Rouse revolution that transformed Turnberry
Iain S F Brown
Chris Rouse, the director and general manager of Turnberry Hotel, who has died at the age of 76, was one of the finest hoteliers ever to work in the hospitality industry.
He was the hotelier’s hotelier, a manager so dedicated to his profession that he won award for his management style, which brought the best out of his staff and gave his guests an experience they were guaranteed to enjoy and remember.
When British Transport Hotels sold Turnberry to Sea Containers – The Orient Express Hotel Group – they must have done so with a heavy heart. They were parting with an iconic property, their flagship hotel.
But investment was needed and in selling to Sea Containers they thought they had the ideal company and they also knew they would choose their new general manager with care to take it forward to a new era.
With the exceptionally popular Irish manager Raymond McGuire leaving for pastures new at St Pierre Country Club, it was no easy task to find the manager they needed.
Chris Rouse started his career at the Hotel and Catering College at Fylde, near Blackpool, and in the early Sixties he entered the industry as a trainee manager for British Transport Hotels. He worked with BTH in Paris, Wiesbaden and Madrid before returning to the UK as assistant and house manager at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, taking over as deputy general manager in 1969.
On leaving Gleneagles he passed through the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews, and the Welcome Hotel at Stratford- upon- Avon before moving to Turnberry and signalling the start of the 25- year Rouse revolution.
That was in 1977 but the Orient Express Hotel Group were not to stay long and Rouse oversaw the transfer from them to a Japanese hospitality firm Nitto Koyko.
He immediately set about persuading the independentlyowned group to invest £ 20 million, setting himself the task of transforming the property into a world- leading hotel and spa and with conference facilities and championship golf courses.
Central to Rouse` s style was his focus on customer satisfaction, saying: “If we get it wrong we do so with a smile and put it right as quickly as we can.”
When a hotel printer asked him to sign off the afternoon tea menu proof he replied: “You will get it when I have sampled the consistency of all the sandwiches that come out of the kitchen and only then will I will give you the go- ahead.
“Many of our gentleman customers wear silk ties and the cost of replacing them far outweighs the price of the tea.”
Rouse was always aware of the demands he made on his staff but he continually rewarded their efforts with surprise away day treats, one of which was taking nearly all of them to the opening of a refurbished cinema in Newton Stewart with popcorn and soft drinks thrown in.
For Rouse there were frequent ( first class) flights to Tokyo to get his new plans signed off by the owners and indeed the Nitto family were so proud of their manager that they made him a director of the parent company.
One of the highlight s of the Turnberry year was the Hogmanay celebration, which the owners attended. The New Year’s Day brunch was spectacular and a first for a Scottish hotel. The main dining room and corridor were transformed to a country fare shopping arcade of suitably dressed street barrows with a butchers and bakers shop, a fishmongers, game shop, a dairy, chocolatier and a beverage counter for the guests to choose from. A four- hour feast with pipes and drums, fiddle music, harpist and an American magician thrown in.
Around the world there are hotel people who owe their training and start to him.
At Turnberry he was honoured with two visits from members of the royal family. One was to the opening of the spa and the other to the new clubhouse.
The now famous spa brand Espa was developed at Turnberry by Susan Harmsworth and the famous writer Jeffrey Archer stayed for six weeks while writing ` Cane and Able’. A hotel secretary was provided to type the manuscript.
When Rouse left Turnberry 20 of his long- standing friends got together to give him a silver salver, inscribed by all those who attended, and it included a sketch of the famous Ailsa Course and scorecard.
Rouse, who had dementia, died in a Bristol nursing home.