Brendan O'Connor
The general manager of Irish luxury hotel Adare Manor talks to Lysanne Currie about hosting the 2027 Ryder Cup, the benefits of employing over-50s and how all you need is Grá…
Ireland’s Adare Manor is widely acclaimed as one of Europe’s top luxury hotels, beloved by golfers (it will host the 2027 Ryder Cup), celebrities (Bill Murray, Niall Horan and Jamie Dornan are all previous guests) and lovers of luxury alike. Condé Nast Traveler magazine agree too, garlanding the Limerick property with its #1 Resort in Europe award last year. Running the show is general manager Brendan O’Connor, who has worked at Adare Manor since 2015, after stints at the Waldorf Astoria New York, Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman plus the Rio de Janeiro/Sochi Olympics. Here, O’Connor shares the lessons his 25-year-long career has taught him
Whenever we interview new recruits at Adare Manor, we look to see whether they’ve got ‘Grá’. It’s an Irish Gaelic word which means ‘love’ or ‘passion’. In interviews, we want to see if they’ve got this magical, passionate ability to connect with people and look after them.
Always consider applicants from different sectors. At Adare Manor, we intentionally bring people in who don’t have a hospitality/leadership background. We recently hired a new ecommerce manager from Amazon. There’s plenty we can learn from different sectors …
If a person is ‘luxury’, we take them on irrespective of their previous career. What makes a ‘luxury’ person? Somebody who can deliver personalised service whatever, wherever, whenever.
Older employees are great for business. Some of our best professionals at Adare Manor are older by age, but dutiful by nature. We’ve got so many butlers, door-people and porters who are in their 50s/60s, but this is their first job in hospitality. These people have achieved their professional goals, but probably have five to 10 years of working life left. They’re some of the greatest people we’ve got.
I worked in New York during 9/11. It was my day off; I remember watching the smoke coming from the towers from my window in Queens and on TV at the same time. The city turned into 24/7 sirens for days, as every off-duty cop, firefighter and paramedic rushed to work. I knew people who lost family members in the tragedy. Horrific.
9/11 was the first crisis I’d experienced in hospitality. I remember returning to my job at the Waldorf Astoria, walking into the hotel as some colleagues were walking out with brown envelopes telling them they were redundant. When people are being laid off and you have the privilege of having a job, it forces you to work twice as hard.
Experience helps during a crisis. A person without experience might view a situation as a crisis when it might not be. During any crisis, it’s important [as a leader] to be calm and hyper-focused. There’s a Persian saying, ‘This too shall pass’. It’s true.
Hospitality in 2024 is very different to 2014. Ten years ago, it was more regimented. You’d never call guests by their first name, for example. Although Adare Manor begin by addressing people by their surname, if a guest tells you to use their first name, you could risk annoying them if you don’t do it.
Encourage your employees to randomly strike up conversations with customers. Not only will they get feedback which could improve your product/service, but it could also blossom into strong relationships too. At Adare Manor, we have tonnes of customers who don’t use the reservations system to book return visits; instead they’ll reach out to the friendly person on reception, or even text the bartender they bonded with over whiskies in the Taproom.
The goal of any leader is to ensure your business can run seamlessly without you. A business should never be hostage to just one person: it’s bad management. It should be an ecosystem of everybody doing right.
Want to become a hotelier? Spend some time working overseas. When you’re a foreigner working in a different culture, it’s a humbling experience: you learn to empathise with others and make them feel comfortable. So many hoteliers have worked in different jurisdictions [before landing their top-job].
I’m very excited about the 2027 Ryder Cup. Over one weekend, we’ll have 250,000 people: spectators, tour professionals, broadcasters, janitors, security – on our site. We also have environmental factors such as waste/water to consider too. We started planning for it four years ago. However, an event like this can transform your staff into superstars. It’s also great for the hotel: our golf course is fully-booked for the all of 2024 (hotel guests can play without reserving the course). Hopefully the investment will create more jobs for the region too.
The best piece of advice I’ve received is take two days off every week. It came from a friend’s wife during a time when I was throwing myself into my job. She looked at me blankly and said, “If you can’t manage your job in five days, you’re not an effective leader. Plus, you’re no good to anybody if you’re ill.”