I’M IN THE hotel Monday to Friday and if there’s something big on I’ll be in over the weekend too. Because of our proximity to the RDS and the Aviva stadium, as well as residential conferences, there’s always a lot going on.
I’m from Inverness, Lough Ness territory. I came here 20 years ago to work in Killarney.
I start at 7am and walk round to check how everything is going, especially in the breakfast room. It’s the most important meal in a hotel because it’s the one most guests have.
I’ll then look at conferencing to see what’s up that day and what changes, if any, have to be made. By 9.30 I’ll have a meeting with my seven heads of department. We will discuss anything that happened overnight and look over the VIP guest list. These could be anything from a regular guest to a high-rate guest who we leave chocolates, flowers or maybe champagne for.
We’ve got a good relationship with Ardmore Film studios so we get a lot of guests from them. Because we are beside Herbert Park they don’t have to worry about traffic noise. We get a lot of business from music promoters too. The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen or Tina Turner will book 120 rooms when they’re in town, for everyone from the dancers to the lighting guys.
We recently had wrestlers in. Some of them were 7ft tall and had to bend their heads to get into the lifts. If there is a sports team staying we need to check dietary requirements, that kind of thing. When that’s done I’ll have some fruit for breakfast.
The most important element of a hotel is its staff. Guests expect more than ever in terms of service and value for money and we must deliver that. The key to a good staff member is a natural friendliness. I’d take that over qualifications any day.
I’ll have lunch with the chef at about 12.30 and talk about suppliers, invoices and prices.
Things like energy usage, lighting and heating are all monitored by computer so we can what our expenditure is.
Maintenance is a big part of the job so I’ll meet with staff to check rooms and see what needs to be done, if there’s an issue with a net curtain that needs replacing or a stain that can’t be got out.
I’ll finish at 7pm. I walk three or four nights a week, to work off all that hotel food, and at weekends I go clay pigeon shooting. I love the competitive element of it and the fact that there’s no talking business.
- Ewan Plenderleith is general manager of Herbert Park Hotel
- In conversation with Sandra O'Connell