Preserving a World-Class Resort An Interview with Colm Hannon, The Tack Room bar (left); Chief Executive Officer, Manor, the exterior of Adare Manor, Ireland (above)

EDITORS’ NOTE Colm Hannon has We started creating a master What do you have planned for the food held his current post since August 2005. plan to preserve and enhance and, and beverage offerings? Prior to this, he was General Manager in some cases, dramatically restore We want to offer our guests choice, and we for Resort and some of the old buildings around the don’t want anybody to feel that what we’re Resident Manager for Cambridge estate. This property dates back origi- doing is limiting them. Beaches Bermuda. Hannon is a grad- nally to 1720. We have a lot of history We have two main restaurants in the uate of Shannon College of Hotel here, and as we started to uncover resort – one is the Oakroom, which was the Management in Ireland. He received some of the beautiful features that in original restaurant in the Manor. That offers a his General Managers Programme, some cases had been covered, we got more elegant dining experience. We’ll have a Management degree from Cornell to see what a real gem it was. gastronomic team of chefs there delivering at University – S.C. Johnson Graduate We went out around the world to the highest level with a very strong focus on School of Management. find the best people in terms of spe- Irish local produce. Colm Hannon cialists in their fields to bring this back In addition, at the Carriage House, we’re PROPERTY BRIEF The five-star to life and protect the building for the putting in a modern steakhouse concept. It’s Adare Manor, Ireland (adaremanor.com) is next 100 years. more casual and aimed at providing an alterna- situated in the heart of Adare Village in County Will you highlight the new wing tive to what we’re doing in the hotel and we’ll , Ireland. Adare Manor is steeped in and 42-bedroom expansion? have a specialty of meat, seafood, salads, and history and surrounded by medieval ruins. The Manor was really busy in the summers a range of offerings in a very different setting. The 840-acre riverside demesne is home to a but not in the winters because it didn’t have We will also operate 24/7 room service, championship golf course designed by Robert some of the facilities that one would expect in and the gallery and the drawing room will pro- Trent Jones Sr. and superb trout fishing on the a modern-day luxury resort. vide two more casual dining venues. We’re spe- . This hallmark experience offers We did extensive analysis to work out the cializing in a sophisticated afternoon tea every the best of contemporary food and an impec- optimum size to make it viable for the future. day and light lunch running through the day cable approach to hospitality that brings guests Adding the 42 rooms was a must. Once we and into the early evening. back, time and time again. knew that, we hired a Grade-A architect from In the evening, we will have another venue London to help us maintain the exterior look called the Tack Room, where we will offer tradi- What excited you about the opportunity and feel of the old building. tional style tapas, craft beers, and whiskey selection. to lead Adare Manor and made you feel it What we have now is a new wing that Do you enjoy opening and running would be the right fit? seamlessly fits onto the old building and doesn’t properties equally? In many ways, I was quite fortunate in in any way detract from it. From a creative viewpoint, being onboard that I have a history and relationship with In regard to social events, will the new at this stage in a project is so rewarding and the owners of the property. I’ve been work- ballroom open up more opportunity for exciting, and gives me the opportunity to be ing with them since 1997 when I first joined the property? involved with every aspect of creating what will Sandy Lane and continued through the It will because Adare is such a beautiful ultimately be a fantastic, world-class resort. opening and transformation there. When geographical town in Ireland, and the area itself It’s not only exciting being part of the cre- I relocated back to Ireland, I stayed with is naturally a beautiful location. It is a dream ation but also a part of the operation, the man- them. special-event destination in terms of high- agement, and the running of a resort such as When this opportunity came up, it was an profile dinner dances or anniversaries, and this for the future. I doubt anyone will get the exciting project. We knew the property well and meetings and weddings. opportunity to do this again in Ireland. This is a this was a natural progression when it became The beautiful new Grand Ballroom along unique project, and the scale and level at which available. the riverside adds a whole new dimension of it has been done will not be something that will When you have a property with such what business will offer for the future, and be repeated for a long time, if ever here. heritage, while you want to make it cur- makes us complete as a true resort offering. In leading this effort, how critical is it rent, how important is it to maintain some Is your primary market Europe or the to have owners that are so invested in the of the tradition? U.S.? business? We took over the property in January Our main market is North America from The McManus family is fully invested in of 2015, and we wanted to see the operation April through October. The North American this property and the next generation of the run for just over 12 months to determine what market really loves what Adare Manor has to family is keenly involved in everything that is worked well, what didn’t, and what we had to offer and its location on the west coast of being created here. In this case, this is a gen- change. It also gave us an opportunity to really Ireland. erational investment for the family. It’s also very understand the building itself. It’s the most In terms of the added facilities, such as close to home for them. The owner and his fam- beautiful structure in terms of the finishes conference, meetings, and events space, we ily are from Limerick. This is their home turf and and detailing, and the architectural style that are seeing the U.K., Europe, and local market it’s a project that’s very personal and special to originally went into it. vacation numbers increase significantly. them.• 182 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2017 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 40, NUMBER 1