Andre Turnbull, Previously at Lagoon Beach Hotel & Spa

When did you know you wanted to be a hotelier and in particular, a General Manager?

I went to Ireland in 2001 after working at Erinvale Estate Hotel, my first position was as a Duty Manager of the Arklow Bay Hotel, massive event space and that when I knew I was in the right industry, and I wanted to grow.

 

Where have you served as GM? 

Ramada Hotel in Ballina, Ireland and Lagoon Beach Hotel & Spa in Cape Town

 

Have you had any mentor / mentors along the way & how important were they, to your development? 

Many but one man sticks out in my head, Ian Hyland, he was the GM of the Westgrove Hotel in Ireland whilst I was DGM.

 

Have you ever had to open a hotel / lodge and would you say that requires a unique skill set? If not, would you be interested in doing so or not? 

Yes, Westgrove Hotel in Ireland. The best experience of my life. Perhaps not a unique skillset but you definitely need to be organised and have great attention to detail. Check double check and check three times again. You need to be prepared for anything.

 

From the first day you served as a GM, until today, you must have learnt so much. If you could share any one piece of sage guidance, to new GM’s, what would it be? 

You run a business! Your main focus has to be on making money for your business otherwise the business will not survive. Focus on your employees wellbeing as they will ensure your business is successful.

 

I imagine that being the GM of a property, in a small town,  would come with different dynamics to being the GM of a property, in a big city. The same would go for managing a beach property on an island or a bush lodge in a remote corner of the world. Can you share how one adapts to managing in different locations (environments)? 

I’d say its relationships. Managing a hotel is about managing people, doesn’t matter where you are. Keeping your eye on the ball and ensuring you are where the customer is will always be a benefit to you and your business.

 

Being the general manager of a hotel, during the Coronavirus Pandemic must have been very challenging. What was the key to survival and did you ‘gain (or learn)’ anything, from the adverse situation? 

I was lucky enough to secure a government contract for 6 months from April 2020 – October 2020. It was a very interesting time indeed, but the hotel came out of the pandemic relatively unscathed.

 

Andre, I believe you have started your own business, congratulations. How did your time, as a General Manager, help you to take this step?  

Relationships with clients and colleagues. Having worked in almost every department has helped me in being able to mentor others to succeed, treating the hotel as a business has also helped me change my mindset and assist others to do the same. Revenue management and distribution now is a key skill that not all posses so its amazing to be able to mentor younger managers to see what the possibilities can be.

 

How important is it for general managers, such as yourself, to visit other properties?

Extremely, you need to know what your competitors are doing. You can also learn what you are doing well and where you are falling short and need to improve.

 

How is your establishment contributing to the greater good & making the world a better place (you can mention uplifting projects and or simply that you are creating jobs etc)?

At Lagoon beach Hotel we often did beach clean ups, donated to children’s and old age homes, sponsored chicken each year to a charity for hungry children, are an avid sponsor of SANCOB, use atmospheric water in all rooms and conference venues instead of bought bottled water and served curry to the homeless in Rugby.

 

Interesting Insights about the General Manager:

 

What is your ideal or favourite vacation destination? 

Thailand

 

What is your favourite wine?

Meerlust Rubicon

 

What are your top 3 favourite restaurants?

• Homespun by Matt
• La Colombe
• Thali

 

What favourite hidden gem or attraction, near your establishment, should we visit?

South African Air Force Museum, E-bike trip on Bloubberg Promenade.

 

Best question you were never asked or a fun fact about yourself?

“Why did you let them speak to you like that and then still help them?”

This is quite simple, most often when someone is upset and speak to you badly it is about you, its about them. They are so frustrated by the time they get to me that how they reach is not the issue, my job is to calm them down, listen to the frustration and solve the problem. Most importantly is that when someone walk away, they are relieved and they feel their issue is being taken seriously and that I will do my very best to solve or rectify the situation.