Shane Cookman: Leading Irish Hospitality Excellence in New York’s Hotel Scene
Originally from Donegal, Shane Cookman currently serves as the Area General Manager of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group in the USA. Based in New York, he has held that role for almost 14 years, having come to the position on the back of a number of similar roles in Ireland. Helping to oversee an Irish hotel group in America for over a decade has given him an interesting perspective on how the hotel business operates both in the US and Ireland.
“It’s 14 years since I arrived over to this beautiful city,” says Shane, “and it only seems like yesterday… Little did I think when I arrived that I’d still be here 14 years later.
Rising Through the Ranks: From General Manager to Area GM
Shane had initially arrived at the Fitzpatrick Manhattan to work as General Manager but after six months, owner John Fitzpatrick recognized his talent and moved him up to Area GM, looking after both of the Fitzpatrick family’s properties (The Fitzpatrick Manhattan and the Grand Central).
After a 13-year stint as General Manager of the prestigious Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, all of Shane’s roles have been as Group Manager since, so it’s not surprising that he was asked to move to a similar role in New York. Shane’s first venture into the world of hospitality was at Jackson’s Hotel in Ballybofey.
“I did a night there to learn some bits and pieces and see whether or not it was going to be for me,” says Shane.
It was for him. And it was a feeling confirmed after his first college placement in a hotel in the Lake District in England.
“We worked six days a week there,” says Shane. “You might have got one day off or you might have got half a day off, but I was hooked. I loved it! To me, this was just magic. Then I got a great opportunity to work with Jurys Hotels – first in Dublin and then in Cork.”Shane moved up to the role of Deputy Manager in Jurys’ newly-purchased hotel in Glasgow before his first GM position at the Midleton Park Hotel in County Cork at the age of 25.
Major Changes in Hotel Management: The Rise of Revenue Management
After three decades managing hotels and groups of hotels, he has seen a lot of changes.
“Leaving technology aside, I would say that one of the biggest changes in hotel management in the last 30 years or so is that Revenue Management has become a huge part of the job,” says Shane. “Before, I always remember that you had your rack rate and you basically just lived off that. You had your four seasons and you had them up on the back of the hotel room door.
“Now, the rooms have become a commodity and you have to sell them and Revenue Management has really become an art form. In Dublin, I would have seen some of it but here in New York, it really has become paramount to the success of a hotel.”
The business philosophy of managing the very perishable inventory of a property’s room is predicated on the fact that you can’t sell last night’s room today. Otherwise put; you can sell a television today and if you’re unsuccessful, you can always sell it tomorrow. Not so with a hotel room, which is a completely time-sensitive asset that evaporates in the morning light.
“It’s about selling it at the right price at the right time and not just at any price,” says Shane. “You always have to be on your toes – particularly in New York, where the market changes so quickly. We use technology to help us in how we’re going to get the best yield from our business.”
It’s about watching events that might impact demand on a day-to-day basis. Shane cites Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 as an event that had a major impact on the hotel’s business and its room rates.
“With the amount of people that got displaced in the city at that time, if you had any hotel bedrooms at all, they were just snapped up – and occupied for months on end on the basis that people weren’t able to get back into their homes. That was really the biggest event that we’ve seen.”
The infinitely more positive events of the Ryder Cup (2025) and the World Cup (2026) will also have a big impact, with people from Ireland already booking in advance of the golfing event next year.
Balancing Profitability and Guest Experience in a Competitive Market
The notion of regarding a hotel room as an asset from which to extract the greatest return does come into conflict with perception of the guest, who might feel that they are being overcharged. Shane acknowledges this conflict of interest. Managing it is another challenge of the job and it is fortunate to have a hotelier/ owner who also understands such things as customer loyalty, reputation and the importance of repeat business.
“Looking at the square footage of a hotel and saying that each square foot should produce $X in revenue is all very well on paper,” says Shane, “but in reality, it’s not how it works. It does happen in some hotels in New York, in fact. Where an Asset Manager is running the business, the customer gets left out of the equation. But it’s a service you are providing and you have to understand how you can make a customer come back. They have to feel that they received good service – and good value – for their rate.”
The Fitzpatrick Hotel Group’s Secret: Lifelong Relationships Over One-Time Transactions
Demand levels for hotel rooms are back at pre-Covid levels, Shane says, which means that the ‘asset-manager’ style is more prevalent, but in the Fitzpatrick Group, 70% of the business is repeat business.
“Our view is that we look to cultivate relationships with our guests. We want to have a customer for a lifetime and not just as a once-off customer. We look at corporate clients in the same manner. There are times of the year, for example, during the United Nations General Assembly when New York is absolutely full, so you could be selling rooms for $1,000 or $1,500 a night, but you must look after those corporate clients that have been looking after you all year. That’s our ethos.”
Championing Irish Hospitality Abroad and Its Undervalued Status at Home
Irish hospitality is second to none, Shane says. This observation comes not only from his experience of working in the sector in Ireland but also from how American guests react to Fitzpatrick’s Irish hospitality.
“Many of our American guests here ask us to arrange things for them if they decide to go to Ireland,” says Shane.
Having travelled to places he wouldn’t otherwise have visited and met people he would never have met were it not for his hotel management career, Shane is yet another Irish person who does not understand the lack of importance given to the sector as a career in Ireland – both by government and by many ordinary people.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with exceptional individuals and I’ve ended up now in New York. Very few other businesses or professions will offer you that opportunity.”
