On the 11th of March I packed my bags and set off on my first FAM Trip, for those who are unaware that means familiarisation trip! I was invited to stay at the Cork International Hotel for 2 nights and if I’m brutally honest I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect but I was excited to represent Davis Events for the first time, so at 5:30pm on Friday I set off for Heuston Station with my suitcase in-tow.

 

I was blown away by the attention to detail from the outset and it was obvious the trip was extremely well organised. The hotel had booked a first class train ticket for me, which was a lovely surprise so I sat back and relaxed for the duration of the train journey. After a hectic week in the office it was exactly what was needed.

 

Upon arrival at the hotel the staff were most helpful and after a quick check in I went up to my room. When entering the room I was stunned, it was HUGE! The décor was lovely and it had two king size beds, I felt like goldilocks testing them out! The Restrooms in the lobby are really quirky. They are a definite feature. Lets face it, who doesn’t like funky bathrooms?

 

It was group trip with other companies in the industry so after a brief look at the room I went down to join the rest of the group. We had a lovely dinner in the New Yorker Restaurant and retired early for the night as we had a busy day the next day.

We all met in the reception after a lovely buffet style breakfast in The Atlantic Restaurant and we did a site visit of the Hotel. I was really impressed with how very few limitations there were for events and I even heard the Sales& Marketing Manager Kylie say they had agreed to have a horse in the lobby for the opening of Cheltenham! After we were shown the great facilities the hotel has to offer (which includes a relaxation room designed in a fuselage of a plane) we boarded a private coach and departed for the Jameson Distillery in Middleton. We had a delightful lunch of soup and sandwiches before the tour. Our tour guide Ellen was excellent, she really knew her stuff. After the tour we had a complementary Jameson & Ginger ale. The distillery chose 8 people from the tour to take part in a taste test which included Jameson, Bourbon & Scotch, for those that know very little about whiskey (me) I found it really informative and interesting so I would definitely recommend it for something to do.

After the Jameson Distillery we hopped on board our coach again and headed for The Metropole Hotel in Cork City Centre. We were greeted by the hotel manager, Susan, who had organised prosecco (my favourite) and canapés. The hotel was buzzing. It was built in the 1800’s and still to this day has a lot of the old features which really made it unique.

Following on from The Metropole we had a quick turn around & outfit change in the hotel and set out for Curraheen Park. I had never been to a greyhound track but had always wanted to and I can honestly say I was not disappointed. We were joined by the General Manager of The International, Aaron, and had a lovely 3-course meal at the track while I betted and lost (betting is not my forte).

The next day to wrap up the trip there was an organised boat trip around Crosshaven and another site visit of Cork Airport Hotel.

All in all the trip well exceeded my expectations and I was highly impressed by the service, the facilities of all the hotels and the attention to detail. I would like to say a massive thank you to the management for a great weekend and I’ll definitely be back!

 

Written by: Jenny Power Davis Events