Matthew S.
Yelp
We stayed here over the Easter weekend. It's really quite a stunning location and the grounds are immaculate, despite it pouring most of the stay. The restaurant (Manfredi at Bells) has fantastic food, though a limited menu if staying for more than one meal. Service at the restaurant is stunning, can't say enough good things about the wait staff - courteous, attentive and, most importantly, not in your way when you don't need them to be.
Unfortunately, hotel staff are a different matter. Reception are a bit meh, and don't seem to care when you've got issues with your accommodation. They seem to have multiple systems for the estate because housekeeping can't seem to see when people have booked into other areas of the estate to see when a convenient time is to clean the room. Yes, I know it's pedantic, but it's a bloody expensive stay, so you expect amazing service.
When your heating doesn't turn on and your air con is broken, and the reception doesn't seem to believe you and takes four hours to respond to your request, and then can't fix it themselves, it doesn't endear you to their service quality. When your toiletries are watered down, I'm the first one to cry "First world problems", but again, you're paying a lot of money for this level of service so you expect it to be top notch.
So, lessons for Killcare - invest in another maintenance person in case one is busy - cross training is essential - I don't care if one is picking up a helicopter from the next estate, all I care is that I'm spending a bloody cold day in a five star resort with no heating.
Another lesson - track your guests - invest in the software to see their whereabouts pop up on your restaurant reservation system so you don't leave messages on their phone when the place has no cell coverage.
And finally - your reception is your front of house - it's the bastion of welcome, first and last. Make sure they are trained well and give them the tools to make their guests feel welcome, not make their guests feel like they are getting in your way.