Annette Noon describes her day
I’VE BEEN here nearly two years now and previously worked in beauty salons. The big difference at a hotel is that it’s not so hectic. People come to relax because they are on a break, so they are more chilled out.
I’ve just moved from Cork City back home to Buttevant. Work is now a two-hour commute by bus – one hour waiting for it and one hour on it. If I’m lucky I get a lift with my regular taxi driver, my dad.
There are two full-time and four part-time staff in the spa and we are open from 9.30am until 8pm. I work a five-day week, eight hours a day and get one weekend off a month. At this stage every day of the week is the same to me.
We spend the first half-hour setting things up. We have a relaxation room with massage chairs and an aquarium that looks out over the pool area, so we have to sort the herbal teas, water, fruit and oatmeal snacks there before opening up.
Then we check the treatment rooms are ready and organise the schedule so we know who is doing what for the day. The main thing is making sure there are enough towels – we go through loads.
The most popular treatments we do are massages and facials.
Another big difference about working in a hotel spa is that almost half our appointments are men. I think they find salons intimidating in a way hotels aren’t. Also, if a woman is staying for the weekend she’ll bring her partner to the spa with her.
More and more of the younger men like getting facials. The women tend to go for the full body scrubs, but we’ve had a couple of men looking for them, too. They’re great for brightening up the skin and getting it ready for summer.
Staff have lunch in the hotel canteen which is great, because we don’t have to pay for it. After that I might be doing manicures and pedicures. During the winter the nail polish was all reds, now it’s all about natural or light summer colours.
If there’s a wedding on we bring in make-up artists and hairdressers for the bride and I do their nails. They’re always full of nerves and it’s nice to be part of it.
I’ll also spend some time in the afternoon checking stock, ordering supplies and working with reservations to make sure the bookings run smoothly.
I love meeting people from all around the world. Most come in to switch off and relax, but some want to talk either because they’re nervous or they have worries they want to share. Before I was a beautician I used to work in a solicitor’s office and that was just so boring by comparison.
Annette Noonan is a spa therapist at the Hayfield Manor hotel in Cork