Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a hotel? There are a huge array of roles that make a hotel run like clockwork, and in this series we take a look at different people within The Doyle Collection, to see how their days pan out. Today is the turn of Thomas Stinton, Assistant Food & Beverage Manager at The Croke Park. 

I have worked at The Croke Park for 10 weeks, though it has felt a lot longer – in a good way!

I start at 7am (that means getting up at 5.30am – still can’t get used to that). I take the bus and arrive in at 6.45am, check my emails and the overnight Duty Manager log book, check the daily sheet for the day ahead operations, get changed into my suit then I’m on the floor for 7am. 

Breakfast is a very important service in the hotel and, in my opinion, the most important meal of the day. So I’ll make sure the bistro is set, check in with my team and the kitchen team, inform them of any VIPs or guests to look out for, give out the shift allocations to the team and I will then conduct my DM walk of the hotel. 

I will check all areas of the hotel and all floors and then head back to the bistro for breakfast service. I will stay on the floor with my team for the entire morning, helping out where needed and chatting to our guests. After breakfast service we have our 11am ops meeting, here I will read out the daily sheet for all manager, go through the Duty Manager handovers and check in with everyone. Then it’s straight back to the floor again then prepping for lunch service in the bar. 

Interacting with guests is my favourite part of the job. I love chatting with our guests, ensuring they are all happy and receiving the service they expect and pay for. Here at The Croke Park we have many regulars who visit on a daily basis – I am getting to know a few of them as I am still new, but I always make the effort to talk to everyone throughout the day. 

Not to sound clichéd, but my days are always busy. I have been working the morning shifts since I’ve started here. To put things into perspective, we average around 180-220 guests for breakfast every morning; on match days it could be 280-300 guests for breakfast, that’s busy!

Lunch is also busy for us, with the Croke Park Stadium across the street we always have staff and delegates joining us for lunch on their breaks so we tend to fill up the bar very quickly as well. 

If I start at 7am I will try to finish up around 5pm, this tends to be a normal day for me. If I have nothing planned after work I will head home, get changed and hit the gym for an hour… believe it or not this is my favourite way to relax and de-stress. 

Without a doubt, working in New York for Christmas is a memory I will never forget, living in New York at this time of year was genuinely like living in a movie. Travelling to work every day in minus degree temperatures, wrapped up in layers, dodging the craziness of the city, Christmas music playing and every shop window dressed for the holidays from October 1^st, Santas on every corner, lights and Christmas trees everywhere …. And, pulling the short straw to be the one who dressed as Santa on Christmas day for the kids in the hotel.