I can only describe this period as one of the most surreal I’ve ever had in my hospitality career.
Meldrum House closed its doors on March 23rd. When I look back, the last 4 months have gone quickly. There was so much to do at the start including moving 60 weddings, cancelling events and golf bookings. Such a monumental task.
For security reasons, I moved in to live at the hotel with my fiancé. That alone has been challenging. Living in a hotel with 51 bedrooms, a ballroom, bar and dining room to yourself and the eerie silence of no guests. It’s an experience I won’t forget and will definitely be telling my future kids about.
I was also due to get married on June 6th and of course, that never happened. However, it has given me empathy with all the brides and grooms that were due to get married at Meldrum – moving their dates and trying to get the best outcome for them in the future.
I want to take this opportunity to speak about the team I am lucky enough to work with here at Meldrum. This has been a stressful time for lots of people and for many different reasons. Who had heard of Zoom six months ago? There have been plenty of Zoom calls and the team here certainly stepped up to the plate as much as they could – I can’t thank them enough for that. We’ve looked at new opportunities that presented themselves during lockdown, to make us stand out from the crowd when the hotel opens its doors. We’re working on a new website for later in the year. We kept the communications to our guests as open as possible through social media and newsletter so that they were entertained, informed and came with us on our journey to reopen. It’s been hectic but I feel confident we’re in a good place and ready for whatever is to come.
One big thing for me personally, is that Meldrum House has won many awards. But the one that stands out for me, is our Visit Scotland ‘Most Hospitable Hotel’ which we won last year. For me, it spoke volumes about the team I work with, the personality the hotel has and the warmth you get when you stay with us. So, what I didn’t want to do was have the team hide behind a mask and gloves when we re-opened. Guests wondering who on earth was serving them or talking to them behind a covering. I didn’t want to feel like the personality we were famed for, was getting sucked out of us because of coronavirus and all the safety measures we have to put into place for our staff and guests.
Working with our Marketing Team, we put into place our ‘Time To Shine’ video and safety procedures. The video showed the staff – no masks – no gloves. Risky I know, but it showed personality with hygiene and safety at the forefront of it all. After all, who wants to come to a hotel that’s got rid of the personality they won an award for?
So, whilst I prepare to pack my bags and head back to my house, ready to re-open the hotel on July 15th, I’m a different person who started out on this journey back in March. I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve seen many ups and downs. I’ve had most weekends off work – who could ever have said that in the hospitality industry? But, I’ve never worked harder on trying to get my golf handicap down since restrictions were lifted on May 29th! Most of all, I’m now ready and looking forward to filling Meldrum House up with guests, exceeding their expectations, hearing the buzz around the place and making the hotel’s personality shine through again.