over the years, we’ve developed not only a strong working relationship but also a friendship. We studied at the same university, knew many of the same people, and even share some hobbies. I think those coincidences became one of the foundations of our friendship.
I now have two daughters, ages 8 and 12. They even visited the office a few times.
Outside of work, volleyball is my main hobby. I play two or three times a week and also enjoy kitesurfing. I’m generally up for anything active, from skiing and snowboarding to squash and padel.
Q: What do you see as the main priorities for the team going forward?
I see developing the team’s competencies as a key priority, along with improving the speed and quality of problem-solving. As our solutions evolve, we’ll need to adapt and restructure where necessary.
If the business grows significantly, we’ll also need to build expertise around new solutions and automate more of our processes to keep up with that growth.
Q: What qualities do you think are important for people joining the team?
For me, honesty and responsibility are essential. I also value a strong focus on results, self-organization, and the ability to work independently.