Welcome from Our Chief Executive, Michael Kearney
As Chief Executive of Carlton Hotel Group, I'd like to welcome you to the Carlton Hotel Group blog. The Carlton Hotel Group was established in 2004 and since then has developed as one of the premier Hotel Groups in Ireland. In the past 7 years Carlton has grown substantially from operating one hotel to having a presence in many locations throughout Ireland.
Through this blog it is my aim to give you an insight into what's going on in all of our hotels plus my opinions on current affairs, sports news, general activities and events. I will also occassionally invite some of my colleagues to write on the blog giving you more opinions and insights into what's going on at Carlton. If you have any questions or queries on any of the posts please leave a comment and I will respond at my earliest convenience. Enjoy reading.............
Posted: 2013-03-29 16:50:00
It’s been strange one this week as we’ve been preparing for the busy Easter period in our hotels but the weather makes it feel more like we should be preparing for Christmas! Thankfully though the snow hasn’t stopped families from travelling and our hotels are very busy with Mini Explorer breaks for the next two weeks. Our hotels have always been popular for family breaks and parents love our Mini Explorer’s Club as it allows them to relax and enjoy a spa treatment or meal while their kids are having plenty of fun in our club. Last night I was delighted to be able to attend the official launch of Tralee Central Hotel, formerly the Abbey Gate Hotel, and FishWorks Café Bar. The hotel became a partner hotel of the Carlton Group in 2012 and following so ...
Posted: 2013-03-22 17:00:00
As the head chef at the Carlton Hotel Kinsale I make sure to source local, seasonal produce to use on all our menus. I like to blend the best that North, South, East and West Cork has to offer, and showcase these products on all our menus. With Kinsale being the Gourmet Capital of Ireland and West Cork known as the bread basket of the country, producing some of the finest artisan produce, I like to showcase as much of this to our local and international guests alike To get the staff more involved I have started taking my Chefs and the Front of House staff on Farm to Fork tours. I have posted some of the photos of our trips on our Facebook page so make sure to check it out for more information on what we’ve been up to! We are launching our new menus this wee ...
Posted: 2013-03-15 17:30:00
It’s here again, St. Patricks’ Day; the day the whole world celebrates Ireland with parades, green costumes, traditional Irish music and of course a few pints. Over the past few years we’ve seen that it’s not just people going green for Paddy’s Day but famous buildings are illuminated in green for the festival. This year, for the first time ever, the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx in Egypt will be illuminated green on St. Patrick’s Day. So will the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the “Welcome” sign in Las Vegas and the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark. It’s great to see so many nationalities coming together to celebrate our country and in some cases their heritage. I’m sure most of the country ...
Posted: 2013-03-08 12:00:00
It has been a memorable few weeks here in Ballinasloe at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel with a historic win for the All-Ireland Ballinasloe Junior B team in Croke Park on Sunday the 24th of February. The Carlton Shearwater Hotel are the proud sponsors of the team and we even have a few of the team members working here at the hotel! The final will be remembered in years to come and I’m sure the question “which club played in Croke Park and forgot their jerseys” will be asked in many a local table quiz! The boys did themselves, the town and the county very proud in a convincing win over a strongly fancied Kenmare team.We are also glad to say we hosted UCC for the second time in a week on their voyage in retaining the Fitzgibbon cup that was won in Pearce stadium on ...
Posted: 2013-03-01 15:00:00
Our guest blogger Eveanna Ryan mentioned last week that we had the Apprentice Awards lunch on Thursday at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel. This is our third year running the search for the Carlton Apprentice and the candidates never fail to impress me with their abilities and determination. I would like to congratulate all the candidates this year with a special mention for the new Carlton Apprentice, Conchúr Finnegan. Conchúr gave a great acceptance speech at the awards lunch and I have no doubt he will make a great Apprentice for the Sales & Marketing team at the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown.There was plenty of celebrating in the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown at the weekend when they announced the winners of their Sunday World Dream Wedding Giveaway competition. A ...
Posted: 2013-02-22 16:00:00
This week was very exciting for the team at the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown as we attended our "Apprentice Prize Giving Lunch" at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel. Our Winning Apprentice Conchúr Finnegan was thrilled to pick up his prize and receive the acknowledgment of his hard work throughout the competition. Conchúr was joined by the two other apprentice competitors, Róisín Kearney and Mary Gibbons who also received their prizes. Conchúr will soon begin his apprenticeship in a sales and marketing role at the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown and I know that he has the full support of the team here. Also this week we were busy making our way through the overwhelming number of competition entries we had for our Sunday World Dream Wedding Giveawa ...
Posted: 2013-02-15 17:00:00
This week didn't get off to a great start following Ireland's defeat against England in the Aviva on Sunday. As much as I hate to admit it England were the better team on the day and deserved to win but its still hard to see Ireland lose. Hopefully they'll come back fighting in their game against France next Saturday. Of course it wasn't all bad news for Brian O'Driscoll on Sunday as his wife gave birth to their baby girl early that morning. Congratulations to Brian and his wife Amy on their new arrival!Of course the big focus this week was on Valentines Day on Thursday. Love it or hate it, Valentines Day cannot be avoided as all the shops, restaurants and hotels advertise their offers. Being in the hotel industry we love this holiday as it is one of our busiest for our hotels, r ...
