Hotel proprietors ready to welcome customers

1 July 2020

THE owners of a family run group of local hotels say they are excited to be finally reopening to the public this Friday.

Gerty McCaugherty, who runs the Millbrook Lodge in Ballynahinch, and her younger sister, Paula Keane, who runs the Ivanhoe Hotel and Inn, Carryduff, are both eager to welcome back their staff after almost three months of being furloughed.

Their father, Mr Seamus Maguire, bought the Millbrook Lodge 42 years ago and two years later he purchased the Ivanhoe Inn.

The sisters say their father never retired and worked up until his death 27 years ago, aged 72.

Mrs McCaugherty, who has worked at the Millbrook Lodge for the last 32 years, says this is the first year she has managed to take the day off on Mother’s Day, Easter Sunday and Father’s Day.

She said: “The virus struck just as we were coming into our peak season and the beginning of what is usually a very busy time with marriages and wedding receptions.

“Normally we would have approximately 150 weddings each year with the majority of these being concentrated over the spring and summer months.

“Over the past three months, I have been spending most of my time consoling our future brides and grooms, who were left devastated when they had to reschedule their weddings. All they wanted to do was get married.

“Often couples who maybe had a sick, elderly or vulnerable parent or relative, wanted to share their special day with them. I have found my shoulder has been used on a number of occasions to console brides who were left distraught because a new date wasn’t going to be an option for them.”

Mrs McCaugherty says her functions as general manager have expanded greatly over the past 14 weeks.

She said: “I have become groundsman, cleaner and counsellor when all our staff went on to the furlough scheme. It has been a quiet and sometimes quite lonely station, but it’s great to see them all again.

“This week we have had Covid-19 staff training events with a number of trial runs outside on the lawn. These afternoons have also been great fun and acted as team building exercises. We’ve all really enjoyed them.

“We found that the shields work best when we are talking with people. Face masks hinder our communication but with plastic shields at least we are more open with each other.”

At the Ivanhoe Hotel and Inn, Mrs Keane has been busy deep cleaning, sanitising the hotel and preparing for the reopening.

“I am very excited about opening our doors again, seeing all our familiar customers and maybe even seeing some new faces too,” she said.

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