Changing tack puts struggling hotel back on the map

HAD it been a cold and miserable day when Vincent Kidd and his sister Fiona spotted their dream project on Valentia island five years ago, it might not have become such a nightmare.

But there were blue skies, calm seas and the sun was glistening like fairy dust on the picture-postcard harbour of Knightstown. The moment they spied the ageing but outwardly attractive Royal Hotel for sale, the pair, from Dublin, were hooked.

“It was such a unique place that it just blew us away,” says Vincent.

Straight away, they had visions of a thriving business, lots of satisfied customers and an idyllic lifestyle among nature’s bounty in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

The place needed work: they knew that — it looked like it hadn’t been swept since the Civil War — but hard graft was not an issue and they were well up for the challenge. What they hadn’t reckoned on, though, was the mother-of-all-recessions. That soon put paid to grandiose plans of multi-million euro expansions.

“The trouble is they bought on a sunny day when everything was romantic and dreamy,” says hotelier John Brennan.

“It was an enormous project and they didn’t even conduct a feasibility study on their big plans for a leisure centre and other ventures. The reality was very different from the dream and it just goes to show how your life can be changed by one bad decision.”

This time last year and after spending €200,000 on refurbishment and expansion plans, the future looked bleak for the Kidds.

Enter the Supermen of hotel makeovers — brothers John and Francis Brennan, owners of the five-star Park Hotel in Kenmare, whose mission is it to help struggling hotels, guesthouses and restaurants survive the recession.

They have turned that mission into a successful television programme, At Your Service, an eight-part series on RTÉ One. The Brennans bring years of experience of running a successful hotel and they hope to inspire others to up their game and bring in new business.

The Brennans’ advice covers all areas; they look at staffing, analyse catering arrangements and suggest new menus, they inspect every room and advise about redecoration and they look for new ways to exploit the less obvious assets of each property.

Francis conducts the main inspection and devises an overall strategy. His brother John looks at money issues, explores new marketing opportunities and suggests ways to develop in the future.

Buying the place without a proper business plan was the Kidds’ first mistake. Their next was assuming the bank would lend them money. Their biggest one, though, was closing down the existing hostel, one of the aspects of the business that had real potential.

“Hostelling isn’t just for young people any more,” says John.

“It has become mainstream and the standard of hostels has risen dramatically in the past few years. You would be amazed at the demographic of people who use them. I had a letter recently from a man in his 60s and he told me he has stayed in 35 hostels in Ireland over the past few years on walking weekends. People of all ages do it and, by and large they tend to be adventurous, sophisticated and well-travelled.

“Those who use them don’t stay in hostels necessarily to save money, but in order to meet people in a relaxed environment.”

The Brennans bring with them years of top-level experience, but with the recession raging the challenges are bigger than ever.

Although every business has a unique set of problems the overall mantra is clear: you have to adapt to survive.

It’s not always an easy ride — for some the Brennans’ advice is hard to take on board.

“They didn’t pull any punches with us,” says Vincent, explaining how the brothers made them face the fact that unless they changed tack drastically, the business was doomed.

On the Brennans’ advice, Vincent and Fiona have now reinstated the hostel, spruced up the facilities and are enjoying their best-ever trading year. They have also completed work on their main function room, catering for weddings and already the improvement are being reflected in increased business.

“We are doing grand,” says Vincent, “lashing away and there has been a big boost in business.”

To view the programme, go to www.rte.ie/player/#v=1089103.