48
INTERNATIONAL PROFILE / CARRIG COUNTRY HOUSE > > > > > > > > > > > >
After breakfast we are in the office with our daughter Claire and receptionist Siobhan catching up on emails, enquiries etc and of course liaising with our Head Chef Patricia. Lunch is usually a snack and time to grab a peek at the newspapers. We try to grab a few hours in the early afternoon for down time maybe a walk on the beach or one of the local forest routes. At 5pm it’s show time again and both Mary and I are back in reception greeting newly arrived guests and those who have been out and about exploring all day. From 6pm guests start arriving in the drawing room for pre-dinner drinks and this again is a great opportunity for sharing their days adventures. Dinner is from 7 to 9 pm - Mary meets and greets and distributes menus whilst I take dinner orders (the restaurant is open to non residents also). For the rest of the evening I supervise the restaurant and liaise with the head chef while Mary circulates with pre and post dinner guests. Our day usually ends around midnight, by which time most guests
are tucked in for the night.
Is running a Bed & Breakfast exactly what you thought it would be? More or less I always knew it
was going to be a 24/7 “vocation” particularly when we have a busy fine dining restaurant. However we know it is constantly evolving. When we started 20 years ago there was little online presence or social media etc which of course now is a huge advantage due to the international spread of potential guests.
If you could go back to the beginning is there anything you would do differently?
I think we would have gone into
the hospitality sector at an earlier stage of our lives.
What is the main piece of advice you could give to run a successful B&B?
Total commitment to customer
service, values and standards. Fully utilise the web and social media for their worldwide reservation potential. Be willing to commit to working 24/7.
Build a close rapport with your guests and learn from their experiences both good and bad. “Breakfast - the hen is involved,
the pig is committed”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60