Fearlessly Ploughing a Furrow in the Luxury Niche Market in Cork and Dublin
Originally from a Longford dairy farm, Raymond Kelleher came from a decidedly non- hospitality background, but one which involved no shortage of hard work: a quality that has stood to him in his current role as Director of Business Development and Communications Director at The Montenotte in Cork and The Wilder Townhouse, in Dublin.
In 1996, he graduated from Cathal Brugha Street College of Catering (now the Technological University of Dublin) with a Higher Diploma in Hotel Management & Business. Initially working for the Mespil Group after college, Raymond spent spending 2½ years at the Sligo Park Hotel. In 2000, he went to Clonakilty, where he worked for 8 years as Sales Manager at the Quality Hotels in Clonakilty and Youghal.
Navigating Economic Downturns and Strategic Pivots
Remaining in the Rebel County, his next property was in Cork City Centre, where he took up the role of Sales & Marketing Manager in 2008 at the Clarion (now the Clayton) – an almost brand-new hotel at the time. His move coincided with the start of a recession.
“I remember during the downturn, the corporate rate plummeted overnight by €40,” recalls Raymond. “It was a very uncertain time.” The corporate sector was particularly badly hit, with many companies imposing travel bans in order to save money. “We lost a lot of contracts but then you have to start looking at your business in a different way. There were so many other areas to look at outside of the corporate area – meetings and events and leisure, for example.”
Raymond oversaw the rebranding of the hotel in 2016. Owners Dalata Hotel Group PLC had initially begun with two brands – Clarion and Clayton – but all became Clayton Hotels.
Expanding Influence at Trigon and Transition to The Montenotte
Raymond then moved to Trigon Hotels in 2017 – a smaller group with three hotels – The Metropole in Cork City Centre and the Cork International Hotel and Cork Airport Hotel, both located at Cork Airport.
After 3 years of Group Sales & Marketing Director, Raymond took up his current role at The Montenotte in Cork.
“The job came up at the start of the Pandemic but I remember thinking that this was the best possible fit for me,” says Raymond. The property, which had operated for many years under the Best Western brand, enjoys a superb location on Cork’s north side overlooking the city. It operated very much like a country hotel in the heart of the city but the owners decided that it was time to re-invent the hotel as a new luxury product, an urban resort, taking advantage of this 6.5-acre oasis in the middle of Cork City.
Strategic Partnerships and Global Affiliation
The self-catering accommodation was an important advantage to the hotel during Lockdown, allowing it to keep revenue ticking over when normal hotel rooms were closed. “At the same time as this bold vision for the future was being built, the key thing was to get an affiliation for the property that would work for the long-term, that would see us over the next couple of years.”
This was how their affiliation with the Small Luxury Hotels of the World came about, Raymond says. At the time, the powerful US-based marketing group had just 3 properties on the island of Ireland and over 500 worldwide; including The Montenotte’s sister hotel The Wilder Townhouse in Dublin.
“For a small group like us, being part of the likes of SLH is your avenue into international markets – that you can’t do as a standalone property,” says Raymond.The Wilder Townhouse has 42 bedrooms and the Montenotte has 107 bedrooms with 26 self-catering apartments (The Residences). “We also have our new luxury offering, The Woodlands Suite Experience. We have 9 suites there.”
Customer Experience and the Power of Relationships
The leisure clientèle in The Montenotte is one that is looking for a celebratory luxury experience which is very similar to that of The Wilder Townhouse
“Partnerships are very important, here at The Wilder Townhouse, we’ve a brilliant relationship with the team at Number 25 on Fitzwilliam Place / Suesey Street.” says Raymond. “They’re our preferred dining option for our guests. We have two tables booked every single night for guests of the Wilder. They do a lot of weddings at Number 25 and a lot of the wedding guests stay in The Wilder. So, it’s a perfect synergy and I think that partnerships like that are very important.”
While the main part of Raymond’s brief is the promotion of the two properties to both a domestic and international market, internationally the American sector is by far the biggest one. “It’s targeting that high-end luxury market specifically,” says Raymond. “I’ll be doing that through our affiliation with Small Luxury Hotels, The Blue Book and Mr & Mrs Smith.
“We’ve also a great relationship with our international travel agents and tour operators…it’s my job to build the relationship there with the international and national DMC’s (Destination Management Company) and for them to see what we offer as a business.”
Raymond believes in the strength of Brand Ireland (promoted brilliantly by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, and its unique qualities that come to play selling it as a destination worldwide – in particular with American clients who always, he says, “want to hear an Irish accent”.
Building a Culture of Excellence Through Investment
Putting the customer first, he says, is very important but so too is the opportunity to “create something that is really unique – not only with the Montenotte in Cork but also with the Wilder in Dublin.”
The creation of such a unique and high-end product in both properties is, he says, all down to the vision of the owners Frankie and Jo Whelehan and the foresight that they had.
“The level of investment has been incredible,” says Raymond. “The investment in the Woodland Suite Experience, for example, was an €8 million investment. We’re going to have to work hard to get a return on this over the next couple of years, but that’s what we’re prepared to do – to work hard at it… there is a demand for them, but they were the ones who had that vision of creating a luxury product in Cork that would target the high-end market; a vision which dates back to 2016.”
As for the challenges ahead, he doesn’t hold too many fears of any ‘wobbles’ in the American market – perhaps because of the luxury niche that he is targeting. The Government’s front-loading of additional costs in the last year or so (VAT, minimum wage, etc.) has affected the smaller restaurants and cafés much more than the likes of the hotel business, he says.
“You’re seeing the effect of the cost rises less in a hotel context, to be honest, because you have the rooms aspect of it which drives the revenue’s bottom line. But if you’re in a business which is food-focused only, it is very challenging
” And, in conjunction with the heavy financial investment in the Montenotte and the Wilder,Raymond recognises that it is essential to also invest in people.
Investing in People: Building Culture Through Training and Vision
“Every business wants to build a culture and all of us know that you’re only as good as your culture, to be honest. We did a programme in the Montenotte last year where we created our own bespoke training programme for every single employee – called our “Our Luxury Ambassadors programme”. We worked with an external trainer, and it was all about getting everyone in our team of 160 employees to understand what customers were looking for, what their expectations were and how we speak to those customers.”
