With a short but stylish haircut and a trendy suede jacket, Mary Martin cuts quite a figure as she walks across the reception of The Douglas Hotel.
On her own admission she is far from tall, but there is no doubt that the venue on Aberdeen’s Market St is Mary’s domain.
Numerous staff greet her as we weave our way through to Molly’s Bistro, the modern restaurant within where you can grab a bite to eat from the varied menu.
“This the worst table for me to sit at,” she jokes, at what is arguably the best seat in the house thanks to statement windows which were installed this summer.
But Mary’s pale blue eyes miss nothing, as she takes in lunch service and many a familiar face thanks to regular customers.
Mary is of course far happier running a tight ship than appearing on stage, as she did when she was bestowed the Outstanding Contribution award at The Society Awards last month.
The accolade came as a complete shock to Mary, who had almost not attended the glitzy night held at Sandman Signature due to other commitments.
She was given the recognition in honour of her many contributions to Aberdeen’s hospitality industry over the years, which includes her involvement in the regeneration of Shiprow.
Modest to not quite a fault, Mary has seen it all and yet continues to find joy in a industry beset by endless challenges.
We caught up and found out why she’s exactly where she needs to be.
How did you end up in Aberdeen?
I’m from a small place in the middle of Ireland, I started out in hospitality there and then did a little detour to the States and South Africa. I arrived in Aberdeen in September of 1980 and when I say things were booming, they were really booming. Aberdeen is home to me now.
Where did you work when you got to the north-east?
Altens Skean Dhu as it was known back then, it was the biggest hotel operator at the time and had such a great location for all the office workers with Shell right round the corner.
The restaurant would be full by 11:30am, a lot of oil & gas deals were done in the bar back then.
The contract manager would arrive from Shell, there was a lot of boozing.
It was a great atmosphere and that went on for many years.
Back then it was kind of boom and bust, the pandemic has been the most difficult challenge yet.
How did you come to be at The Douglas Hotel?
We brought it in November 2005, it wasn’t my idea!
But my partner, Robert Keane, he thought it was a great idea.
Hospitality was changing, in my eyes it was becoming revenue driven.
I felt that the joy of hospitality had been manipulated, then the opportunity to get this place came up and we could be our own boss to an extent.
Was it a big renovation project?
It’s a case of how long is the Fourth Bridge?
We’re still doing projects now, there will always be something.
But when we first came, it was absolute hell on earth.
There was black/grey shagpile carpet in what is now Molly’s Bistro and when you walked, you stuck to the floor.
It needed a huge amount of attention, we now have 98 rooms and a function suite.
Has Molly’s been a success?
Yes, we are going to launch a fabulous new menu in January under our new head chef.
There are some dishes that we can never take off the menu though, or our customers would complain.
Steak and ale pie, mac and cheese or fish and chips.
It’s amazing how many people will have a word if you take something simple off the menu.
I personally love our fajitas, we’re based on local favourites and local suppliers.
We do our own home made burgers, and we offer specials on a daily basis.
What have been some of the challenges?
The hotel industry has been dealt a perfect storm.
When the city was really busy around 2013/2014, there was a real shortage of hotels.
By the time investors started seeing that, we just don’t appreciate what’s right on our doorstep.
We have a great team here but there have been lots of issues getting staff.
I think since covid, some staff who had been with us for years went back to Poland or Spain.
It’s really only in the last two months that we have brought back a team, there is a lot of training involved.
I think people should have more respect for those working in the hospitality industry; I believe it should be mandatory, it’s the best education you’ll ever get.
What kind of customers do you get?
We have a lot of repeat customers, The Douglas Hotel used to be the place to go and people have met their husband of wife in our ballroom.
We’ve had people celebrate their 50th anniversary here.
We had one chap come back with his family.
His wife had sadly died but they had got married here, so the family had afternoon tea in the ballroom.
We always try and have a chat with our customers, there are people who are lonely and everybody loves familiarity.
We also get a lot of people from the Shetland isles, we get to know them.
Aberdeen City Centre has come under fire in recent months, how can we improve it?
I personally love Aberdeen, I think what it has to offer is very much undersold.
It is easy to give out instead of being positive, maybe that is human nature.
There seems to be this envy of Edinburgh, but it is double the size.
We just don’t appreciate what we have.
The likes of Aberdam, young enthusiastic entrepreneurs.
We need to encourage that and have more of it in business, I love their enthusiasm.
These days a lot of the time people keep talking but they are not listening.
