Fuller has room for Shelbourne's old world charm

Taking out a lease on the landmark Dublin hotel is a key step in Marriott Lodging International's overall strategy, the group's managing director tells Claire Shoesmith

Usually a renovation involves a substantial amount of change. Not in the case of the Shelbourne Hotel. This is one time when keeping things just as they were is a key part of the whole process.

In fact, according to Edwin Fuller, president and managing director of Marriott Lodging International, the past played a very important part in his company's decision to take out a lease on what is one of Ireland's best-known hotels. "The fact that the Constitution was signed here has not been lost on anyone at Marriott and if anything it has focused us on a higher degree of care," says Fuller, who in common with many of his fellow Americans admits to having a soft spot for anything older than a "couple of hundred years".

The fact that Marriott is an American brand operating successfully outside of its own borders is something the company is proud of - and in many ways has Fuller to thank for. Under his reign, the international division - which accounts for just under one-quarter of the Marriott International group's total sales - has grown from 16 properties in 1991 to 350 today. And if Fuller has his way the growth won't stop here.

"Ireland plays a key part in our overall strategy," says the 61-year-old who travels 400,000 miles a year visiting Marriott resorts around the world. Still, despite the fact the chain has operations in 68 different countries, Fuller is still keen to extol the virtues of being in Ireland.

"Part of the focus was that we needed to be in Ireland," he says. "It's a key European economic community country."

According to Fuller, Marriott has come to Ireland and is excited to be here. "It's not a single entry - not just one hotel," he says. "We are here and we are not finished yet." The chain, which traces its origins to a small root beer stand in Washington DC in 1927, opened its first hotel here in 2002 - the 148-bedroom Druid's Glen Marriott Hotel and Country Club and in 2004 as well as opening the Johnstown House Hotel in Co Meath, also took on a 30-year lease for the Shelbourne in Dublin. Shortly after the Shelbourne changed hands, with owner Royal Bank of Scotland selling it to a group of Irish property magnates including Bernard McNamara, Gerry O'Reilly and Bernard Doyle for €140 million.

This changed everything, says Fuller, who is quick to pinpoint this as the reason for the delayed opening. "This Irish ownership wanted something more from the renovations and the whole redevelopment had to be rethought," he says. "This took time."

The Shelbourne Hotel, in its newly renovated form, is now due to open on December 1st, missing its original target of being open in time for September's Ryder Cup.

Still, Fuller has no regrets. "The investment is focused on being the best in the whole of Ireland and this is our one chance to get it right," he says. "There will be many other Ryder Cups and right now doing this right to make a good impression is more important." The guests who had already booked in to the hotel may disagree, but they are all apparently being taken care of by other five-star hotels and Fuller isn't worried.

"There is always an element of risk in construction," he says, adding that in the long run, a change of two months isn't much to shout about. In fact at a total of 20 months, this time round the closure could be seen as short. The last time the hotel closed for renovation in 1867 it was shut for three years while among other things the Shelbourne became one of the first buildings in Ireland to have gas installed.

On a financial note, Fuller doesn't appear to be concerned either, insisting that the extended closure won't harm the group's results. Marriott took a charge of $6 million (€4.7 million) back in the first quarter of 2005 relating to the closure of the Shelbourne and the associated redundancies - the majority of the hotel's 227 staff were let go - and Fuller says this is perfectly adequate to cater for the extended closure. Still, with the cost of a room in one of Dublin's other five-star hotels averaging about €180 for a week night - Fuller was unable to reveal the hotel's new pricing structure - it's hard to imagine there isn't any pressure to open as soon as possible.

And even if Fuller himself isn't putting the pressure on, the guests are. People are ringing every day asking to reserve a room or a dinner table for the opening night and the list is continually growing, according to the hotel's all-Irish management team. "While we will be doing a lot of marketing in terms of attracting new overseas business, there is some that won't need to be touched at all," he says Fuller.

Another area that Fuller and his team will be looking to target with the reopening of the Shelbourne is the incentive market - that is, trips offered by employers to encourage their staff to sell the most or win the most lucrative contracts. "Ireland is a great incentive destination for Americans and Europeans and that is one area that we're looking to focus on," says Fuller.

"The incentive market pays top dollar for food and top dollar for rooms. It's new money being brought into Ireland and that's what we want," he says.

According to Fuller, these people are prepared to pay for all the best things synonymous with Ireland and Dublin and there aren't many cities that have this level of attraction.

However, while Marriott intends to focus strongly on bringing overseas visitors to Ireland, locals most certainly won't be forgotten. At Druid's Glen, Irish people account for more than half of the total business and almost 90 per cent of the food and drink spend.

"One of the things that made the Shelbourne so popular in the past was that it was open to everyone," says Fuller. "That's not going to change." Neither is the makeup of the famous Lord Mayor's Lounge and Horseshoe Bar. "They were the heart and soul of the hotel and they worked very well so they won't be changed," says Fuller, adding that customers had warned the hotel's manager that if the bar was changed they wouldn't come back. Still, there will be some new things too. The lift in the lobby has been removed and the original staircase restored. The new hotel will have 265 rooms, compared with the original 190, and play host to Ireland's largest ballroom. It will also have a speciality restaurant headed by one of its own chefs - Liam Doyle, the Shelbourne's manager said the group had made a conscious decision to use one of its own chefs rather than hire a celebrity chef.

So while things are powering ahead for an albeit late opening of the Shelbourne - the €40 million-plus renovation is still ongoing - Fuller's work in Ireland hasn't quietened down. The chain opened a Courtyard hotel in Galway in July last year and is due to open a Ritz-Carlton at Powerscourt in 2007.

According to Fuller, the group is also in talks about at least three more projects in Ireland, though he declined to give details saying the discussions were ongoing.

"There is a very strong Irish-American relationship and that's something we're seeking to make the most of," he says, adding that there are 17 million Irish passports in the US today - not a bad feat when you consider there are only just over four million people actually in Ireland.

In its new ownership structure, Fuller believes that the Shelbourne has found the best friends it will ever have. Given the amount of time he spends talking about it, it's probably not far off the mark to say it feels like a pretty good friend of his own too.