East End Hotel

Kingdom

I'll try and give an honest appraisal of the place. I'm a 5 yr old blow in now, and when we moved first, we would often lunch in the hotel. It was quite pleasant, the food good, and the service fine.
The Sunday dinner was the basic carvery, grand stuff, but not as good as say Treacey's out the Heath.

We were out plenty in town and a few times we went to the club. Its exactly what you expect in a small rural town, so there's no real complaints there. If you look for trouble you'll find it, if you're just out for a late drink you'll have that too.

What made me vow to never step foot in there again, is the owners. I promised never to contribute to lining their pockets again, and have taken to boycotting any of their premises around the town. Petty? Certainly.

The complaints about the place are very simple. It's either a function room, or its a night club - it can't be both unless there is some construction work done. The ironic thing is that there was a mass of land out the back, that was going a begging, and could have made the place into a decent hotel venue for occasions, and have a proper nightclub too.
The clientele. Sort that out and you're onto a winner. Think about it; people are travelling 1.5 miles out of town to a f*in rugby club to get a late pint and have a dance in preference to the hotel. go figure.

Kingdom

Maybe if you set out your aims, and how you'll go about achieving them, rather than putting up reactionary posts you'd fare better.
You'll certainly get users respect for doing that.

BennyBlanko

arch_survey wrote: »

well known resident in Portlaoise, staying there on behalf of the Irish Government, who also once had interests in bloodstock in County Meath,

Does the above you refer to like to keep a couple of soiled pairs of womens knickers in his cell for personal gratification?
:D

Dempo1

Hilarious, yes thats the one, Knickers and all. Curious about a previous post about not lining the Owners Pockets by gracing this establishment, whom are you referring too? this placed is leased with is part of its problem by all accounts. About the initial building of this place, it was essentially a developer availing of tax breaks for the building of Hotels, unfortunately this and other hotels like it have caused enormous problems for established well run establishments.

kmart6

Best off not to ask for names of people on here!!!

1891hotel port

arch_survey wrote: »

First time post.....so go easy!

The Hotel might still be owned by the Monaghan brothers, but the talk of the town is that a daughter of a well known resident in Portlaoise, staying there on behalf of the Irish Government, who also once had interests in bloodstock in County Meath, has taken over the lease!

Until this has been proven otherwise the likes of my folks or their friends won't be putting a foot inside the door!

we also have heard this rumour, to our disappointment anyboby is welcome
to drop in and have a chat with us .we are both family men here to make a honest living

irelandspurs

Never set foot in the hotel part but the night club/bingo hall i have and what a **** hole that is.

1891hotel port

Kingdom wrote: »

I'll try and give an honest appraisal of the place. I'm a 5 yr old blow in now, and when we moved first, we would often lunch in the hotel. It was quite pleasant, the food good, and the service fine.
The Sunday dinner was the basic carvery, grand stuff, but not as good as say Treacey's out the Heath.

We were out plenty in town and a few times we went to the club. Its exactly what you expect in a small rural town, so there's no real complaints there. If you look for trouble you'll find it, if you're just out for a late drink you'll have that too.

What made me vow to never step foot in there again, is the owners. I promised never to contribute to lining their pockets again, and have taken to boycotting any of their premises around the town. Petty? Certainly.

The complaints about the place are very simple. It's either a function room, or its a night club - it can't be both unless there is some construction work done. The ironic thing is that there was a mass of land out the back, that was going a begging, and could have made the place into a decent hotel venue for occasions, and have a proper nightclub too.
The clientele. Sort that out and you're onto a winner. Think about it; people are travelling 1.5 miles out of town to a f*in rugby club to get a late pint and have a dance in preference to the hotel. go figure.

we agree to you a 100 percent regarding the niteclub,since monday we have started major works in the function room as you called it,we ran a competition on midland radio 103 monday and tuesday we wanted the people of the midlands to name the club for us .the new name is scarlets
its a modern club .which is needed,it will be run well .since we have open we got to know most of the trouble makers .this is why we delayed changing the niteclub ,we also empolyed the same secerity as coppers in portlaios ,we have top acts coming to the venue each month

Dempo1

Interesting developments and i hope it pays off

1891hotel port

irelandspurs wrote: »

Never set foot in the hotel part but the night club/bingo hall i have and what a **** hole that is.

was ,scarlets opens its doors sat 6th of feb its a modern up to date venue
with top acts each month

irelandspurs

1891hotel port wrote: »

we agree to you a 100 percent regarding the niteclub,since monday we have started major works in the function room as you called it,we ran a competition on midland radio 103 monday and tuesday we wanted the people of the midlands to name the club for us .the new name is scarlets
its a modern club .which is needed,it will be run well .since we have open we got to know most of the trouble makers .this is why we delayed changing the niteclub ,we also empolyed the same secerity as coppers in portlaios ,we have top acts coming to the venue each month

so are you the new owners of it?If so any jobs.

1891hotel port

Dempo1 wrote: »

Interesting developments and i hope it pays off

thanks alot of effort gone in

1891hotel port

irelandspurs wrote: »

so are you the new owners of it?

we have leased the hotel for 4years 9 monthes

irelandspurs

1891hotel port wrote: »

we have leased the hotel for 4years 9 monthes

Any jobs

kmart6

1891hotel port wrote: »

we also empolyed the same secerity as coppers in portlaiose

Well that should help a lot to be perfectly honest...top notch security firm!

1891hotel port

Dempo1 wrote: »

Seems there is mixed opinion about the place but given my experience of Local Hostility towards certain venues, i fear this place is doomed to failure no matter who is managing. Sometimes new management can succeed, however given this place is on a lease, enormous resources and time are required to turn it around. Tenants unfortunately rarely have such resources with rent and bills to pay, made worse by the current economic climate. Just as a test, i checked out this hotels current accommodation rates and they are currently running at a loss. Any hotel thinking they can make up in the Bar or restaurant are sadly misguided, evidence being the amount of hotels closing right now. It would seem on further research they was major issues with a former tenant, non payment of wages, suppliers etc. Sadly and despite the new tenants efforts, is something which is very, very difficult to over come. It seems their night club "as bad is it appears to be", is its only real source of income but again if they are not getting a minimum of 250 covers at the normal admittance fee, their at a loss with exemption fees of over €500 per night, security much the same or more, DJ up to €300 per night, usually less and staff, running costs. Despite what people might think, running a club is an extremely expensive undertaking (I know, i wore the T Shirt). Does anyone know what the food is like, after all these posts, i am tempted to visit this venue.

running a nite club is expensive but not to the extent as you quoted
djs dont get the colour of 300 door staff start at 11 finish at 3 hourley
rate exemption are 410 we now branded the nite club (scarlets)top acts appearing each month ,are chef ron smith is producing good food with value for money

1891hotel port

irelandspurs wrote: »

Any jobs

drop a cv in at reception

irelandspurs

1891hotel port wrote: »

drop a cv in at reception

pm sent

Dempo1

A little tetchy on my analysis on Night Club expenses. Theres not a licensed Bouncer let alone security firm i am aware of that bill from exact start time to finish, it would not be worth their while based on your assumptions, in fact you state your using the same firm as a venue in Portlaoise and i would argue your costs would be more, usually between €125 - €145 per bouncer and of course VAT if your being invoiced. V.A.T being applicable to exemption costs would bring it to around €500 and lets not forget solicitors fees and as for the DJ, the least well known ones i know of would command a minimum of €250 + the V.A.T, of course this is all assuming VAT is being charged and paid. As for the best acts, a complete waste of money and time, Aslan was mentioned and i doubt they could hardly be described as "best acts". Lets assume even a less well known band will charge €2,000, thats a heck of allot of pints to sell. Admittedly trad bands would charge less but i am unsure if your venue would be trad orientated. Sadly live entertainment is considered part of the course so i doubt you could charge for live music and to be blunt, its been tried and tested, patrons do not go to nightclubs for live music.

I am assuming you are trying to catch up on the entire thread, i am actually one of the good guys so god help those who were negative. I do actually wish you success and hope you can recoup any expenditure during a 4 year 9 month lease which as you will no doubt be aware has no right of renewal. I do not subscribe to some of the nasty comments posted as i know what challenges lie ahead, as for your Chef, never heard of him (I'm in the business quite some time) this said, i do intend to visit soon and try your Venue out. PS Scarlets is not a name i would have gone with, do a goggle search and you will understand why. Finally your venue does not appear to have a website? might actually help drive revenues, in particular rooms along with an on-line booking facility.

irelandspurs

If you read some of the comments, people would class portarlington as being rough.You get your bad crowd where ever you go.A night club attracts people from other areas so there is always going to be conflict its part of life,and will always get 1 or 2 that will look for a fight but will have many more that will have enjoyed there night.
From what i remember of the hotel i rang for room prices for family to stay and straight away they were to much and as for the night club it wasn't much to write home about,but if its got people in it that understand this and are trying to change it then good luck to them.I spent alot of time in kildare town and always looked for the pub or hotel which had live music in as did many others young and old then making my way to the club which everytime ,you was sure to see something you didn't.

Dempo1

I don't know portarlington very well so i would not be able to comment on its roughness or otherwise, either way there is a way to manage a venue properly. The new tenants seem to have admitted they are making a concerted effort to remove the trouble makers so lets hope they are successful in this regard. Given the venues location, i feel troublemakers who are reigned in will begin to cop on through continued refusal, i doubt they fancy having to pay for taxi's etc to venues further a field. I agree with live music drawing a crowd but not as it would seem into a night club. A real problem a lot of pubs are facing at the moment is trying to firstly draw a crowd with music and then trying to hold onto them for as late as possible. Most punters move around on a night out, trying different venues ultimately ending up in a Quality Nice Club, its the nature of things. If this venue does not improve, i suspect you will see (if not already) a few late bars opening up around town, besides who wants to fork out €10 to a club with a bad reputation if the crack is to be already found in a good later bar, yet another challenge for this venue. I still say, trying to draw a crowd with "BIG" acts is a pointless exercise, promotions, themed nights etc along with some marketing is the Key and making sure a strict door policy is enforced and monitored.

BennyBlanko

Gezzz Dempo1, whats your motivation for the indepth analysis and thoughts on how there people want to run their hotel biz?
I have this visual of you grinding a big axe while you type?

Dempo1

Actually no Axe to grind at all, if you took the time to go back on my contributions, you will observe not only have i been supportive of this venue but also joined this discussion on the back of some negative comments i came across. My initial question was to inquire as too was now managing this Venue based on what appears to be a checkered past. Along the way the new tenants joined the discussion, probably like yourself a little late in the day. As someone who knows the industry very well, i have objectively argued that firstly the venue should be given a chance but as the discussion grew with various arguments put forward as to why the venue had failed, coupled with the new tenants arguments as to how it will now succeed, i felt compelled to put my points across, i certainly don't expect everyone to agree but equally i don't expect to be accused of having an Axe to grind. Ironically i have managed a number of venues not unfamiliar to this venue and have in fact gone through the motions as it where with some success. I am based in Laois, not near Portarlington, i have never been to the venue although to be honest, being in the business i have come across some acquaintances who worked there and just lets say their experiences were less than positive (i must state they worked for previous tenants / owners). Finally and apart from the venues history which is of course open to debate, the current climate particularly the Hotel Sector is in ****e and another argument i put forward was that on top of what appears to be extremely bad feeling toward this Venue locally, the new tenants face a big uphill battle. So no Axe to grind, i have wished this venue well and will continue to put an objective point of view across, particularly if that point of view is questioned. I am left to wonder however, whats your sudden interest in this venue, discussion?

Sunny86

On the plus side for the new management, there is no way you could make th place worse than it was before so i wish you well as you embark on mission near impossible .
I'm not going to criticise the place but im going to give you some advice that will help to improve the place somewhat.

1. People hate being ripped off- any bank holiday the rumourmill in the town gets going and we hear 15 euro into the hotel, which half the time turns out to be true. 15 euro go to somewhere that people have a lifetime of bad memories of is never going to wash. So unless there is a better act than bedroom dj on the decks keep the price realistic maybe even free if in before 11:30.

2. Smoking Area- The current area for smoking area is a complete and utter farce. Not goin to start listing reasons, as i will be here all night,
but i'll just say its an insurance claim waiting to happen.
You should close that area off and make a proper sized heated smoking area at the rear where you are spoiled for space, its obvious for anyone to see that is a huge asset that is not exploited, for god sake use it. Not too much to ask to be able to smoke, sit in comfort and have an overpriced drink in this day an age.

3. Bouncers- its amazing how bad the bouncers historically hav been for this place. I have seem some crazy crazy things over the years go on with
the bouncers. Again i could give 101 stories and i have only been in the place about 20 times. But just make sure your on top of the bouncers as this will be your downfall. Oh yeah been to most of the top clubs all over the world and runners and a hoody were never a problem, so im sure little club in the midlands can get over it. Personally i would not go to a club with dress codes.

4. Price of drink and mixers- If this was a top city venue with alot of goodwill you could get away with charging more but its an establishment
with one of the worst reps in the midlands. Drinks promos's or even bar prices for drinks, would make feel people a little less ripped off and in time could repair some of the harm done.

5. Layout- In this day an age, a venue needs to look the part, a pro refit is vital with a very clever design but for the time being more cost effective measurs hould be taken, such as venue dressing and ensure there is comfortable seating.

Could go on all day with suggestions, but its not my baby its your, would also address the problem of nobody knowing who you are, if nobody knows you, they will spread rumours, you need to imbrace the local community get involved and with them.
Hope you take some of these things on board. Would love to not have to spend my money in other towns. and i spend near 7-8grand a year on nights out.

Dempo1

Could not agree more with you, particularly the last point about disclosing who the new tenants are, i got a distinct impression they are trying to hide something and even though I'm not from the area, i have since spoken to friends in portarlington and the rumor mill is churning, some of the names mentioned suggest to me about who is behind this venue suggest to me the damage may already be done.

I see your point about the smoking area but i heard that the lease is for the building only and that the lands are owned separately (apparently the banks?) so the new tenants may have restrictions here.

I ran a very successful club in the midlands and i could not agree more with your sentiments, create good will, have a launch night (free), themed nights and promotions. A €15 euro charge in such a venue would ludicrous. I don't agree about drink promotions apart from mixers or cocktails (this is a Grey area re promotion of cheap drink), to be honest its been my experience if prices generally are kept at bar levels, punters appreciate this (repeat business is better than no business).

Bouncers, critically important to monitor them, i based myself on the door for the first hour and was all over my security team (who where excellent) like a bad rash, i also had a cooler room where we defused rows, disagreements and ironed out historical bad will. My policy was to allow everyone enter, chat to those known to cause trouble, offer everyone one chance and found in time all guests respected the venue and other customers (it takes time, but worth the effort). I never permitted free entry, tried to create a place people wanted to be, this said, we gave out concessions to Guests during the night but only to those who frequented the venue. In addition we had a VIP pass and club, these where issued to those who applied, they permitted access at a reduced rate and free entry to key events during the year, we built up a data base through this system which allowed us keep in contact and continually promote the event (it also allowed our guests partake in ideas, suggestions and indeed criticism where it was appropriate)

A serious and concerted charm offensive and PR Work appears to be needed at this venue, a lick of paint and new acts will achieve nothing if the historically negativity is not overcome. One bad night takes weeks to recover.

Sunny86

I fear this thread will be epic before it finishes, heading for a few pints tonight will drop up to hotel and let you know what i think. And i promise to bring an open mind with me.

Dempo1

Yes indeed this thread as already been epic, i had originally only inquired about who was now managing the venue. Apparently the new Tenants mentioned the nightclub is being relaunched under the name "Scarlets", what a bizarre name but i would be interested to know how you get on tonight so keep us posted!

BennyBlanko

Dempo1 wrote: »

I am left to wonder however, whats your sudden interest in this venue, discussion?

Wonder away...lol
I read all threads all over board but noted your key interest in this venue, thats all. But its your tone in questioning that made me curious.
Still, all said you have clarified your position (however true it is).
I wish this venue and staff well. Any new business launch or relaunch in this recession is brave and deserves a lash and good will.
Fair dos.:)

Dempo1

Yes, my interest is purely as someone who is in the business (no where portarlington, i promise), my key interest was in general response, understanding the pitfalls and too be honest the cocky, belated and arrogant responses to posts from the new tenants and yes despite this, i too wish the venue success despite the negativity although by all accounts this venue is going to be a hard sell.

bernardm

Wow, these boys have turned the place around. Party here Saturday night, second to none and I heard the food is top class.