“Kindergarten style breakfast arrangements”,
is enough to drive future Guests from this Hotel,
The Rochestown Park Hotel, in Cork, has a rating of 3.9 out of 5 on Tripadvisor, so we were not expecting great things from this Hotel, however upon arrival, we were impressed by the spacious reception area and the sole Receptionist on duty, she really was very friendly and helpful, our room on the fifth floor was clean and tidy and there were no complaints there, we were really beginning to think that this was a great hotel, that is, until breakfast the next morning in “ROSO’S Restaurant”, now I have stayed in about 400 Hotels in Ireland over the last twenty years, not counting many in the UK, Germany, Spain, Gibraltar & China, etc, and I have never seen a set up like the system in operation in this Hotel,
A ”Red”, “Orange” & “Green” time system,
The Hotel advertises a “Continental Breakfast” now this is defined as,
A continental breakfast is a light morning meal, in effect normally a Self-serving presentation, typically consisting of morning pastries and baked goods, fruits, toast, and Coffee/tea/Juice normally presented in a buffet presentation,
And the official hotel website shows the “breakfast hot counter” with two servers and a pile of trays and four baskets containing packets of sauces, ketchup, mustard, etc,
So, the Hotel breakfast room was and is still set up as a “Continental buffet style Breakfast” area, BUT the reality is completely different,
You cannot operate a “table Service” in a breakfast room set up as a “Continental buffet style Breakfast” area, without Guests helping themselves to food, orange juice, and the like, etc, and then have staff chasing after them, explaining it is a table service only and they must return to their table and everything will be brought to them,
Now, it should be stated here, that there is no complaints regarding the excellent hard-working Staff or the excellent food, of which we have no complaints, but it is the “table service” that is the problem!
“ROSO’S Restaurant”, seats approximately at a guess about fifty four guests in a breakfast arrangement, the first morning there were twenty six Guests and the second morning about thirty six Guests, I counted ten staff on duty, a supervisor and seven waiters/waitresses, the hot food server and the chef who was coming and going bringing hot food out, all the Staff were friendly and hard working but they were run off their feet, two of them were stressed and I mildly clashed with them but later made up (became friendly), they are stressed and the Guests are stressed by operating a “table serving system” that is clearly not working for the Hotel or the Guests!
many Guests around me, including with Children were sitting without food, anyone who attempted to pour orange juice themselves or get toast or other items from the “buffet style Breakfast” were reprimanded, by “Staff” and it seems or appears were being told that they cannot help themselves to food on display, certainty, I was instructed, “that everything would be brought to me”, in effect to go and sit down, but I explained, I was only looking to see what was on offer, on both mornings the waiters/waitresses, became annoyed with me because they wanted me to order everything at the same time, Juice, fruit, toast, hot food, tea etc all at the same time, that’s not how it works, I normally go and see what is on offer and then decide if I want it or not, I normally get a glass of orange juice and a bowel of grapefruit segments, and proceed from there with hot food and later toast, and take my time but here I was being rushed,
I was stressed on the second morning and wondered if it was worth my while even going for breakfast, remember Guest are bringing money to your Hotel, and with this carry on they will go...
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