After 40 years in the hotel business, Michael Governey has probably seen it all. He has provided for Hollywood legends such as Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly. He has catered for the great tenor Pavarotti. And he has protected and pampered rock stars and senior international businessmen during their stay at the Conrad where he has been at the helm since 1990.

The US Secret Service is currently infiltrating the top floor of the Dublin hotel in preparation for Hilary Clinton's visit. For Mr Governey (58) it's all in a day's work.

The tall, softly spoken figure is enormously proud of his domain. "I'm not an office manager I'm more of a hands-on manager," he says. "Of course I have to do my business plan and my budgets but you have to interact with your guests."

Michael Governey says that while people will select a hotel based on the brochure and facilities available, it's the staff that make it. "This shows in the comment cards. Irish people are very natural and visitors like that. They know how to have a laugh with someone, to crack a joke, and when to be serious. "My philosophy on staff is that their attitude is the most important thing. You can teach skills but you can't teach attitude. When I came here in 1990, I explained to our personnel manager what I would be looking for and I have to say that of all of the hotels I have managed I have the greatest pride in the staff here."

His tenure at the Conrad has been a challenging one. It was one of the first international groups to open in Dublin in many years and it proved difficult to get established. The hotel chain first decided to put in its own management to open the five-star hotel but quickly acknowledged that it needed an Irish team to win new business.

"I was asked if I would be interested. It had opened at a difficult time, in the month of October, but I was immediately impressed by the high quality. It was a £21 million investment, it was a challenge, and I decided to have a go."

The US group's senior management had known Governey from his days in PV Doyle's Berkeley Court Hotel where they stayed during the initial planning stages of the Conrad hotel development.

He spent 11 years at the flagship of the Doyle chain before moving on to set up his own consultancy business, mainly advising financial institutions on the likely success of new hotel ventures, and offering his own experience to hoteliers. He was engaged in this business when the Conrad offer came.

"I missed the hotels. But the consultancy work proved to be a great help to me. I was coming in cold and could look at issues such as manning levels, which in the beginning were too high."

Hotels throughout Ireland were a lot quieter in the early 1990s and business was relatively slow in the Conrad's early days in Dublin. "The business was much tougher. The first year was spent concentrating on getting the right balance of business. Then when we got that right the Gulf War started and business was hit again."

Mr Governey says the hotel came under enormous pressure at that time, with sales figures plunging while its rivals cut their prices.

"Corporate clients were telling us they could get another £30 to £35 off a room at other hotels and I was faced with a major decision. I sat down and said to our sales staff, well why do we charge the prices we charge? We don't think of a price out of thin air. It's based on cost and costs relate to standards."

Mr Governey decided that while his competitors were cutting prices he was in no mood to compromise on standards. "We made it clear that we were prepared to stick by our prices and I believe that was an important decision because when you go down in price you can't get it back up."

This stance, he firmly believes, has helped the hotel to capitalise on the huge growth in corporate and leisure business from 1994 onwards.

The 200-bedroom hotel is aimed at the corporate market, which currently accounts for up to 70 per cent of its sales. In this strong economy it aims for and is currently achieving an average of 80 per cent occupancy, according to Governey. He says that he has probably learned more about the business side of running a hotel at the Conrad than in any of the other prestigious hotels he has worked in since the 1960s. "We have our business plan, our marketing plan and our budgets already done for next year. This gives me plenty of time to think ahead."

In marketing the hotel he stresses that it is "crucial" to be clear about about the type of business you are going after and to stick to it. "We are essentially a corporate hotel, a business hotel. I think that's a key issue in your marketing. You must know the business you are going after, don't get confused, and don't panic just because you're not filling every night."

He maintains that five-star hotels can't afford to mix their business. "You can't mix top corporate clients with a different level of business by taking a chance on a cheap tour for instance. People will notice a change in standards."

He dispells the notion that hotel managers never go home. He says that while he works a 60hour week he tries to keep his weekends for his family.

His wife, Elizabeth, probably understands the long hours better than most, having worked in the hotel sector herself for many years. Despite his best efforts, he admits that he tends to drop into the hotel for a few hours over the weekend. He says that when Elizabeth hears the "I'm just going to the hotel for a few hours" line, she just laughs and asks "so who's daughter is getting married today?" Governey believes it's a matter of courtesy to call in on these occasions.

Mr Governey says he once entertained ambitions to own his own hotel and had given it quite serious consideration at various times during his career. "One hotel I really regretted not buying was the Old Ground in Ennis. I was really happy there, I loved Ennis and loved living in Co Clare. I have often looked back on that decision but I have no regrets today."

His main reservation, he says was his reluctance to tie his family to a business. "It's much more difficult to own your own hotel. I always felt that I would be sucking my family into a business. Now I'm glad Elizabeth had the time to devote to our children when my time was largely taken up at the hotel."

With business booming he is clearly content to stay at the Conrad for some time yet, and rules out any plans to move on. "I am very happy here. Any changes I've made in the past have been for the betterment of my career. Looking back, I know that I would never again undertake opening another new hotel."