Whether it's Fawlty Towers or the Hilton, few jobs are as time-consuming as running a hotel. Tony Clayton-Leaasks six hoteliers how they manage to get away from it all during these (relatively) quiet weeks
PAT CHAWKE
Aghadoe Heights Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry
When the hotel closes for a couple of months there's a sense of relief which lasts for about five days. Then there's a sense of "let's get organised and get ready for next year". After about eight days you're wishing you were back into the season again.
What we tend to do when we close around January/February time is to concentrate on refurbishment and choose areas of the hotel that need a bit of attention. With that side of the hotel you're not dealing with the general public, but rather with property issues. This is a lot less interesting than dealing with customers, and looking after weekend breaks and the like. This time out, we're completely redoing the reception, lounge, lobby, restaurant, meetings rooms. We trust the builder entirely, so it means we can go away without any worry.
We do, of course, try to tie in some leisure time with this period, and we look at taking our annual holiday. We like skiing, normally with an extended group of friends - they tend to be people who aren't involved in the hotel game, which for us means a complete break from work, and that's fantastic. You're not talking shop, but rather about other people and what's going on in their lives. It's real catch-up time. We'll be skiing in January - Scheffau, Austria - but we'll probably try to get a week's sun before we reopen in March. We're thinking Barbados, but my bank manager is thinking not. We've been told that Barbados is gorgeous. We've never been to the Caribbean, so we might just give it a go.
When we are guests of a hotel while on holiday, we try our best to switch off and not let it become a busman's holiday. We enjoy ourselves wherever we go anyway, but what you almost always do is that you see something which lodges in your mind as a great idea for your own hotel - something that we can put a twist on and bring back to Aghadoe. So you're using the hotel you're staying in as a learning experience, but not consciously looking for ideas. When something different or unique crops up, you store it away. Other than that we just switch off; we try to be as anonymous as possible when we're away. We know that hotel staff all work very hard to deliver a good experience for guests, so we just let them get on with it.
Is it impossible not to switch off? Well, you're almost taking stuff in by osmosis. My wife, Marie, likes to lie by a swimming pool and read, whereas I'm more a bit more active on the walking, golfing or water sports end of things. You're focused in other areas, so we don't have the time - and nor do we allow ourselves the time - to sit around and watch how they're serving afternoon tea. You keep yourself occupied doing things you enjoy as a hobby, and that in itself doesn't allow you any time to put on the hotelier's hat.
But after we come back, we're definitely looking ahead to reopening.
JOHN BRENNAN
Park Hotel, Kenmare, Co Kerry
We closed on January 3rd, and reopen February 10th. Of course, everyone thinks that once the hotel closes we do nothing, but that's not the case at all. Personally, I'm busier during that time than when the hotel is open. We decorate and renovate areas of the hotel that we wouldn't have the time to do during the year. This year, we're renovating 10 bedrooms, so between wallpaper, curtains and workmen I'm very busy. This year we're also embarking on the construction of 18 lifestyle residences within the grounds of the hotel - they are very much in keeping with the spa and the lifestyle philosophy of the spa. And we're building a swimming pool as well - so that's me taken care of for the early part of the year. The lovely thing about January and February is that you get home for the weekends. I rarely have two-day weekends at home, and closing down for five weeks gives you a sense of normality - you can go home each evening and see the kids. Then during the mid-term break you'd head for the sun - or even for a week in-between, myself and my wife, Gwen, would go somewhere. I've been to the Capri Palace Hotel now and again, and last year we went to India.
When I'm staying in a hotel, I love to switch off, sit by the pool and read a book. I never read a book when I'm in Ireland, because I don't have the time. But it depends on what the break is. For instance, I stayed in London last November at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hyde Park; I was on business, so I was busy, busy, busy - I had meetings from early morning to late at night. In that kind of trip, the bedroom has to work for you - it's got to have full wireless internet access. Time is money, you're on the road, and you have to get all sorts of things done. That type of break and the kind of service you require in that type of environment is totally different to what you might want when you're on holiday. The service levels you require when you're on holidays aren't as high - you don't need a person standing at the end of your bed by the pool asking if you're all right - that would drive me mad. In a holiday environment, the success heavily depends on the quality of the restaurant, the food and the service in the restaurant. And yes, the places we would go to would tend to have very good food. The locations you pick for holidays reflect that. Being in the business I'd know where I'd want to go, and it would be for a particular reason. We have a bolthole in Spain, which is grand.
We all went out at the end of 2005 and had a great night; the hotel doors are closed, and you can go home at night and not worry about how the restaurant is doing, or whether everyone is receiving the treatments they want, and all that sort of thing. But after a few weeks all you want to do is to open again. We're all itchy, and that's because the hotel business is about welcoming people and wanting to make them feel good.
It's nice to have something to look forward to.
BILL KELLY
Kelly's Resort Hotel, Rosslare, Co Wexford
We closed on December 11th and we reopen in the middle of February. What do we do in the meantime? Well, the reservations desk is still open, and we have maintenance programmes and the winter work stuff to organise. But we do manage to get off for a while, so it's not all that bad. We don't take a break during the year - we're too busy looking after our customers - so there's very much a sense of relief when we close. When we close the hotel, we normally have a week or so here of winding down work, and I then go on a wine tasting trip for a few days, when I buy the wine for next season - I'd go to Burgundy, and the Rhône Valley, Bordeaux; we import nearly all the wine directly for the hotel.
My wife is French so we go to her family, and then we go skiing for a while. We go up to a place called Prazurarly, which is outside Megève. It's a lovely quaint small spot, where you get your bread from the local baker. All the kids - six of them - ski as well. And then after that, before we all head back to work, myself and my wife would normally try to get away for a break, about 10 days, no kids - a real holiday! We've been to Mauritius several times, and we tend to go somewhere where there's a bit of sunshine. The great thing about Mauritius is that the people there are fantastic and the service also. We stay in a hotel there called the Saint Géran, which I would view as one of the top resort hotels.
It's fantastic when you are the guest, and someone else is looking after you - it's great to be on the other side for a while. When you come from the hotel business, you try the best you can to give good service, so when you go to a hotel, you know the bottom line is service. Sure, no matter where you go, the buildings and structures can be fine, but it's the service, the people in the hotel, that make all the difference. Is it a busman's holiday? It's non-stop, to be honest. If we go to Mauritius this year, I'll probably visit all the new hotels they have out there, with a camera in my hand. I mightn't do it every day, but I'd certainly do it over a day or two. I think it'd be a sad day if someone in my position went to a hotel and couldn't see the good things that are in it. For instance, we opened our own spa here last year, and leading up to that I'd have visited every spa on Mauritius. You pick up ideas. Things move on so quickly - especially in the bedroom and bathroom areas. Of course, over there there's a lot more space, but then you're paying a lot more money as well, and the cost base is different. But you certainly get a feel for what the top resort hotels are doing around the world.
People ask do we have a sense of optimism or dread when we come towards reopening. It depends how the bookings are! We're very lucky in that we have a lot of long-term customers who have been coming to the hotel for years - second, third and fourth generations of the same family come back to stay with us. And that certainly gives us an idea as to what the year will be like. It's always exciting - there's a lot of work closing the hotel, but there's even more reopening. At home, if you redo one bathroom there's a big mess. Likewise here when we come back - after painting, carpet change, sanding, and so on, it's like one big mad rush. It's always worth it, though. And always exciting.
SAMMY LESLIE Castle Leslie, Glaslough, Co Monaghan
Me? Take a break? Are you kidding? We have had so much work going on here over the past couple of years that I haven't been able to take a break for more than three days. But that's a conscious decision - we have opportunities here, and I'm going to go hell for leather to get our projects completed. Because I'm single, I'm aware that I can put in so many hours, be flexible. It's great but it can get confusing - I'm working so far ahead of myself that at one point I thought early December was early January.
Castle Leslie is open all year round - we close only for the staff party. Christmas was such a big event - it always has been and will be - and so much great fun. In early January we closed for two days for the party; it has to be two days for a number of reasons - not all of the staff could go if it was just the one day, and people need the second day to recover.
I'm not planning on taking a holiday this year, because we have so much happening. Our cookery school opens at the end of February - we're having the kitchens fitted out as I speak. We start work on the gate lodges at the beginning of February, and then we have 12 holiday cottages in Glaslough village coming on line in the middle of March. I couldn't take two week's holiday at this point - it's too exciting. Next January I plan to head off for a month! I'm not too sure where yet, but I haven't been to Africa.
When I stay in a hotel for a business trip it's a curious feeling being the guest. I try not to take notes, yet you can't help but clock things that are something special. I went to Dubai in October on a bench-marking trip and that was wonderful. I was with 20 other hoteliers, and we stayed in a major resort where for four days we got to see all the behind-the-scenes operations. It was amazing to see how they operated - 10,000 staff over five properties.
It's almost impossible to switch off, too. I remember I was staying at a country house hotel once, and on the way out, for some reason I went into ownership mode and thanked the owners for coming to visit and wished them a safe journey home. After 14 years things tend to stay with you. But I love it, it's incredible, especially now that we're doing so many projects, the restoration and all of that.
Unlike other properties around this time of year, we're not closing down for refurbishment because we've been undergoing that for years. We're lucky in that the estate is so big that we can continue to do work in various places without it taking away from the Castle itself - there are 78,000sq ft of historic buildings on the estate, so it's going to be non-stop. Certainly, looking ahead to the next couple of years, there is less a sense of apprehension than there used to be. We've got over the initial hump of securing funding, which was crucial. And as I say, I'm taking a few days off in early 2007.
RONNIE COUNIHAN
Chief Executive, Renvyle Country House Hotel, Co Galway
We close down for three weeks in January - from the 9th until February 1st. A lot of our staff take their annual leave, and we do a certain amount of refurbishment and maintenance, which is possible only during that time. You'd prefer to stay open, of course, but there wouldn't be a lot of business around in January for a property like Renvyle. It's a post-Christmas thing - people are getting over the holiday period, and money might be in short supply. We've never tried to open for January business - maybe someday we will, but we have found that business becomes buoyant from February onwards.
In January, I'd normally take a short holiday, but there's a lot of work to be done during the closed period - you're preparing for the next season, all the marketing has to be done, and we have planned trips to the UK, Europe and America to spread the word about us - we'd meet agents, get contracts in place for the coming year, agree prices and so on, for their brochures. We do our annual newsletter and brochures and mailouts.
I prefer to holiday in Ireland, but sometimes myself and my wife would go to the sun, perhaps the Canaries, which is one of the few places relatively close by that has decent weather in January. It's wonderful when I check into a hotel that I'm not in charge of. You see, you're pampering people all year round, so it's nice to be pampered back. You're never relaxed in your own hotel, because you're always looking out for things.
Renvyle is very much a personalised operation; I would meet all the guests on a nightly basis to check they're enjoying their stay, their food, and seeing if there's anything we can do to make their stay more comfortable and enjoyable.
It's difficult to relax totally when you're staying in other hotels, though - sometimes you feel like getting up and addressing some problem. You're always critical - and always looking for new ideas for your own place. If you're staying in a nice place you'll always pick up ideas - Ireland has so many good hotels that good ideas are still out there. I'm just back from Switzerland and Austria after an eight-day sales trip, and I brought back loads of ideas that didn't cost much, but which will enhance the atmosphere and environment of Renvyle for the guests. Little things mean a lot to people - simple but effective gestures that set the tone.
I find that a lot of new hotels in Ireland, the ones that aren't yet established - the four-star places that were built on the basis of tax incentives in areas where hotels aren't probably needed - have a lot of operating problems and are badly managed. Not that that's particular to Ireland, of course.
When we reopen there is never a feeling of dread because it's all about preparation. Indeed, we all look forward to opening because there's nothing as bad as a closed hotel. The life goes out of it, the atmosphere fades. We all look forward to it.
DES O'DOWD
Inchydoney Spa and Resort, Clonakilty, Co Cork
When you get to a new year people start thinking about looking after themselves again, and we find that January and February would be busier because people are thinking about spa time; before that they're more focused about getting ready for Christmas, which is why our quietest time is at the end of November and early December. Although January and February isn't peak time, we've always stayed open. We pick our time for maintenance and refurbishment - in mid December, for example, we closed our pool for draining, cleaning and maintenance work. If we had a couple of quiet nights or some Christmas parties taking place, we'd schedule things like that. Also in December we refurbished some existing treatment rooms. We extended the spa earlier on in 2005 - built a new gym, new treatment rooms and changing rooms - and we'll have that all ready to go for this year.
The first year of operation we closed for a couple of weeks, and it just didn't suit us - we're always looking for opportunities, and when you know you've got a quiet time coming up, you'll try harder.
In some ways, it depends on the staffing structure. Traditionally, hotels closed down in November for a few months and when they reopened the staff would be sitting there waiting to take up their jobs again. That isn't an option for us, and giving holidays to staff in January isn't something they'd be happy with. Ten or 15 years ago, hotels would know that everyone in the locality would be happy to wait a couple of months to go back to their jobs, but that's not as easy an option any more.
I have a young family, and we try to get away during the summer - mostly to west Cork. I like Ireland for a holiday - I like the countryside and the people, and it's definitely my preferred destination. I also like to take weekend breaks to see cities, but generally if I was taking a longer break I'd stay here. I have a holiday home in west Cork, but we'd travel around and stay in other hotels. I enjoy staying in a good hotel - you can always appreciate something being done well. As for being a guest, I find it interesting to see whether they're doing a good job. It's not that it's as stressful a job as, say, heart surgery; it's a different kind of career that revolves around hospitality, and if you don't enjoy that kind of life then you shouldn't be in the industry. So when I take holidays I take that into account - it's not as if I'm at the coalface. But I enjoy being at home with the kids and switching off.
I don't get tired of working effectively all year; it's a relentless business, round the clock, week in, week out, all year. You work very hard for something like a wedding day, and you put a big effort into it. And the next day you do the same.
That's the nature of the business. But it's a business that is changing rapidly. A lot of spas, very good spas, have opened in the country over the past few years - it's become very competitive in the leisure hotel industry, and you have to meet that. We've just finished a €1 million extension to the spa, so from eight years ago, when Inchydoney was perhaps the only one in the country of any significant size, we now have to make sure that we have a good enough place for customers who have been to other spas. You have to be able to provide that and prove it, too.