Northern Ireland Business Awards 2018

6 SME NEWS / Northern Ireland Business Awards 2018 , Nestled in the Kingdom of Mourne, an area of outstanding natural beauty; The Kilmorey Arms Hotel is a family run hotel which strives to provide an exceptional experience for guests providing sumptuous accommodation, locally sourced cuisine andWorld Famous Northern Irish hospitality. We caught up with Brenda Trimble to find out how the establishment has gained the reputation for excellence it enjoys today. Most Luxurious Accommodation 2018 - County Down The Kilmorey Arms is a small but very effective hotel with a fast-growing clientele made up of tourists to explore the natural, outstanding beauty of the Mournes and coastal areas. The hotel also accommodates for a lot of industrial clientele for our local businesses: especially those from the region’s main fishing port. Additionally, the hotel likes to involve itself in many local sponsorships and different projects around the community to give back to those who have supported it and worked to drive it to the success it enjoys today. As such, it offers competitive B&B rates, award-winning food and service; including wedding, social and business functions, a fact which Brenda is incredibly proud of, as she highlights in her initial comments. “At the Kilmorey Arms we are a thriving business, nestled in the heart of our community, provided with huge support from our locals. This local focus, alongside our homely atmosphere, is what sets us apart from our competitors. We reflect a lot of our family and homely qualities into our establishment to make our guests feel like they are at a home away from home whereas a lot of bigger companies find it harder to reflect this in their service. A lot of our guests appreciate this quality especially if they are travelling alone as it gives them someone to talk to and feel comfortable with their experience with us. “Fundamentally, to support locals and visitors alike, the main mission of our hotel is to progress and grow in the hospitality business in this thriving space. We are always trying to improve our service skills by listening to what the customers seek; to achieve this, we put questionnaires in our guest rooms to get their feedback and take every comment into action to the best of our ability.” Operating in the ever-evolving hospitality market, the coming months will offer many opportunities and challenges for the Kilmorey Arms. Brenda explores these in detail and highlights how her hotel will work to take advantage of the opportunities and overcome the challenge to ensure its ongoing success. “Within the UK Business market, there are many developments taking place which could impact our hotel such as the way consumers are booking their holidays; namely independently which means we must continue to work on our accessibility specifically online. The increasing competition between airline companies may also work to our Kilmorey Arms Hotel Ltd Oct18561 advantage as tourists can now travel to Northern Ireland more frequently and at a cheaper rate. This should encourage more tourism in the area which has all sorts of benefits for the local area and our hotel. We appeal to many American tourists, a lot of which are staying for business, and according to The Wall Street Journal, people from the USA are very willing to spend a large sum of their income on dining experiences. “Our hotel would benefit greatly from taking advantage of this through extending our menu options perhaps with a gluten- free and vegetarian menu, alongside our current a-la-carte and bar snacks options. Major changes such as Brexit could affect our company as there may need to be stricter controls with identity in place to ensure all lodgers are legal citizens and we could struggle more than ever to appeal to foreign nationals who may struggle to gain entry to Britain once we leave the European Union. It could also see a change in the nationality of residents we welcome; as now our hotel could appeal more to Irish and English people who will have no bother moving within Britain, as opposed to other European countries that will now face stricter borders and controls.” Thanks to these developments in the industry, looking ahead Brenda foresees even greater success for the Kilmorey Arms as the establishment seeks to enhance its already impressive reputation for excellence and become a bastion of hospitality throughout the County Down region. “Overall, in the future, we would like to become a first choice for our community in weddings, events and formal functions. This should be achieved as we enhance our customer service and build upon our already respected venue. Our positive forward-thinking business hopes to achieve all its objectives and build upon them and we are excited for what the future holds for the Kilmorey Arms.” Company: Kilmorey Arms Hotel Ltd Address: 41-43 Greencastle Street, Kilkeel, County Down, BT34 4BH, UK Phone: 028 417 62220 Website: www.kilmoreyarmshotel.co.uk Kilmorey Arms Hotel Ltd