Who said it was summer???

Can you believe it! We are suppose to be in the middle of the summer season and other than an odd hour of blue sky and sunshine it’s been rain, rain and more damn rain! Saying that though our guests have remained amazingly positive and ‘up beat’ and have not allowed the wet weather to dampen their enjoyment - I put that down to the good old British spirit!!!

Despite being a damp July we had some excitement in the Tea Garden at the beginning of the month. As I understand it – some school children thought it would be fun to play truant and hide in the old pavilion below the hotel’s Tea Garden. Only 10 minutes after they were spotted leaving by some guests we noticed that smoke and flames were rising from the hedge directly above the pavilion! My Bars manager came running in and shouted “there’s a fire in the Tea Garden!” I threw down my tea and flew onto the balcony to be confronted by a plume of smoke rising from the Bay tree!! The smoke was increasing by the minute and on closer investigation I could see some flames, I then shouted up to Natalie to call the fire brigade who arrived in less than 7 minutes! All in all it took the team over two hours to dampen down the fire. However I don’t think the guests minded (especially the ladies) and it created some entertainment for the morning……

Those of you who regularly read my blog will know that my sister Emma was expecting her first baby. Well I am pleased to announce that she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on the 18th June at 7:45am, weighing in at 9lb and 2oz. Emma and Scott have named him Louis Roo. Both mum and baby are doing brilliantly well and all the family are now enjoying our new little addition. A good friend gave me some very wise advice the other day that I will not forget, it was, “only spoil him with your time” - how true. Although, I will of course pick him up the odd little pressies! If you are ever staying at the hotel call me over and I will (no doubt) have an up to date picture to hand, not that I’m a proud auntie or anything!

On speaking with a colleague about my blog the other day, she suggested to me that I adopt a “warts and all” approach to my writing. This meaning that I include the ‘trials and tribulations of being a hotel manager’ – my first thought was oh my God readers will never want to hear about how I dealt with the ‘difficult guest in room 408’ or the wannabe biker that couldn’t even park his bike without dropping it and hurling obscenities at me across the car park. It’s interesting how (on the very odd occasion) some guests come to the hotel in at attempt to “fix” their relationship with their partner, it is normally a case that both people work extremely hard and have focused their efforts so intently on their careers that they have neglected to put time aside for each other. So they then book a weekend away safe in the knowledge that all their problems will be sorted out after the two days. Sometimes, this turns out to be exactly what they both needed, however on the odd occasion (and because they are still arguing) their problems are not resolved and it can then become the hotels fault!

As many readers will no doubt appreciate, management is very much a balancing act and whilst I enjoy doing my job very much, you often feel like you are being pulled in many different directions. Some days it’s as though I have guests holding onto one hand and the staff onto another with the owner hanging onto one foot and suppliers on another. Whilst delegation and time management are two key areas, the ability to bite your top lip can also be a very valuable skill too!