Eileen Sheppard, guest services manager, began working at Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa more than 22 years ago, and in that time has met many new and returning guests, welcoming them like old friends ever since.
As news of the first lockdown broke in March 2020, she remembers getting a call from the hotel’s owner, Des O’Dowd.
“I was watching the 9 o’clock news and as soon as it was over Des rang to ask was I okay. I live on my own, my son was abroad, so he asked if I’d like to move into one of the apartments at the hotel, just to be close by. It was so reassuring to me to know that option was there,” she says.
During the first lockdown staff took turns manning the hotel’s phones, which were diverted to their homes. Many guests were calling to cancel or postpone visits. “Some were abroad and upset about not being able to meet family as planned,” she recalls.
By the second lockdown staff had organised rotas to work from the hotel in a socially distanced manner.
Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa began staff antigen screening in January. “We were one of the first businesses in the country to do so,” says Sheppard. “The staff would come in for their test, and be outside chatting or playing football, and I’d be giving them the thumbs up out the window to let them know they hadn’t tested positive,” she smiles.
“We’ve lots of non-nationals on our team who were far from their family so we were all watching out for each other. There was great camaraderie. Inchydoney is like a big family.”
General manager Catriona O’Keeffe has worked at the property since it opened, 24 years ago. “I’ve grown up here, I’m part of the furniture now,” she smiles.
The seaside resort, which is just outside Clonakilty in West Cork, had been booming prior to the pandemic. Its emptiness during lockdowns was hard, she says. “An empty hotel feels all wrong.”
It was also a time of anxiety. “We worried about our jobs at the start, that we might lose them, when everything was so uncertain and we didn’t know what was coming. But Des reassured us we were alright,” she says.
Now O’Keeffe’s own daughter, who is 15, has joined the team, as a part-time waitress. “It’s the next generation,” she says.
Inchydoney has always been a family affair. Apart from being family owned, many of the staff are related. O’Keeffe’s sister Julie McSweeney is the hotel’s operations manager. She too waitressed here as a youngster and came for her placement from college. Her son is also part of the new generation. “My car could drive itself up here at this stage,” she laughs.
While lockdowns were a time of anxiety, they also offered the staff time for gratitude too. “It was the first time we got to go outside at lunch time and look around and really take the scenery in. It gave us a greater appreciation of the beautiful surrounds we’re so lucky to work in,” she says.
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Pulling together
“During the second lockdown all the departments got to know each other even better. Many of the chefs were helping to spring clean the rooms. Everybody was doing a bit of everything, all pitching in. Many of us had partners at home who were on PUP payments, so we really appreciated having our salary,” she says.
The hotel was closed from October 2020 until June 2021 but despite the uncertainty, last Christmas turned out to be a particularly special time.
“We put all the decorations up exactly as we had the previous year, and even put in an extra tree for the people walking the beach to see,” she recalls.
Lorraine Maher runs Dunes Pub & Bistro at Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa. “In the beginning we all thought the pandemic would be like a little two-week holiday, we had no idea how long it would go on for. Then we worried how Des would keep managing, but every time we broached the subject with him he said don’t worry, we’re alright for another while.”
Maher is another “lifer”, there since the hotel opened almost a quarter of a century ago. “When we started, we were all single and Des was the only one married. It was such a laugh. Now we’re at a different phase, most of us have partners and children, we’ve all grown up together. Our kids and partners are part of each other’s lives,” she explains.
Marketing director Ruth McCarthy is an east Cork blow in who joined the team 18 years ago. She drives nearly an hour and a half to get to work. “But if they built a hotel in my backyard I wouldn’t swap it. We’ve been here for one another’s marriages, for babies, for bereavements, and now the pandemic. It’s our second family and the minute the first lockdown came, we pulled together even more.”
Lockdowns gave her a chance to manage phone calls on reception, which she loved. “I’ve never had that contact with guests before. People would ring to say I’m not booking, just checking to see how you’re all getting on. They’d tell me they had been married here, or had christenings, or family get-togethers. They rang to buy vouchers even though they had no idea when we’d be opening again. It was unbelievable.”
McCarthy looks back at the past 18 months as a time apart. “It was worrying but we pulled together and got through it, like a family of 50. We had younger part time staff who were still at school, calling to ask if they could come and wash the windows, just to help out. I get emotional thinking about how thoughtful they were.”
When the hotel reopened after the first lockdown, “it was like a carnival and that atmosphere has remained ever since. Guests also have to pass a lot of very good hotels to come to us, we know that now more than ever, and our job is to blow their experience out of the water when they get here,” she says.
She too recalls last Christmas. "We were so worried about the future but Des said we're grand, don't worry. On the 23rd of December none of us knew when we were coming back and we all had kids at home. Knowing we knew that we could go and enjoy Christmas felt like winning the Lotto."
That day made its mark on owner Des O’Dowd too. “The pandemic changed what success looks like for all of us. I remember that day because there were a lot of the team coming and going between work, and calling to say happy Christmas. There was a very nice atmosphere, the team was relaxed and not worried about their future or how they were going to pay for Christmas,” he says.
“We were getting through this together, all supporting each other, and I remember making a note to myself, that this is what success looks like today.”