The hotel sector might seem like a single unified industry, but it is one that takes many forms. The twin businesses of The Grove Hotel and Luxury Family Hotels are the perfect demonstration of that – sister companies in the same market, but providing very different offerings for very different market segments.
Luxury Family Hotels is a collection of five small rural hotels in Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall, Suffolk and The New Forest.
“Luxury Family Hotels are family-focused, not just family-friendly. It is oriented around whatever a family is to you,” says Bernard Murphy Group Managing Director of Ralph Trustees Ltd., the Group that owns both brands.
Luxury Family Hotels boasts everything from an OFSTED-registered crèche at each hotel, to dog washing stations and “À la bark” menus.
“These really are places for people to come and be at home,” Murphy says. “They are currently midway through a renovation. Three have already been renovated, with one ready to be completed in May and another one due to finish next year.”
Meanwhile, The Grove Hotel is a 300-acre Hertfordshire estate, 18 miles outside of London that offers a unique blend of five-star luxury.
“The Grove Hotel offers a vibrant, welcoming energy that goes beyond traditional expectations to create unforgettable experiences,” says Murphy. “We host a lot of pop-ups and activities inside and outside the hotel, whether that’s dining, relaxing in a spa, or cycling and enjoying a family adventure. There is something for everyone here. Whether you are two or 82, there is something at The Grove to inspire you.”
Both hotel brands have their own flavour and culture. The Grove is luxurious, yet approachable, avoiding what Murphy calls “stuffiness” while providing a selection of different experiences and activities on site.
“That’s quite unusual, and it’s doubly unusual for it to be so close to London,” Murphy tells us. “People comment how convenient it is not to have to waste hours getting there. Yet at the same time, it is in the countryside, and when you are there it feels like it has no proximity to London.”
Luxury Family Hotels obviously still has “Luxury” right there in the name, but “Family” is right there at its centre.
“People say ‘If I have a three-year-old and they tip their cereal up in the restaurant, I don’t feel everyone looking at me,’” Murphy says. “We expect children to be children. We endeavour to make sure we are there to provide for that.”
Rebuilding Service
Of course, any conversation about the hospitality sector will not get far before the pandemic is mentioned. The impact of lockdown itself is well documented, but for Murphy, one of the biggest issues began when lockdown was over. It led to the business evolving its offering.
“We had to go through that learning curve to come out the other side,” Murphy reflects. “For instance, pre-Covid The Grove was a meeting venue for corporations. One thing we sought to do was build The Grove’s appeal as a venue for people to come to on their own stake. That is when we started creating pop-ups and collaborations with other brands.”
In many ways, this move towards serving holidaymakers over business trips meant raising the The Grove’s already high standards.
“When people are spending their own money as a family, they are a lot more discerning than if the company is paying for them,” Murphy points out. “Our team has had to step up as we get more of these leisure customers who will not accept second best.”
However, in the immediate aftermath of the Covid lockdown, achieving those higher standards was more of a challenge than ever, especially while taking care of the people who would deliver them.
“The people coming back were not what you would call ‘match fit’. In common with many other retail and hospitality businesses, we were very busy without as many staff as we would have liked,” Murphy tells us. “You are struggling to give guests the service you would like while also looking at the people you employ and feeling like you are overworking them. You don’t feel good about that as a leader.”
To resolve that problem across The Grove Hotel and Luxury Family Hotels, Murphy worked with consultants on staff welfare to paint a picture of what was important to the business and its people. The company built towards a stronger team while also building on its reputation as an employer, which in turn drove recruitment and stability in the business.
“We very much believe in growing our own talent where we can, and we are serious about that,” Murphy says. “When people leave us, we want them prepared for bigger and better things, and a lot of people have left us but then returned in a senior position. We are past the days of posting a job online and hoping for the best.”
The hospitality business is a people business, and so the recruitment and development of staff is the engine that keeps it running. This is something Murphy continuously keeps in mind.
“We have recruit-a-friend bonuses of up to £1,500, and that is a rich seam of recruitment for us because if we have people we enjoy having around, if they have got friends they are probably a pretty good fit,” Murphy tells us. “We have had to move with the times a little bit as well. We have engaged our marketing team and social media to showcase life at The Grove.”
The Grove has launched an Instagram feed called “Behind The Grove Doors”. Rather than being customer-facing, this feed is curated to show potential recruits the kind of workplace they might be joining, and Murphy reports this has already had an impact in reducing turnover.
One of the things potential recruits will learn is that The Grove, like Luxury Family Hotels, is a family business.
“I have been fortunate enough to work in large corporate businesses, but this Group is owned by a couple of brothers who are very interested in the business and when I look at our people, the members of our team, they like working in an environment like that,” Murphy explains. “One of the owners was in our hotel on New Year’s Eve, chatting to the guests and members of our team. Not many hotels of that size have owners who will do that. We had a lady who left our spa team three months ago, and last week she came back just to be a part of this culture. I think you reap what you sow and if you treat people properly you get it back in a business like this.”
As a family-owned business, family is going to continue to be a focus going forward.
“We are a small family with a big personality, where people and success matter,” Murphy says. “We have the last couple of Luxury Family Hotels to renovate, while at The Grove Hotel we have similar work redoing our walled garden and beach. We are adding an activity centre for the Easter Holidays. We are hugely looking forward to that. While investing in technology to improve our guests’ journey and enable us to offer an even better and more integrated service.”
The Grove is 22 years old. Right now it is looking at the next 20 years, asking which facilities will keep it relevant in two decades’ time.
