Well I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown!! It only seems like last week I was updating the blog and its actually three weeks ago! This is an illustration of how busy we have all been – Oh how time flies when you’re having fun..

It feels like a while ago now, but my boyfriend and I went on holiday for a week with a group of our friends at the end of January. We had the most amazing time! It definitely pays to go on a skiing holiday with a group, it was a truly fantastic week.

Myself and Sammy (friend) put ourselves into Ski School for the week, it was for three hours each morning and after we finished each day we would meet up with the others for lunch and a ski in the afternoon. Our instructor (Georgio) helped to make it a really ‘comical’ week – apparently we were the “Disaster” team, well if the cap fits! Both Sammy and I had only a week of skiing under our belts so we started off pretty much from scratch. We both agreed though that we were beginning to get the hang of it after the first few days – oh how we laughed!! The highlight of the week for me has to have been the races that took place on the Friday morning.

We were shown the course first of all and it was explained (by Georgio) that we would be starting from the small hut located at the top of this hill. From a distance it didn’t look all that bad. The decent, although a little icy in places, didn’t seem all that bad on our “practice” run. We all took it steady and familiarised ourselves with the positioning of the flags and the necessary turns we would need to make. It was a struggle on occasions to remain mindful about the fact that I should have my skis parallel and not in the “snow plough” formation that they always seemed to gravitate into.

The next time we were going to come down this run was going to be when we were going to do it for real and we were all a little apprehensive to say the least. Georgio had given us our numbered vests at the beginning of the morning and I hadn’t noticed that my number (82) was the lowest, this meant therefore that I would be the first one up, Yikes!! I slowly inched my way up the slope towards the wooden shed feeling a little shaky. Once I reached the top I was met by a cute little Italian man waiting in the shed to give me a few pointers, we exchanged niceities to each other and I think he could see the fear on my face. He smiled at me and radioed his colleague (in Italian) (saying something along the lines of – the first crazy English woman is now ready and in position) and then looked at me and asked me if I was ready to which I cheekily replied “NO!” On realising that I was only joking he then smiled, radioed to his colleague again, put his arms around my waist (at which point I was thinking oh my God he’s not going to push me out is he). Before I could protest I was being hurled out of the shed with my arms flailing whilst I was yelling “oh my God! Oh my God”. For any of you who have watched Bridget Jones, apparently I reminded the rest of my team of her!

I managed to reach the finish line without falling over which was my biggest achievement and I was shocked to learn, that night, that I had come in 5th place! Before you say it, no there weren’t 5 in the group but 12 and we all did extremely well. Of course we all treated ourselves to a celebratory Gluvine afterwards and were all impressed by our efforts. However, I think I must work on being a little more graceful next time!

After a very bumpy landing at Bristol Airport, we were soon back to normality. The hotel’s refurbishment team had made good progress whilst I was away and the Drawing Room wallpapering/painting has been completed (although we are still waiting for the carpets and curtains, due in three weeks time). The Piano room walls have now been stripped, prepared and lined with lining paper so one more week and this room should be completed. Stripey wallpaper is planned for this room so we are all keen to see the effect. After this it’s the Restaurant!!! Photo’s are being taken in order to record the transformations!

At the end of last week Keith(the boyf) and I were invited over to our sister hotel, The Metropole in Padstow to carry out a mystery guest visit. I am pleased to report that our experience was extremely good and the service very efficient and friendly. Due to some of the reception team knowing my name, Andrew, General Manager of The Metropole, booked us in under my partner’s surname. On arrival it was then agreed that Keith would go through the check-in procedure and mark it from a guests perspective. The fun started when Andrew himself was covering reception when Keith walked in, at this point he was then politely told to “go away for a few minutes”. Eventually the receptionist returned and the check-in was carried out. We were put into a beautifully decorated room for the evening and what a lovely touch to have the lighting on and the curtains drawn - it made such a difference to come into a homely and welcoming room.

The Metropole are aiming for their second AA Rosette this year and from the meal that we ate that night I would say they are very close to achieving it. Adam and his team prepared a fantastic meal, which was both simple and classy. The service from Mel’s team in the restaurant was both efficient and friendly. Whilst sitting in the Restaurant on the Saturday morning we could look over the Camel Estuary to Rock. This reminded me of the annual Charity swim from Padstow to Rock that I did last year with some of the Met team. It was quite a challenge but very rewarding. This year The Fowey Hotel’s porter Alex will be joining us. Being a sporty character I think he will give us all a ‘swim’ for our money!