GOSTELOW REPORT—“I had a town hall staff meeting for my 350-strong team last Thursday — which already seems like a different world. I told them the situation, and I relayed my board’s insistence on looking after all of them, even if we had to start instituting three-day weeks. I urged them to look after each other.
“And then I heard flights between Ireland and the USA would be cancelled from (today). I had to tell them yesterday that we will be closing from Wednesday for two weeks,” says Mark Nolan, long-established managing director of the 98-key Dromoland Castle Hotel, in County Clare, 16 minutes’ drive from Shannon Airport, Ireland.
Seventy-five percent of his team are Irish. Total turnover is around 13%, and the hotel can house 36 employees. Several have even longer tenure than Mark Nolan’s mere 24 years: The record, 43 years, is held by porter John O’Connor.
Back in 1996, Nolan’s then-boss at what was a sibling property, Ashford Castle, asked him over a glass of beer if he would like to run Dromoland Castle. He was 29. He started the following year. Dromoland came with 410 acres of parkland, a big lake and an 18-hole golf course, plus, two miles from the castle, a 150-room Inn at Dromoland. It is all owned by Dromoland Castle Holdings Ltd., whose 25 investors are all American, apart from Nolan, who was given shares by the then-chairman in 2004.
The castle, which is a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, is actually operated by Hallmark Management Ltd., which Nolan, who describes himself as a frustrated designer, established in 2004 to offer services to the industry.
“We have unique history. Although part of it dates back to 1543, the main castle is early 19th century, with a heritage that is incredibly attractive to Irish diaspora – I believe there are 40,000 O’Briens around the world, many in the USA,”, explained Nolan. About 23% of foreign guests have an Irish background, and at least 50% of the total are from the USA. Lowest average stay, during the winter months, is 1.9 nights: In summer this is just under 1.7 nights.
“Of course, the disadvantages of such an old building are huge, both in layout, say narrow corridors, and maintenance. We recently invested in a €20 million (US$22.2 million) upgrade, of which half was back-of-house to permit more efficiency,” he continued.
Nolan says, looking back, the biggest change has been the creeping influx of technology, especially when it comes to communication. “And it is sad that the industry today is so focused on strategy. It is harder to play mine host, but anyway I prefer informal meetings with guests to more traditional GM’s welcomes,” he admitted.
How did he get into all this? “I was born in Dublin and my doctor father despaired of his only son – my three older sisters did not cause the same problems. One day, when I was 17 and we were staying at our summer house, my mother said there was a job at Ashford Castle. I started as a commis waiter, loved it, and stayed at Ashford Castle until moving on to Dromoland.”
Nolan expects to stay where he is for at least another four years, after which he may move sideways to consultancy, and Hallmark Management. Right now, his main pre-occupations are dealing with persistent rain that threatens to cause the lake to burst its banks, and, of course, coronavirus.
“Because I have ownership, this is not my job, it is my life. As if I were king-of-the-castle, I think of it every morning, first thing when I wake up,” he said, calmly even in such an unprecedented storm.