NEWS
HOUSEKEEPING SECRETS OF IRELAND ’ S TOP HOTELS
Raking the carpet , deep cleaning the curtains , and being handy with the iron – how top hotels keep their rooms in five-star order
H Presenting their best face to customers , how do hotels manage the upkeep and sparkle factor ? Adele Walsh is the accommodation manager at Ballyfin and has a house full of antiques , ornaments , paintings , lavish soft furnishing and 20 luxurious rooms and suites to care for .
“ Our rooms all have high ceilings , four poster beds , lots of ornaments , books , furniture , cushions , candlesticks , and bedspreads , for the accommodation assistants to work around ,” she said . They work in pairs and every room takes a full hour to clean . Rooms get a deep clean every two months when a more intense cleaning and polishing is done , mattresses are turned , curtains and canopies are vacuumed and furniture bees waxed . All the staff is adept with brown paper and an iron for spots of candle grease as candles are an important feature at Ballyfin .
January and February are the busiest time of the year for Adele , when the hotel closes for four weeks and the major upkeep happens . Every painting is taken down , chandeliers are dismantled , the long ladders are out and a whole crew of people are enlisted to make every item sparkle and gleam . “ Having such a quirky property as Waterford Castle needs all kinds of labours to keep it in excellent condition , said Helen Courtney , the hotel ’ s general manager . “ The Great Hall , with delicate tapestries , ornate ceiling , and a massive stone fireplace , going 365 days a year , takes a lot of care ,” she said . “ The castle installed seven Waterford Crystal chandeliers this year and they too will need careful cleaning .”
H Like at Ballyfin , January is the busiest month of the year for Waterford Castle ’ s cleaning team . Major cleaning and maintenance takes place and already plans are being made to book the various trades that help . Dusting of the 10ft high doors and hard to reach corners of the Great Hall ceiling is scheduled weeks in advance . Waterford Castle staff polish the ornate mahogany furniture regularly and spritz the rooms with a floral scent such as lavender to create a clean feel .
H In the Park Hotel in Kenmare , Co Kerry , preparations for guests are extremely thorough . “ We rake the carpet backwards out the door with the carpet rake , so when you go to your lovely room it will be like you are the first person walking on it ,” said Francis Brennan .
Another tip from Brennan is to turn your mattress every three months and also swing it around from head to toe .
The hotel prides itself on having specially woven bed linens . The sheets are made in Rivolta in Italy , from 55 per cent linen and 45 per cent Egyptian cotton , woven with the hotel ’ s logo . The bed linens and all laundry are done in the hotel , using Francis ’ s special concoction for keeping everything white and bright . He would not reveal his secret recipe , but said it does not contain bleach .
For anyone wondering about Brennan ’ s new range of bed linens for Dunnes Stores , the fitted sheets have a larger than normal drop – so you do not have to fight the bed to get them on , and are made of 400 thread count percale cotton .
H When it opened 25 years ago , the Conrad Hilton was the most modern hotel in Dublin , and this month it unveiled the results of a € 13 million refurbishment .
The renovation was a strategic operation , starting on the seventh floor and working downwards , while staying open for business . Accommodation manager Stephen Molloy had his hands full keeping the hotel in tip top condition during the renovation . “ I think the jack-hammering rattled the dust of years out of every corner ,” he said .
The new rooms have fresh clean lines and are decorated in soothing pale green and grey tones . Flooring is a mixture of oiled parquet and herringbone carpeting . Each week at the accommodation team meeting , staff members suggest a focus for the week to concentrate on in the rooms . It may be taking down the net curtains to wash them , or giving extra attention to the grouting in the bathrooms . Every three months , each room is deep-cleaned , all the furniture taken out , the curtains taken down and the carpet shampooed . “ We have an in-house laundry and it makes a huge difference . We can control the starch and fabric softener , and guests really notice that ,” said Molloy . The Conrad uses 300-thread count sheets and duvet covers and 400-thread count pillowcases .
H At Harvey ’ s Point Hotel in Donegal , awarded hotel of the year by Tripadvisor users , staff also use a rake on the carpet pile , said housekeeping manager Pamela Kemp . One thing the room assistants find extremely useful , Kemp says , is an old toothbrush for those hard to get at places in the bathroom .
H In the Sheraton Athlone Hotel , they have gone back to the old fashioned remedies , using lemons to remove stains and smells and bicarbonate of soda and vinegar for limescale .
H Powerscourt Hotel in Co Wicklow is also relying on these more traditional cleaners and you will find white vinegar on the house-keeping trolley , diluted one part vinegar to three parts water .
A tip from the hotel ’ s housekeeper is one that the website of Good Housekeeping also suggests : “ Let the cleaning products do the hard work . Spray the cleaner on shower walls , toilets , and leave for several minutes – you ’ ll notice that you need to use much less elbow grease to create a shine on your surfaces .”
6 Housekeeping management