Behind some of Ireland's unusual hotel jobs, from equine concierge to in-house florist
Alex Lavarde, Ashford Estate Kitchen Garden
When we think of working in a hotel, a few specific roles come to mind: A receptionist, housekeeping, general manager, even concierge, if we’re talking about more high-end spots.
There is, however, a whole world of specialist jobs out there that may not be found in every establishment but are crucial for the smooth operation of their hotels.
These could revolve around horses, flowers, produce, products, or even celebrities. We met some of the people behind these intriguing jobs.
With a background in organic horticulture, Alex Lavarde took up the role of kitchen gardener at Ashford Castle, Co Mayo, in 2021 — with view to make the hotel as self-sufficient as possible.
When he joined, the kitchen garden was “just a field. There was nothing really growing there”. So, Lavarde and his team had the task of laying the first beds and expanding the produce over time: “Next year, we are planning to put up a big production tunnel to be able to grow our tomatoes, cucumbers, French beans during the summer and then [in] winter, we will be able to grow our salad leaves — spinach, kale, and different types of herbs as well.”
While there are other establishments out there leading similar projects, Lavarde says there are probably not many doing it at Ashford Castle’s scale due to the volume of produce the kitchen would require.
The hotel offers garden experiences which invite guests to pick and harvest vegetables to use in a guided cookery session and finishing off, of course, with a lunch to taste the wares.
Lavarde says the experience is lovely, but his favourite part of the job would have to be the feedback from the chefs when he gets a bit creative: “We do a little bit of experimentation and sometimes, we bring something that would be in very, very limited quantity [to the chefs]. They all want it because they really like it.”
One result of his experiments was a Thai basil, produced from regular basil in a small quantity. The demand was quite high for this and so, the chefs had to wait for a couple of weeks for the next batch.
The turnaround for produce can pose an issue, as if a particular dish is popular one day and uses up all of the vegetables required, there can be a two to three week waiting period for the next batch.
However, Lavarde says that the quality of the produce simply can’t be compared.
A boutique manager isn’t typically associated with the hotel industry, but for Deirdre Moore, it’s her bread and butter.
Originally from Bantry, she has been living in Adare, Co Limerick, for 20 years. For the last seven of those, she has worked at the luxurious Adare Manor.
The boutique is tucked into the west wing of the hotel and stocks hotel-branded items, as well as keepsakes, gifts, designer items, and world-renowned brands.
As well as overseeing the general operation of the boutique, Moore travels for the job quite a bit, selecting items for the shop in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and beyond.
“We go abroad for items you cannot source in Ireland. [But] 80% of what’s in the boutique would be Irish brands,” she says.
The boutique recently had a refurbishment that saw the floor space triple in size and with the Ryder Cup coming to the manor in 2027, she says it’s time for them to get their thinking hats on for how they are going to meet this increased demand.
Throughout the summer and up until the end of September, Moore says the customers are made up of guests from the hotel, the majority of which are from the US.
However, from October onwards, she says that it will be mostly Irish customers who are looking to secure some fancy Christmas presents.
For Moore, her favourite part of the job is both the team she works with and getting to source new Irish brands and unique items that other hotels don’t have, though this is also a challenge in itself.
Regardless of what her day may bring, Moore says: “I get to drive through the gates of Adare Manor every morning. You can’t but enjoy the beauty of the surroundings and you’d be very grateful for that.”
Having started out in the hospitality world in Adare Manor himself, Allan Fox is now the guest relations manager at the Fitzwilliam Hotel in Dublin City.
What really makes his job unique, however, is the rapport he has to build with some of the more high-end guests in their penthouse.
“Since I’ve been here, we have had top level musicians, top level sports stars, and all these kind of different people,” he says. “It’s great to meet them and you meet them when they’re most vulnerable.
“They’re not on the stage, or they’re not in the public eye. They’re here for discretion reasons. You get to see them as real people, not the people who you see on TV or the people you see on stage or anything like that.”
With this comes a lot of responsibility to provide privacy and discretion, with Fox comparing it to the relationship a doctor would have with their patients, meaning it’ll be hard to get any names out of him.
As part of his role, he ensures that guests — famous or not — have a little something special in their room if they’re celebrating something or looking for something special.
At all times, Fox needs to be aware of who is coming to the hotel and what they may be celebrating, are there for, or have planned.
“I would always have a heads up of arrivals and have an itinerary planned as to what the best way that we can make their stay as personal as possible and make it as memorable as possible,” she says.
This means prepping their room with something special, providing champagne or prosecco — depending on their preference — balloons, teddies, gifts from Irish brands, or even food.
For the famous faces that stay in the Fitzwilliam Hotel, Fox tries to source a personalised gift from Ireland upon check-out. It could be an engraved bottle of whiskey, a scarf or a piece of clothing — something for them to remember the hotel, and Fox, by.
Picture this: You spend your days in among beautiful flowers, making arrangements and placing them around one of the most historic hotels in the capital.
Well, this is reality for Mary O’Reilly, the head florist at the Shelbourne Hotel. She took up the role over a decade ago, working alone and as the founding florist at the hotel, who had previously just outsourced their floral arrangements.
Day-to-day, she begins by doing the rounds to make sure every arrangement is “absolutely perfect”, before moving to longer-term plans.
“I would do a lot of talking to brides, sending of proposals and images,” she says. “[I would have] a few bride meetings and then we change to hotel corporate events.”
This could involve table arrangements for events or even making brand logos out of flowers.
Regular guests, for want of a better word, would also keep O’Reilly busy with orders for their bedroom for special occasions.
Her favourite part of the job is getting to dress the hotel as she gets complete control each week: “I just love choosing the colours and making that. If there’s things on like Pride or the 4th of July, we theme them, which I enjoy.”
Dealing with weddings can often mean the stakes are high, and O’Reilly has had some unusual requests in her time; such as one bride, who wanted peonies that were half open.
“We had to make the arrangements standing in a fridge to make sure they were neither open nor closed,” she says.
That same bride had asked for the whole ceiling of the ballroom to be covered in flowers.
Despite the pressure, O’Reilly says she actually enjoys requests like this and feels that her job, alongside that of her teams, is unique.
“We’re down in the basement. We’re not up in a florist shop,” she says. “We dress the same building all the time so when people come in with an idea, we kind of have a great idea of how that’s going to work in that room. You know how to set it up.
“I think we’re just spoiled really because other florists are just packing up trucks and going out to venues trying to find hanging points.”
Making a full 180 from the hotel spa industry where she worked for about 12 years, Emma-Mai Roche took up the position of equine concierge at the Cashel Palace Hotel in May 2023.
Roche has always had ponies and horses growing up and loves going to races and show jumping events. When she started working in the hotel’s spa, she said to Julie McGrath, who was the first equine concierge, that would be her dream job. When the opportunity came up to join the team, she “grabbed” it.
On quieter days, Roche could lend a hand to other hotel staff by booking transfers, assisting bridal parties, and checking guests in or out. On others, she could spend a whole day away from the hotel.
One of the experiences Cashel Palace Hotel offers is exclusive access to Ballydoyle Racecourse and Coolmore Stud, which Roche would lead. On days like this, she would be out of the hotel at 10am and wouldn’t return until 6pm.
Getting to bring guests out on an experience like this is one of Roche’s favourite parts of the job: “Seeing people being just completely blown away by the facilities in Ballydoyle and watching the horses working, doing their morning routine, it gets me every time.
“When I see how shocked they are, I’m like: ‘Yeah, this is just something so special.’”
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