Friends and associates

Under the Radar:  Earlier this year hotel manager Michelle McCarthy found herself navigating her way across a mountain in pouring rain with just a compass and her friend Lorraine Cunningham on the end of a mobile phone guiding her back to the safety and comfort of a hotel in Waterford, writes Ciarán Brennan.

What sounds like something from the TV reality show Castaway was actually part of RTÉ's series The Master's Apprentice, in which young chefs, hoteliers and restaurateurs learn from the crème de la crème of the Irish hospitality industry.

So why had Waterford-based hotelier and mentor Paul Flynn sent one of them up a mountain and what had climbing a mountain got to do with hotel management?

"It was designed to throw us off a little and see how we worked together, to see how strong we were," Cunningham says.

They passed that test with flying colours. After all, they have been friends for 14 years and both of them have been managing Eldon's Hotel in the small village of Roundstone in Co Galway for the past year and a half.

"We know each other's strengths and weaknesses by now," says Cunningham.

Which is just as well, because they found themselves managing a hotel when they were just 23.

The two young women had not planned on becoming hotel managers at such a tender age. They were just out of college and had spent a few months working at the Christmas on Ice show at the RDS in Dublin. When that ended, it was time to find new work.

"We weren't too sure what we were going to do after that and then we heard about the restaurant at Eldon's Hotel," says McCarthy.

The idea was to lease out the restaurant for a few months during the summer to take in the tourism season. So they headed over to Roundstone in early January to take a look.

"The leaseholder, Ann Connelly, showed us the restaurant and the bar and the rooms. I was looking at Lorraine and she was looking at me and we were wondering why she was showing us the hotel," says McCarthy.

It was then that Connelly told them that she had to lease out the entire property; leasing just the restaurant was not an option. "We said we'd think about it," McCarthy adds. "It was a massive commitment - there was a restaurant, a bar, 19 bedrooms, and the lease was for three years."

While other friends were making plans to go travelling, the two mulled over whether to tie themselves down for three years. They did not want regrets though; such a chance might never come again, they thought.

"In 10 years' time, we would probably have responsibilities of mortgages and families, and we said 'look, we have nobody to think about but ourselves, we have nothing to lose'," says Cunningham.

They sought advice from Cunningham's uncle, who had a catering background. Their families had asked him to discourage them. "But he came up and looked at it and said 'go for it, you'll only be regretting it in a few years' time if you don't'," she adds.

From there it was straight into arranging finance with the bank, dealing with suppliers, checking out the market and looking at the potential to expand.

"It's a very tourism-based business and it really only has a peak of six weeks in the year," says Cunningham. "There is a perception of Roundstone closing down in October."

They set about making it into a year-round business - offering weekend specials, murder mystery weekends and New Year's Eve packages.

"In the summer you have to make the most of it and bring in as much revenue as you can," explains McCarthy. "In the winter time you have to focus on how you're going to get people out here. You focus on groups of people like hill walkers, vintage car rally groups. You go and talk to them and offer them weekend deals."

In that regard, McCarthy's mountaineering expedition was not just about team-building. It was designed to give them an idea of what a key segment of their winter trade - hill walkers - would like.

"There is no point on focusing on something you've never done," says Cunningham. "We were trying to create a menu that would suit them as part of a package. At least Michelle knew what it felt like when she was up there and what she was looking forward to when she got down."

The two women are also quick to praise the contribution of their head chef, David O'Neill, for the success of the business over the past 18 months.

There's another year and half to go on the lease. At the end of it, they plan to take a holiday. However they see themselves taking on the business again.

"It's a fabulous hotel," says McCarthy.

On The Record

Names:Michelle McCarthy and Lorraine Cunningham.

Ages:25 and 24.

From:Mullagh, Co Clare.

Background:Childhood friends since secondary school, both completed business, hotel and catering management courses at the Galway-Mayo Institute. After leaving college they spent some time travelling in Europe before returning to work on the Christmas on Ice show in Dublin. They took over running Eldon's Hotel in Connemara in February 2006.

Admire:"Lorraine, for putting up with me," says McCarthy. "My father," says Cunningham. In the world of food,Jamie Oliver of Naked Chef fame.