The Connacht Hotel in Galway, formerly known as The Carlton and before that as the Days Hotel of Galway, has always been notorious for the chaos at breakfast time.
It’s not the staff. They’re great. They really try hard. It’s the system. It just doesn’t work.
Warn the clients
I do tend to forewarn my clients before we get there and advise them to just sit back and take it as entertainment.
Don’t panic, take it easy
This morning I got to the breakfast room at 8 a.m.
I made my way to the breakfast buffet. I was looking forward to the great fruit salad with natural yoghurt, this hotel is famous for.
As I got to the buffet, I noticed a young member of staff taking away the empty yoghurt-bowl. I watched him, as he was trying to open the lid of a container, with a knife. He had loads of time, after all it was still early and he even managed to put down the container, to have a bit of a chat with a female colleague. He eventually did open the lid and commenced to spoon the yoghurt from one container to the other.
There’s so much more to the day…
All in it’s time. We don’t need any stress here.
When it appeared that he had just about managed to transfer the contents from one container to the other, he started to scrape the last bits from the container to the bowl. Every little bit, every corner was finely scraped. I have rarely watched anyone being as relaxed and focused, going about their business. I mean, come on, there’s only about 200 people in the queue waiting for the yoghurt.
Crowd control needed
He finally appeared at the front-line and placed the bowl with the natural yoghurt in the display. We should have needed crowd control at this stage. Everyone jumped for the natural yoghurt. I did actually manage to get a couple of spoons for on my, I guess by now, dried fruit salad.
Finding a table
Off I went to find a table. Only to discover that all tables were either taken, or had only just been vacated and not been reset. I finally found a table which had only been used 50%.
I placed my fruit salad with natural yoghurt on to the table and tried to figure out where to get coffee.
Quest to get coffee
I saw a pot of coffee which was filled about two thirds. I took a clean cup from a neighbouring table and made my way over, but as I approached it, about six or so other people happened to be ahead of me. By the time it was my turn, I looked at an empty pot of coffee. I waited patiently. Eventually, freshly brewed coffee was brought out. It smelled lovely. It was my lucky day.
Coffee, but no breakfast
I filled my cup and made my way back to “my” table. When I approached the table I wondered whether I had made a mistake. Was it the wrong table? Not only was my fruit salad with natural yoghurt gone, but there were people sitting there.
I couldn’t believe it. My breakfast was gone.
I found another table which had been used by 50%. I placed my cup of coffee on this table and made my way back to the breakfast buffet. As I got there, I happily saw that there was plenty of natural yoghurt. However, I also noticed, that this young man suddenly picked up the fruit bowl and disappeared in the back. I stood there rooted, waiting for the young man to come back from picking fruit. Finally he reappeared. I helped myself to some beautifully cut fruit and natural yoghurt and made my way back to “my” table.
Breakfast, but not coffee
Something wasn’t right here. Not only was my coffee gone from the table, but there was a young family with two children sitting there. I could swear that this woman had not even been pregnant when I came down for my breakfast this morning.
