A momentous day!  My wife picked up the fireguard and coal bucket yesterday so we were able to light our new coal fire in the foyer today and I must say it really makes a huge difference.  When we have some more of our Christmas decorations up it will look really festive. 

Jill put up the reception tree on Wednesday and Mel and I have been putting some decorations and lights up in the restaurant this morning.  We’ve left 2 of the girls finishing off in the lounge and we just need to put a few more garlands up around reception, put something on the mantelpiece, do all of the Met Lounge and then encourage Tony to get the lights up in the CafeBar and around the front door.  We may need to get a few more items but we are aiming for less clutter but a better quality look.  Those of you who will be in before and over Christmas let me know what you think but not till Monday!

Yesterday I took the opportunity to go over to a free marketing seminar in Plymouth at Tamar Science Park, this was a short seminar to outline the 8 rules of marketing according to Ann Holman of Clarity Projects, an innovative management and marketing consultancy based in Exeter.

Ann did mention the time management course she also runs - I ought to do that one next because my journey over was a little rushed to say the least and yes in good Cornish tradition I was late!  I had planned to leave in good time, an hour and three quarters should be more than enough, after all it is only 50 miles but I always forget how long it taks me to get from my desk to the car, somebody always needs to ask something before I go. 

I know the winter is best for the road repairs programme but please, not when I need to go somewhere!  There were temporary lights on the big bridge at Wadebridge, 3 way lights in Bodmin and then all the slow traffic on the A38 while the Glynn Valley section is shored up a bit more, not forgetting the Dobwalls bypass.  I don’t drive around Plymouth at all so had to keep the directions handy, still got lost finding the science park and managed to get the last space in the car park.  Needless to say I was in need of a cup of coffee, doughnut, flapjack and chocolate cake when I got there.  My one saving grace was that I wasn’t last!  The trip back was easier but wetter, no need to rush and of course I knew where I was going then.

The seminar was really good, I brought back a few spare copies of Ann’s pamphlet to share with my colleagues who weren’t able to go.  I’ve already started looking at some things we do a little differently and have set up a little meeting here on Wednesday next week to have a 1st planning stage for next year’s marketing strategies.  One thing that Ann kept reinforcing was the need for simplicity, if something is straightforward we are much more likely to manage to do it.  One of the points in the seminar was about not fearing rejection but fearing indifference - “nothing short of wow will do” so watch out for what appears through your letterbox, in your inbox or somewhere else and please let me know what you think!

You can learn more about Ann’s team and work at www.clarityprojects.co.uk

No, not a strange amateur weather forecast but an exclamation of pleasant surprise from one of Padstow’s Rotarians. 

Many of the members of the Padstow club which meets in the hotel each week are involved in hospitality businesses and so have to take their holidays in November, much like I did.  This has meant that we have struggled for numbers for the last couple of weeks so it was a great pleasure to have to bring some extra seats and place settings up to their room this evening.  The numbers tonight are up to 20, which bodes well for the rest of the winter, we are happy to welcome them all back from their various holidays refreshed for their winter work getting ready for next season.

We’re into the final countdown for Christmas now, our Christmas party bookings are all in and we are starting to dot the “i”s and cross the “t”s: yesterday Joyce bought the sweets for the guest stockings, on Monday a few of us are taking a trip out to buy some new Christmas decorations for the hotel.  We’ve used the same ones for a while, just adding a few new bits each year but now we do need to do something radical with our themes.

The biggest job to get done happened this morning.  So that Santa can get in without getting his red suit dirty we had our chimney swept, all 57′ of it!  It certainly was the biggest chimney that the sweep did today.

Having had the chimney swept we will now start to light the fire, once the new screen and tools arrive.  This will make a lovely first impression as guests come in.  It is only a small grate so it won’t give out a great amount of heat but the look will be good.  The receptionists are already looking forward to sitting next to it on the quieter evenings. I’ll be keeping an eye on them for sure!

While I can understand the benefits of disappearing over the horizon for some winter sun to the south of Spain or the Canaries the winter sun here today is fantastic.  One of our guests had gone out for an early morning walk and he was really amazed at how stunning Padstow and the estuary looked, bathed in the early morning sunlight.  While it may not be quite as warm as the costas you don’t have the aggravation and waiting around at airports to get here!

Amy did have to scrape her windscreen before coming in for her early reception shift and I was a bit cold on my bike 1st thing but you don’t have to get up that early!  Just pull back the curtains and let the sunlight flood in and enjoy it from inside.  After breakfast the chill will have gone, our forecast today is for 10 degrees C so wrap up warm and go for a good walk up the coast path or hire a bike from Chris and peddle off to Wadebridge for a pasty.

With the swim a distant memory now and the feel of the cramp long gone Cath has come up with an idea for another fundraising challenge:  The Shelterbox Dartmoor event next April.  This involves a team of 4 (still need to find the other 2!) carrying a shelterbox around Dartmoor over 2 days with other challenges thrown in along the way.  I’m still at the point of thinking that sounds like fun but also thinking about the logistics of doing this!

Shelterbox is a fantastic Cornish based charity, the shelterboxes contain enough kit to protect a family of 10 and they get sent out to disaster areas all over the world, have a look at their web site here: http://www.shelterbox.org/ .  Not surprisingly they need to keep raising a lot of cash to keep this effort going, hence this challenge.  Keep an eye on the blog where I will keep you updated on if we can get a team together and then how we do raising the money to take part - as a team we will have to raise at least £1000 so be ready when we come asking!

We’ve now managed to put a team together - just need to make sure families are OK with us all doing this then we will have to start planning and organising.  This will take a lot thinking as we will need to have some good ideas to get the sponsorship money, it no longer seems enough to say to people “I’m doing this please give me some money” though I bet we will do some, we will have to do other things like car washing or car boot sales to get some of the cash together.  If anyone does want to make a donation then do please send us a cheque to the hotel!

Being more of a hotelier I don’t usually look out this guide but one of our regular guests who owns his own pub / restaurant in Usk (The Nags Head - do call in if you’re there) has just told me we’re in it.  I’ve just looked it up online and it is a good little review - I think it helps us having the famous Sharps Doom Bar in there.

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last couple of weeks but I’ve been away on holiday.  I won’t bore you with all the details and trips we made and will resume normal service once I’ve caught up with all the things that have come up while I’ve been away.  Thankfully our junk e mail filter is working well, only 200 e mails in the inbox this time, over 1500 last time I went away!