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BRANDON HOUSE HOTEL STAFF ARE CONFIDENT THEY CAN RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEW NORMAL AS IT REOPENS THIS WEEK, WRITES
HAVING INVESTED a significant sum in a new wedding reception wing and bar, the Covid-19 pandemic’s arrival in March couldn’t have been worse timed for the Brandon House Hotel’s owners.
Sales and Marketing Manager Pat Quinn, whose family have owned the hotel since 1996, said: ‘We were just ready to open the new area when everything happened. We were ready to open that Friday and we were closed on the Monday. It was an area we put a lot of investment into for weddings and now we don’t have any for this year, apart from a couple later in the year which we are waiting to see how things will play out.’
The business had been doing very well when Covid-19 struck.
‘ There has been two very large infrastructure projects, the Great Island power station and the bypass. One finished as the other began so we have had a steady stream of guests, particularly from Spain. Some would take months at a time during the winter. That was the reason we felt a little more assured to do the renovation.’
The opening of the New Ross Bypass and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge also brought in new customers but management didn’t get a chance to see if they were going to be repeat business as Covid struck the month after.
The hotel reopens this Friday and the 107 staff are looking forward to serving customers again.
Pat said extensive training has taken place, with each staff department having inductions separately.
On the reopening, he said: ‘It will be seamless in the context of the new normal. If we were bringing in these regulations in February, people would have been a bit awestruck but now people are used to having to hand sanitise and the rules about how many people can be in a place at any one time.’
He said the business has sustained a significant loss so far this year.
‘ There are three months that have gone now. We have had no income whatsoever for three months. We still have a lot of bills to pay; we have some staff who were paid throughout the whole lockdown, electricity and other bills. We spent a lot of time trying to making savings but we still had a lot of overheads to carry during the time of lockdown. Certainly we’ll be fighting back from that point of view.’
He said: ‘We don’t know how the rest of the year will go but we do know a lot of our booked in business is gone. The vast majority of our weddings are cancelled. There are no tours going to come this year. Any big family groups that were booked in for weekends away; that’s all gone so we are trying to see what we are going to get.’
Hopeful of lots of bookings this week, Pat said if not for government support schemes being put in place, they wouldn’t be in a position to open this Friday according to Covid regulations.
‘Going forward as an industry, we need more supports like a 0 VAT rate into 2021. To get it back to 9 per cent from there on. Credit is something hotels are going to need in a big way,’ Pat said.
He said business is down around 75 per cent. 90 per cent of the hotel’s guests are Irish, ten per cent international, so travel restrictions will not impact turnover severely,
‘We don’t have the money we were going to have. We have had to spend a substantial amount to get going. Cash flow is the way our business model works. We spend all our money in the winter when it’s quiet. Then we look to recoup that money from March to the rest of the year, to September/October. For August we would be 85 to 90 per cent accuracy. At the moment, we would only be at 25-30 per cent for the rest of the summer, but it is a last minute business so we would still hope to be at somewhere between 50 and 60 per cent. A lot of our regulars would be older so we’d worry that maybe they wouldn’t feel comfortable going away. The worry going into winter is people are used to a different type of business. Will there be a lot of sales people on the road with Zoom meetings, etc?’
Food and beverages will be served in several different areas around the hotel and a pre-booking system is in place for guests and walk-in customers alike.
Time slots will be booked for tables and for the next few weeks and a €9 minimum food spend is required if customers want an alcoholic drink.
Customers and guests can spend up to 90 minutes at a table, following which a staff member has 15 minutes to clean the table.
Manager Greg Doyle said the hotel is ideally situated to accommodate people during this period of restrictions because of its extensive grounds and space inside.
‘Going to a hotel is a leisure activity so people go away to do what they want, when they want. You might wake up at 8 a.m. and say I’ll go for a run or a swim but that all has to be prebooked now. Now everything has to be planned,’ Greg said.
He said there will be someone employed full-time in the lobby to clean it.
‘ They will be doing the touch points. A time card will be put down after people have finished having their tea or coffee. A lot of it is common sense and we’re relying on the public for that too. The guidelines from the government have been quite vague. At least people had three and a half months. This would have been a nightmare if people weren’t used to queuing and social distancing.’
He said unlike in a larger town or city, the hotel is not located in an urban setting, which is an advantage.
Both Pat and Greg have been visiting hotels which have opened and are confident everything will work out. ‘We have seen what our competitors are doing and everyone is adapting to the new rules as best as they can. There is a lot more emphasis on signage around hotels to show customers where they should be.’
Staff will either wear masks or visors, but there is no requirement for customers to wear masks at the hotel.
Walk-in customers will be asked for their name and contact details so they can be traced in the unlikely event of any Covid-related medical issue occurring. An isolation room has been set up for any staff member or customer who displays Covid symptoms.
Among the other changes, housekeeping staff will spend more time cleaning rooms and there will be a slightly later check-in time of 4 p.m.
Pat said: ‘Everything from the remote controls to kettles have to be disinfected. Even if a single bed is not used that will have to be changed.’
Different cleaning chemicals will be used and staff will operate on the basis that every single thing in the room they are cleaning has been used so it has to be thrown out or laundered.
There are several areas food can be served in: the restaurant, Library Bar, the function room and the new reception area. There will be no breakfast buffet and breakfast times will be booked.
Regarding children in the hotel, Greg said: ‘ The pool is still open. We have a fairy walk. We have the grounds. The only difference is children will have to be more controlled; there are no more kids running around because children touch absolutely everything. The children have to stay with their parents.’
Over 70s are also very welcome to stay. ‘A lot of it is common sense. We will be operating a lot in the background where it’s not going to be in their face,’
Greg said almost all weddings have been rebooked for next year.
He said: ‘We are hoping to keep staff as normal. We would be hoping to keep the full crew that we have. These aren’t normal times so we don’t know what’s going to happen in August. We are optimistic and the staff are optimistic and are looking forward to being back. They are as proud as we are in the hotel.’
Pat said the future of the sector remains unknown: ‘If there is a spike in the number of infections we’ll have to adapt.’
He said the new visitor attraction planned for the Michael Murphy building on the quay and the Greenway are lights at the end of a long tunnel for businesses like the Brandon House Hotel.
‘We are looking at that as a positive for the future. The bypass is also a threat as people can bypass us. It’s vital the investments promised for New Ross happens. To get through this time we need the public’s support,’ he added.
Both Pat and Greg thanked their staff, especially those who worked at the hotel throughout Covid lockdown, refunding customers and helping reorganise weddings for next year.