Text: Breakfast with Ulisses Marreiros, Reid’s Palace Hotel, Madeira
( words)
Full version with illustrations Reid's Palace, the book, by Andreas Augustin
Picture Ulisses Marreiros, Reid's Palace general manager
General Manager Reid’s Palace Hotel, MadeiraReid’s Palace on the European island of Madeira lies off the western shores of Africa, north of the Canary Islands, south of the Azores. In the morning we enjoy the stroll through the most scenic of gardens, overlooking nothing but the deep blue Atlantic Ocean, which at 24°C now in September tempts us to bathe. If hunger does not draw us to the table of Lucullus, we would sit here for hours. It’s only you, your armchair, the palm trees and the Atlantic Ocean, if you wish.
read the full story by Andreas Augustin here.
Ulisses Marreiros, General Manager of the Reid’s Palace Hotel, Madeira.
Q. Do you have a motto in life?
Be happy, enjoying what I am doing and have fun. Can always be better would be my motto.
Q. What do you want to have accomplished in the next ten years?
Marreiros: Keep working in the industry that I love and be able to create value to all, and for all that I am working with.
Q. And your preferred breakfast?
Marreiros: Just a simple ham and cheese sandwich, in a home made bread,
with a fresh orange juice and some fresh fruits. However: the best one
is some shellfish and ‘Vinho Verde’ with friends at Sunrise in one of
the little islands by the Ria Formosa, near to Faro. Amazing!
11 Quick Questions
1. You are still ‘putting on the “Reid’s”’. Is your dress code as strict as it was?
Marreiros: 80 years ago you could not dine in the presence of kings and
lords without black tie. Today somebody in an elegant shirt and long
trousers can look very elegant. Times have changed, so has Reid’s. But
our guests still like to occasionally dress up when we request it and in
our main dining room we still keep black tie or at least jacket and tie
as a compulsory dress. Do not worry as we do have at the concierge 59
ties and 25 jackets, besides the white shirts!
2. You are celebrating 120 years with all sorts of events. Your history has been recorded in a famoushotels book:
PICTURE
Reid's Palace by Andreas Augustin is available here.
Marreiros: The work of famoushotels was fantastic. We now have a host of
information, which can be shared. We use the information for small talk
with our guests. And it is a great tool of sales and marketing, left
alone that it sells like hot cake.
3. Your employees show a great deal of responsibility?
Marreiros: Most of them are from Madeira. They live here and have their
families here. Reid’s is their professional life and, on the other hand,
their private life is full of responsibilities. Here family fathers and
mothers are serving families. Grown up men and women are working for
ladies and gentlemen. They are not inexperienced ‘seasonseers’, who
might or might not show up at work tomorrow. Our executive housekeeper
used to own a Relais&Chateaux hotel. So everybody has a very good
sense of ownership and responsibility to please the guest. That is the
difference. The hotel is a legend, but the team makes it an institution.
We do not sit on our laurels of the past. We keep pushing, maintaining
the building and training the staff.
4. You are using resources like water and electricity like an aircraft carrier. Where is your environmental concern?
Marreiros: Our environmental concern is on all the actions we take on
the back stage, using the debris of the garden to do compost, making
good use of the energy and water, recycling and soon giving the option
to the guest also, if he wants to participate in that effort. I believe
that service is giving you the choice and this was what some of our
guests were asking, so we will give them that choice. We also use a lot
of organic products and we played an important role just a couple of
years ago, with a good incentive to buy more from locally produced
organic products.
5. Is your Spa a success?
Marreiros: It can always be better! But I have to say that besides it
spectacular location, it has a good team and use of excellent products.
We have developed a regional treatment using Aloe Vera, produced by a
local company and we are the only spa in Portugal with La Prairie
products.
6. Reid’s is a four seasons destination?
Marreiros: That wasn’t always the case. Historically, during the summer
season the occupancy went down. Now August is the best month. In the
past we had to advertise that we are also open in summer! Now summer
exceeds the winter business. However, the period around New Year is
still fantastic and definitely our peak season.
7. Average room rate at Reid’s Palace?
Marreiros: €uro 335.00
8. Average length of stay a Reid’s Palace?
Marreiros: 6.8 days
9. Your current bestselling packages?
Marreiros: Great affordables
10. How big is the impact of guests from Russia?
Marreiros: When we have a direct flight from Moscow during the season
the arrival rate is high. Our guests from Russia are extremely pleasant
and in the end of the year account for 6% of our total number of guests.
11. What were you most amazed about?
Marreiros: A group from the USA, from national Geographic, left the
hotel after dinner. I was thinking that they would go for a Poncha
(traditional drink) downtown, but they went up to Pico do Areeiro, the
peak of the highest mountain at 1800 meters, to listen to the birds at
midnight. They were flabbergasted!
THE QUICK ONES:
Fish or meat? Fish
Red, White, Rose wine? Wine
Indoor / Outdoor? Outdoor
Bungee jump or parachute? Both
Day- or nightdreaming? Day
Reading or watching? Watching
Tea or Coffee? Wine
Your special talent? Still discovering it! But definitely love to work in the hotel business
and
Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back?
From a decision maker for a group in May 2012!
REID’S DNA
It is the summary of brownie points that make a great hotel. This list
is not complete, by all means, but it highlights some essentials from
the world of a resort, which ticks definitely differently than a city
hotel:
1. Front office: from porter to reception most competent, efficient and with a smile.
2. All house spotless clean. Abundance of dashing flower arrangements.
3. Beds huge and comfortable – courtesy to special Orient Express
mattresses. Large supplies of exquisite shampoos, body cream and the
likes.
4. Gardens generous, grounds vast. You never feel disturbed by another guest.
5. Pools immaculate, 26°C (28ºC in the winter) salt water, 28°C (30ºC
in the winter) sweet water and one at the level of the Atlantic Ocean
with fresh seawater.
6. Sunbeds plenty, not claustrophobic, comfortable and with head
cushions. Plenty of cosy towels (2.40 m length blue, and 1.70 m white
ones to dry ourselves). Lifeguards on duty.
7. Six F&B outlets. Food ranges from the complete encyclopaedia
of a breakfast buffet to the Mediterranean lunch market buffet, renowned
afternoon highteas on the terrace, dinners at Villa Cipriani (casual),
Le Faunes in winters and Brisa do Mar in summers (Smart casual), Dining
Room (formal).
8. Test of generations passed: the longest returning guest just
arrived; Rose from the UK keeps coming back since 1931. The longest
staying guest in-house is here since ten years. The number of couples
spending their honeymoon is rising. Fun@Reid’s is dedicated to the
youngest generation, from Kid’s menus (restaurant opens at 6 o’clock for
a kid’s serving, kids taken care of by staff), playground with their
own house and pool (and a nanny) to Playstation, Nintendo, Wii and iMacs
in a special suite.
PICTURE
Macs at Fun@Reid's
Reid’s Factsheet
Reid’s Palace Hotel is owned by Orient Express Hotels & Trains
163 rooms
out of this 35 suites
Staff: 220
Staff/room ratio 1,35 staff per room
Theme suites: Winston Churchill, George Bernhard Shaw
Most famous Guests: List too long to be displayed here, consult the link on the left to Reid's Palace Hotel.
Guest mix:
40% British
18% German
7% Swiss
Mix from different nationalities accounting less than 6% each one
Memberships:
Reid’s Palace Hotel is A Select Member of The Most Famous Hotels in the World® since 1986.
Reid’s Palace Hotel is a member of The Leading Hotels of The World
Awards & Rankings:
TripAdvisor ranking #1 of 97 hotels in Funchal
Conde Nast Traveller: one of the TOP 25 resort hotels in Europe.
Best seafront – all year round open – resort in the world.
F&B Reviews (from www-sources)
“Afternoon Tea is something not to be missed and the breakfasts are just amazing.” ...
“I had the afternoon tea on my own - which I thoroughly
enjoyed with piano playing, fabulous views, gorgeous sandwiches (no
crusts) with prawn, avocado, egg etc., then good scones, cream and jam
then lovely homemade cakes (x 5).” ...
“Reid's is light and welcoming too, largely thanks to it's elegant
terrace where guests included Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret
Thatcher that once enjoyed traditional British afternoon tea with a
breath-taking views of the sea.” ...
“We ate in all the restaurants, as well as having afternoon tea and the food was always beautifully presented.”
“We had afternoon tea which was lovely, and were also very impressed
with the lunchtime buffet served in the restaurant next to the pool.”
...
“Afternoon tea is a must!” ...
“Although we enjoyed eating out most nights we did try the afternoon tea which is a definite must if in the area.” ...
Executive Team
Ulisses Marreiros - GM
Carlos Soares - FC
Ciriaco Campus - DOSM
Marcelino Rodrigues - F&B
Rosalina Batista Veltmann - HR
Paulo Coelho - Maintenance
Patricia Arriagada - HSK
Luis Pestana - Chef
Alcino Cunha - FOM
Isabel de Portugal - Guest Relations
Patricia Gomes - Exec. Secretary
Ulisses Marreiros at a glance:
Born: 21 February 1974
Nationality: Portuguese
Married, two children (2011)
TO THE BOOK
Reid's Palace, the book, by Andreas Augustin