Founded in 1824 as an urban retreat for the gentility,
it's played its part in Irish history.
In 1922, the Constitution of the Irish Free State was written and signed here.
Now, for the first time in its 190-year history,
cameras have been given exclusive access to the front and back of house.
Bags to go up for the group. Bags to go up for the group.
In this series, we capture just what it takes
to deliver five-star quality service to the world's most demanding clientele.
As the staff prepare for one of the busiest weekends of the year...
Happy St Patrick's Day!
what will happen when classic five-star luxury meets this?
Now, at least pretend we know each other!
Alright?
The Shelbourne is preparing itself for the St Patrick's festival,
the weekend that launches the Irish tourist season.
Lads, I need you to pick up the pace on this.
In the next few days, they will reach full occupancy.
How they perform will have an impact on business across the whole year.
Everybody kind of sets their watches and counts down to 17th March.
It's when the tourist season kicks off.
It's almost like the unlocking of the door for tourism into Ireland.
265 rooms have to be cleaned, checked and re-checked,
including the hotel's Presidential suite, the Princess Grace.
At 2,650 euro per night, Director of Operations Alan Mahoney
and Guest Relations manager JD Flynn
are making sure that everything is perfect.
In-Room Dining are ready to go with the champagne. They are, yeah.
I believe there was 250,000 people were expected to land into Dublin, Shannon and Cork over the weekend
and that's a hell of a lot of people to welcome back to Ireland.
St Patrick would be very proud.
The hotel is full, and General Manager Stephen Hanley is determined
it will be their most polished St Patrick's performance yet.
How are you?
If there's any gold underneath those things!
It starts with shamrock, shipped in from his native Kerry.
That's very nice.
You know that there is a lot of tradition involved
so you don't want to go off and do a solo run
and try to do things differently for a very traditional occasion.
So we stick to the script. We go with our green.
We get our shamrocks, we illuminate the hotel.
The impression that you're giving is that we fully support the drive around St Patrick's.
So I'm happy with the shamrock.
If you supply the White House, I think that's good enough for us.
Great stuff. Brilliant. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Peter.
In the foyer, a group on a business trip have arrived from America.
They've been travelling through the night and are keen to check in,
but the rooms are still occupied by guests who have yet to check out.
It's JD's first headache of the day.
Thanks. Cheers. Bye.
The focus changes when you're dealing with a group coming in
because you've now gone from having 10 different VIPs from the day
to 50 of them all moving around in the same go.
Martha, have you two seconds?
I just want to go through what's going to happen today.
It's all about the front desk communicating with the rooms department.
As soon as we have the rooms ready.
Just making sure that the accommodation are getting those rooms back on time
and when they are coming back on time that they're letting us know.
Don't send the keys up until I have the amenity in the room and the bags in the room.
This is an important and demanding client.
Have you got that list for me?
Over the next hour, up to six different departments will be involved
in the push to get nearly 50 rooms ready.
Put that in after.
The client has asked for a special welcome plate to be delivered to each of the guests' bedrooms.
Katie, can I interrupt?
The macaroons, you're doing the welcome on all of them, yeah?
It's very unusual to have this many macaroon plates with chocolate writing.
There's still more tomorrow as well so Siobhan will be pretty busy doing the chocolate writing.
The pressure is on, but five-star luxury can't be rushed.
It takes at least seven minutes to make a bed and 45 minutes to clean a room the Shelbourne way.
Each room is then double-checked by a superviser. Another 20 minutes.
All JD can do is wait... and stress.
This is not working.
I just need to sell that room.
Yeah, it's missing a bathrobe, yeah?
Call Michael and just tell him.
Alright, thank you.
Honestly, it's a bathrobe, like!
There's some stain and I need to change it again.
But this is not JD's only concern.
The hotel is so busy that the only available space to store the group's luggage is the Horseshoe Bar.
Not only do we have to get the bags up. This bar also has to open.
We have to get guests in there as well.
So we have to get the bags into the rooms, we have to get the guests into the same rooms,
then we have to get some more guests into that bar as well.
Ursula, can you please do me a favour? 291 is ready for the group as well.
This one is not working.
That's perfect. One of the rooms is only waiting for a light bulb to go in
so I can deliver the bags to that in the meantime
and I can let In-Room Dining know the amenity can go up.
JD to the bellman. JD to the bellman.
I have bags to go up for the group. Bags to go up for the group.
Get the bags up straightaway. Make sure they're logged properly.
The final touch.
Bag-pull is one of those things that when it goes right you never hear anything about it
and that's what you want. Silence is golden in that situation.
But in terms of when it does go wrong, you'll know all about it, believe me. Someone will tell you.
The bar is all yours. You can take it back now!
Maebh Bhreathnach from HR is on a mission.
She has been tasked with buying the staff ties for St Patrick's Day.
To keep with tradition, they'll have to be green,
but which shade is right for the Shelbourne?
Without a shadow of a doubt, people do notice grooming and presentation. I think it's No 1.
And especially when you come to a five-star luxury property, it's an expectation.
I'm just here to look at some green ties, if I can. Oh yes.
I have them all ready for you. A great selection.
To be honest, this one springs out at me. It's gorgeous.
I think it's very important that I get it right,
but it has to look classical, it has to look traditional and it's got to be elegant.
For me, I love this one, but I'm trying to see if it will go with the suits that they're wearing,
and would they like to wear it.
Each tie costs over 100 euro,
so before she commits, Maebh is borrowing some samples.
The hotel has its own engineering team.
David Casserly and Declan McAuley are part of a staff of 11
who work around the clock carrying out repairs and general maintenance.
The job this morning is we're replacing this flagpole.
The previous flagpole we had blew down in the bad storms.
It actually snapped in half so we're just replacing this now, just in time for Patrick's weekend,
so to get the Irish flag up and running for the biggest day of the year.
Now, we have the top of the flag, which is going on here.
We'd better make sure we don't get it the wrong way around,
otherwise everyone will think it's the Ivory Coast!
Normally, the flags are cleaned every week.
However, this week brand new flags will be raised.
Once new flags are installed, David and Declan will begin working on the hotel's floodlights.
Tonight the Shelbourne, like many other Dublin landmarks, will go green.
Okay, Dave!
I'm just going to get some green goddess.
As well as engineering, the hotel has its own floristry department.
The hotel spends more than 200,000 euro a year on flowers.
The florists arrange around 200 displays a week.
For St Patrick's festival, a patriotic mix of colours has been planned.
For the green I'm going to use some giant calla lilies called green goddess at the back,
and in the middle then, we'll have two layers of white.
So one higher like this, these are another type of calla lily,
and then some stock, which Rachel is making over there.
A lovely scent off these as well.
Yeah, so when people walk in the door, they'll get a scent.
And then some lovely tulips, which are in season at the moment.
The thing about tulips is that they continue to grow even when they're cut,
so when I go to put that up tomorrow, I might have to cut it a bit more.
Upstairs, Maebh has returned with the green tie samples.
Oh, a bit of paisley.
She's gathered some senior front-of-house staff to help her make a decision.
You definitely want to try the paisley? I'll try the paisley.
I mean, I look like an undertaker half the time!
I really do need something that's a little bit more cheerful.
So I think I'll go with the paisley.
Does your personality not brighten you up! Well!
For me it's a dream job anyway. Absolutely. Absolute dream job.
Whatever we can dream up, we can make.
We've a lot of help behind us,
through like maybe our engineering department and things like that.
So if we ever want to do a big installation, there's always help at hand to put it up,
to maybe drill holes in walls or anything like that.
Obviously you'll be doing this in front of a mirror. Yeah.
Now. Head up?
Aw, such a handsome chap! Such a handsome chap.
I love the buzz about hotels.
I love everything that goes on back of house.
I love how many people that you get to know.
And then to do something like floristry in a hotel is just brilliant.
I'm not just being biased because I admire this one, but it's a nice S Patrick's Day green.
I do like it, James, but I just think it's a little bit bright.
I think this is more of a contrast and I think works better, would be my personal opinion.
I love this, but maybe just not for this occasion.
This is the room in which the Irish Constitution of 1922 was drafted.
Now, for the last hour, it's borne witness to exactly what constitutes the right shade of green.
The casting vote goes to the boss, Stephen Hanley.
I'd be thinking probably the one in the middle.
I think the whole weekend really is about maybe standing out,
emphasising the whole greenness of it,
and that would be my call. Maebh, I don't know what decision you've made
but I'd go with the one in the middle on that.
Okay? Okay, great. Sorted? Good. Yeah, thanks very much.
Declan, if you go to the one on the right-hand side and just tilt it back towards the building a bit.
That looks pretty good from here. Yeah, copy that.
After days of preparation, everything is now in place for the St Patrick's festival.
The Shelbourne joins Dublin's other historical monuments in turning itself green.
It's a moment that Alan Mahoney looks forward to every year.
We put some additional lights on this year, we lit the moats,
and I think it makes it much greener, much richer,
and gives a lovely, almost... a moat effect, as though there was water in it.
It's literally green from the base of the building all the way up to the top,
and it's finished off with the Irish flag flying very brightly above the building.
..at:
At the Shelbourne, it is one of the busiest days of the year,
but attention to detail is still of utmost importance.
I think it's best to go over the heart,
so maybe just below the name badge. Okay.
With the ties chosen, there's another decision to be made...
Are we not putting it on there?
this time about the placement of the shamrock.
Is that right? No, let me do it.
Every part of the hotel has been given an Irish makeover.
Obviously, being Irish, we're going to have a traditional lamb stew with champ mash. Yeah.
Then we have the slow-braised bacon and cabbage with parsley sauce.
For the front of house staff, it's going to be a long shift.
Back. Perfect.
If you're going to stand on your feet for eight to 10 hours a day,
you need to have good solid comfortable shoes.
I always go for a nice shiny finish on them.
There's nothing better than seeing your face in the top of your shoes.
Good morning, folks. Happy St Patrick's Day.
It will be a particularly busy day for concierge Denis O'Brien.
Yes, I suppose it is the calm before the storm.
There will be a lot of tourists around the city.
We find we have guests who come back year after year,
so yes, it's a time to re-acquaint ourselves with our old friends.
Friends is a nice way of putting it, yeah.
Returning for the weekend's celebrations are regular guests Tom and Jean Brophy from New Mexico.
If every one of our guests who came through the door were like the Brophys,
the job would be so much easier.
They're a quintessential nice couple. They're a real lady and gentleman.
We have sat at this table, with the exception of one day, every day we've been here. This is our table.
It's kind of makes it like home.
Only the table is set much more proper than home! Yeah, sorry.
Tom is a retired businessman.
He and his wife spend up to six months a year staying in hotels all around the world.
I guess I travelled three days a week every week for about 25 years.
I think if I sat down and went through it,
I probably have spent 10 years of my life in hotels.
I've really gotten spoilt.
You know, where's the candy? Why do I have to use the same towel every day?
I mean, I need a new bar of soap every morning!
You get really really... you get spoilt, just to be blunt about it.
It's lovely to see them back again because you know them so well and they're here so often
and you have a good chat with them and a good laugh with them in the morning.
He loves his peanut butter!
We get it in specially just for him.
You learn very quickly what hotels offer you the comfort of home
versus those that are in the business just to get the dollar you have to spend.
Last year, the Brophys' reliance on hotel hospitality was tested
when Tom fell ill on a cruise.
So we left the ship and went to a very nice hotel in downtown London.
I called down and said, is there a doctor available?
And they said, yes, and I said, what will he charge?
And they said £250.
I hung up the phone, I called Denis.
We had been here enough that Denis said if you ever get ill, I have a doctor.
We flew over here the next day.
He needed something that he was comfortable and confident in.
I contacted a colleague, we got him sorted out, we got him a doctor.
Everything worked out, thanks be to God.
When you're at home and you feel sick, what do you do?
You go to where you have the best comfort zone,
and that's why, irregardless of what it cost, I was going to come here to have medical service.
For somebody to come and say, Denis, I'm in a situation, I need your help,
for me that's the ultimate accolade and, yeah, that's when you say
wow, that's what makes this job so worthwhile.
Blue moon,
you saw me standing alone...
So this is one of two hotels that I wouldn't mind passing away at.
How's that for a comment!
It's shocking!
without a love of my own.
Good morning, folks.
Thank you.
The American market is hugely valuable to the Shelbourne,
and this weekend, the hotel is pulling out all the stops.
I'm not really working for the hotel today. I'm really working for the country.
I'm really just helping out Ireland, you know?
We have a For One Night Only mindset for these kind of things.
You cannot stop people celebrating.
I'm certainly not going to throw cold water on anyone's parade if it's a national occasion.
Now, at least pretend we know each other!
Of course we're going to get involved with it.
We're not going to isolate ourselves by putting ourselves up on a plinth
and saying, no, we don't conduct ourselves this way.
We all do on a private basis. We know our company supports it.
We know the guests expect that the Shelbourne get in line.
Of course we're going to do it. No question.
We're very excited, though, to be in Ireland, in Dublin, on St Patrick's. At the Shelbourne.
It's like a dream come true, honestly.
To ensure that their St Patrick's Day experience gets off to a good start,
Denis is armed with complimentary flags and shamrock.
We always give out shamrock but this is special
because it's in the commemorative wallet for the 190th birthday of the Shelbourne Hotel.
I think that's a really cool thing that they give you live shamrock.
He said it's for good luck.
Molly is one of our regular little special guests
and she's from America, New Jersey originally.
And do you know what? She speaks Irish. She speaks Gaeilge.
Dia dhuit. Dias Muire dhuit.
Conas ata tu? Ta me go maith.
Slan. Slan.
Ah! St Paddy's Day treats for my best friend Denis.
Aw, thanks very much. You're very kind.
Denis has treated me very kindly over the last three years.
I come here at least twice a month and he's been very good to me.
Enjoy the parade. Thanks so much. Happy St Patrick's Day.
It's a pleasure to see you again. God bless you. Bye.
I hear you're going to the parade. We are, yeah.
Just to let you know, wrap up well
and bring yourselves a little shot of whiskey in it.
Yeah, it can be pretty constant.
You know, some people run marathons. I suppose I talk and I listen constantly.
So yeah, that's my marathon, you know?
I'm Irish!
There are thousands of people who come to Ireland who have Irish heritage,
who have a love for Ireland,
and they plan their vacation time around St Patrick's Day.
You have a 50 percent chance of getting Mary O'Brien's baptism record, really.
For those guests who want to delve into their Irish ancestry,
the hotel provides the unique services of a genealogy butler.
I am the only genealogy butler in the world
because the title is registered and it's owned by the Shelbourne Hotel.
And the moot question is, have you got the right family?
You don't want to adopt the wrong family.
We've enough with our own! We have.
Basically, I empower the guest to carry on with their family history research here.
I didn't want you to look as much at the O'Briens as I did the Shaws. Okay.
Michael Breen is from Texas. His grandparents were born in Ireland.
He's hoping, with Helen's assistance, to learn more about his family tree.
It's definitely a part of who I am and it is a labour of love.
This is my seventh or eighth time here in Ireland and each time gets better and better.
This time I'm hoping to start looking for a place to partially retire in over here,
so it's a love.
More than a million people left Ireland as a result of the Great Famine in the 19th century.
Many found a new home in North America.
It is said that after the Great Famine, there was a great silence.
And with people that I talk with, many of them say
my grandparents never talked about Ireland and they never talked about their emigration,
and that's for very many reasons,
but a great deal of sadness, I suppose, as well,
and in those days people just got on with their lives. They had to.
You will not walk away from 80 acres in Ireland easily.
The Clement family are from New York.
Their flight landed just an hour ago.
They're struggling with jet lag but are keen to get started.
We really have no history on any of our family past my grandfather
and we didn't know anything about any of our family.
And there are four Connells in Twomileborris in or around 1851.
Maybe I shouldn't say this but it was my mother's big birthday this year
so I'm doing it as a gift for her to try to find her roots.
DENIS: Green moustache and all?
HELEN: I suppose St Patrick's Day in America, the Irish feel very Irish.
They may not feel it on every other day
but there are certain times when we feel very Irish.
Actually, where we come from in Cleveland in Ohio,
this is a very fun day in Cleveland.
Like it's the best day in Cleveland.
And so, while we are separated by the Atlantic Ocean with many of our people,
we are still in some way connected with them.
And I think we have to be very respectful of people's ancestry.
Perfect. Whoo!
Happy St Patrick's Day.
(Music)
(Cheering)
Each year, over half a million people line the streets of Dublin to watch the St Patrick's Day parade.
It's estimated that the impact of the festival on the economy amounts to over 120 million euro.
Sometimes you have to suspend your prejudice against funny hats and big glasses,
and St Patrick's Day is a day for that.
And shure, when I leave, I'll put on a funny hat and the orange beards and the big glasses...
the bigger glasses!
And everybody is in a great mood, everybody is having fun
and everybody is just in the spirit.
Within the walls of the Shelbourne, the celebrations may be somewhat calmer and more reserved
than in other parts of the city.
But the Old Lady on the Green has celebrated the day true to her style.
The nature of the Old Lady is that she rises to every occasion,
so Patrick's Day is a very different day, but do you know what?
We play our part in that special day.
And when the party is over, the hospitality season is really only beginning.
It's a very exciting time of year
so you're off up and running now, guys, have a good season.
Next time, the kitchen gets creative with Easter celebrations.
Great to see you. You're very welcome to the Shelbourne Hotel. You're looking very well.
We meet a screen icon from the past.
He still has those eyes. Oh yeah!
And history comes to life.
There's 16 horse-drawn carriages being brought around to the front of the hotel
for a group who are looking for the Shelbourne fairytale.
Frances Carr RTE 2014