Hotels - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
By David Ellis
It's not every day you check into a big-name resort and find that the lady at the Front Desk is a Director.
Or
when you go for a well-earned drink in the bar, you’re served by a
Director there too – and when its time for dinner the lady who takes
your order and delivers your meal is a Director as well.
And even when you call it a day, yes, the ladies who made-up your room are all Directors also.
But
such is the case at the Mercure Centro Hotel at Port Macquarie on the
NSW Mid North Coast, although they’re not executive directors and they
don’t sit on the board.
But those who welcome you on arrival
wear name badges proudly informing you that rather than the bland title
Receptionist, they’re all in fact Directors of First Impressions.
Restaurant
and bar staff, on the other hand, are all Directors of Lasting
Impressions, while the housekeepers all boast of being Directors of
Immaculate Impressions.
The “Directorships” idea came from a
brainstorming session of owners, General Manager Ann-Maree Crowe, and
staff early in the hotel’s life, when it was clear that with the
staff’s enthusiasm, it was only fitting to reward them with a level of
recognition beyond that of other hotels.
And while Ann-Maree
didn’t get a “Directors” title hersefl, if she had, it would surely
have had to be Director of Ultimate Impressions.
On a recent
night we met-up with friends in the bar, the barman – sorry, Director
of Lasting Impressions – noticed we had several bottles of wine with
us, and even though we’d not bought them at the hotel and he knew we
were taking them elsewhere for dinner, he immediately offered to
“put them in the cool room to stay cold for you.”
The Mercure
Centro Hotel, one quickly realises, is not your average country hotel.
Owned by a trio of local couples, and as Ann-Maree puts it “still just
3.5 years young,” it’s on the cusp of the CBD of this popular coastal
holiday town. Walk a minute or so one way and you are in the midst of
the city’s shopping and restaurant action, drive a couple of minutes
the other way, and you’re on the sands of the beach.
The
Australian Ironman Competition will be staged on that beach on May 1
and already staff are looking forward to welcoming one particular
entrant who’ll be staying with them: John McLean is a paraplegic after
being hit by a car while cycling in training for another ironman event,
the first wheelchair athlete to complete the Hawaiian Ironman
Triathlon, first wheelchair athlete to swim the English Channel, he
represented Australia in the Sydney and Beijing Olympics and
Paralympics, and has sailed in the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race.
And
since 1998 his John Maclean Foundation has inspired and motivated young
under-18 wheelchair Australians “to chase their dreams and live life to
the fullest.”
Ann-Maree Crowe says sixty per cent of the Mercure
Centro Hotel’s guests are holidaymakers, but there’s a growing
conference and wedding reception business catering for up to 140
guests. “One recent reception involved a bride who came from South
Africa arriving from the church in a traditional white wedding dress,
and then changing into a South African tribal outfit and dancing the
night away to the music of bongo drums!” Ann-Maree says.
And
wooing guests with his culinary skills is talented Chef Ben Crompton.
From the near-two dozen items on his current dinner menu you could
start with oysters in limoncello and parsley granita, or maybe choose
slow-cooked pork belly with seared scallops, crisp shallots and nahm
jim, for mains Gippsland beef tender loin with duck pate ravioli,
barramundi with fricassee of mussels, capsicum and celery, or perhaps
charred lamb backstrap wrapped in Swiss chard with polenta…
And
to finish, lemon and ouzo cake with caramelised figs and citrus syrup,
or a platter of Australian cheeses, dried grapes, pear relish and
lavosh.
It all reflects the vision of Ann-Maree and her fifty
staff – and that’s to be the best hotel in the State based on customer
service.
Special April Deal :
Two nights from $149 per night and you’ll receive free Continental
Breakfast both mornings; details 1300 786 989 or www.centrohotel.com.au
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