Samson v Golaiths in the Housekeeping Awards

The Belmore Court and Motel are pleased to announce that our housekeeping team are finalists in the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation's annual Housekeeping Awards. Now in its 5th year the awards aim to find the best housekeeping team in Northern Ireland.

Some of the housekeeping team at Belmore Court & Motel

The awards have two categories 'Under 90 Rooms' and 'Over 90 Rooms'. The Belmore Court and Motel are finalists in the 'Under 90 Rooms' category and face some stiff competition in the form of the big boys up the motorway: Malmaison, Ten Square Hotel, Clandeboye Lodge Hotel and the Galgorm Resort & Spa.

We are the only representative from Fermanagh and the only representative West of the Bann left in the competition!

To qualify as finalists two members of the housekeeping team (Diana and Vilija) made the trip to Belfast for an assessment of their skills.

Diana and Vilija's day in Belfast began with Ice Breakers, followed by an explanation of how the day would work, those who scored the highest would be short-listed. The first challenge was to service a bedroom in 10 minutes, this included all the usual housekeeping tasks such as tidying the bed and ensuring the tea tray was fully stocked and clean.

The second challenge was to put together a basket to go into rooms celebrating Valentines Day. The teams had everything they would need set out in front of them as well as a variety of gifts, which they could choose from to include in their baskets. They also had ten minutes to do this. The Belmore Court and Motel's team included a teddy, champagne with two glasses, a candle and a towel, which they shaped like a swan to set off their romantic theme. The ladies assure us their swan impressed everyone on the day!

The third challenge set to the teams was a room inspection with a difference. They had 7 minutes to find 20 hair clips (the same colour as the carpet) and to point them out to the adjudicator without moving or lifting them. Diana and Vilija were proud to have spotted 17 out of 20.

Their team work was also assessed albeit in a less formal way. The ladies were tasked with making a giraffe from Sellotape and newspaper. Diana and Vilija confess that whilst their giraffe might not have been the best in the room it was the most comedic and brought the rest of the room to laughter as it looked pregnant!

Their day in Belfast was followed up by a secret inspection of the Belmore Court and Motel. The inspection included bedrooms, public toilets, bins, the corridor, the lift and the housekeeping team's laundry room. The team impressed the judge so much so that the inspector asked if she could take Diana home! We're not parting with her anytime soon though.

The winner will be announced at a gala dinner on 12th March in the Clandeboye Lodge Hotel; Wish us luck...

UPDATE

We Won - Check it out --- http://belmorecourtmotel.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/belmore-court-motel-cleans-up.html