The Metropole Hotel - Padstow, Cornwall - Tourist Information http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog The Metropole Hotel - Padstow, Cornwall Fri, 16 May 2008 15:16:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 en Shelterbox in Burma http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/14/shelterbox-in-burma/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/14/shelterbox-in-burma/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 10:48:56 +0000 andrew About Padstow http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/14/shelterbox-in-burma/ As we host Padstow Rotary Club’s weekly meetings I am included in their regular news updates.  There was a little traffic over the week end regarding the dreadful situation in Burma following the cyclone and how the Shelter Box charity has been one of the few aid organisations that has been able to get people in on the ground and delivering aid where it is needed.  I was also pleasantly surprised to see that there is an Australian shelter box scheme too and they have been able to send in over 1000 units.

Having read this I was moved to help in some way so decided to hand back the money they all paid for their dinner last night.  While this wasn’t a huge amount it went towards the cash Padstow had already raised and was enough then to buy another box to send out.

This was great news to hear as all the news coverage seems to be on how intractible the Burmese government is and not enough aid is getting through.  While lots more certainly does need to happen it is good to be able to share something positive.

Do please follow these lilnks to see what is happening:

 The main shelterbox site:  http://www.shelterbox.org/

Padstow rotary: http://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.asp?ClubID=1049

An Observer article published just before the cyclone hit on the new constitution which seems to have been of more concern to the junta than the disaster:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/04/burma.humanrights  There are many more related stories on the pages around this link.

Latest news on shelter box in Burma: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7404994.stm 

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/14/shelterbox-in-burma/feed/ Padstow Lifeboat Coffee Morning http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/padstow-lifeboat-coffee-morning/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/padstow-lifeboat-coffee-morning/#comments Tue, 13 May 2008 12:57:39 +0000 andrew Hotel Life About Padstow http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/padstow-lifeboat-coffee-morning/ Today we hosted our first coffee morning in aid of the town’s lifeboat for a very long time.  The local fundraisers, headed up by Margaret, did all the organising for the stalls and the publicity so all we had to do was provide the room and the coffee.

When we started to put the tables in the Met Lounge yesterday I was a bit concerned about how much space they would have left but after a bit of juggling around this morning I managed to find a bit more room for them all.  As with previous events we have held for Save the Children we served the coffee and homemade biscuits in the main lounge and the CafeBar to give everyone a bit more room and also a chance to enjoy our fabulous view over the estuary.

The entrance fee was just £1 which included the coffee and then there was a myriad of stalls from the expected cake stall (lovely chocolate cake) to a raffle and a wide range of Padstow Lifeboat clothing.  I have my tickets from the national fundraising draw  stuck up on my office wall waiting for the end of June.  Mary, who was selling these tickets, is a real character and has an amazing technique for getting her cash - it is a long while since I have been threatened with physical violence….!

All in all the team raised over £400 from this morning’s work which is all very useful in keeping our lifeboat afloat.  A big thank you to all of those who came to support this cause and to all my staff who worked hard to make it a success.

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/13/padstow-lifeboat-coffee-morning/feed/ Oss Oss, Wee Oss http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/02/oss-oss-wee-oss/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/02/oss-oss-wee-oss/#comments Fri, 02 May 2008 09:39:19 +0000 andrew About Padstow http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/02/oss-oss-wee-oss/ The whole of Padstow is a bit quiet today, lots of people are still here but after all the May Day celebrations there is more than one sore head around town!

Visitors pour into Padstow for the day, many staying over for the event as there is so much to see:  the night singing is when everything starts as groups of “Mayers” go around and sing the night song under the windows of the older, established families.  Around 5.00 am more people go and collect green branches to decorate the town to go with all the bunting, flags and the May Pole, the town looks really great then, all fresh and clean in the morning sunlight. 

There are two or three kids osses who come out early and dance their way around the town, we were lucky enough to have two come in yesterday to dance for the residents during breakfast.  This starts things off in a great way for us.  As the parents and friends are with them we make sure the outside bar is open by 7.30 so they can all get a drink while they are here.

Once they have moved on there is a bit of a lull here until around 10.15 / 10.30 when the Blue Oss comes through on its way around Padstow.  As there is a whole army of followers the bar really gets hit so it is a case of head down and get on with serving the people in front of us.  I have to admit I’ve never seen much of the Oss itself while it is here as we are so busy.  Many people stay around after that, we have a BBQ going too and sell burgers, pasties and jacket potatoes, which makes a real change for the chefs who are out front with us, I think they enjoy the change and actually meeting some customers.

This year Ginty who works 2 nights a week and 3 days was the Master of Ceremonies for the Blue Oss, this is a real honour for him and he was really looking forward to leading the procession around Padstow.  We will be keeping a copy of today’s Western Morning News for him as he has a great picture on page 8.  The story may come up later on www.westernmorningnews.co.uk .

While we are now tidying up and putting things back to normal the committees for the 2 parties are already planning next year’s event.  If I can find some links to stories about it I’ll post them here later.

Here’s the article from the WMN with the picture of our Ginty looking very smart:

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=248235&command=displayContent&sourceNode=248201&contentPK=20527708&folderPk=115131&pNodeId=249131

 

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/05/02/oss-oss-wee-oss/feed/ Peter’s escaped! http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/29/peters-escaped/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/29/peters-escaped/#comments Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:43:47 +0000 andrew Uncategorized http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/29/peters-escaped/ Peter, our winter painter, has finally finished his winter work.  We have worked with Peter over the last four or five winters to get on top of our redecorating work and he has just put the last drop of wallpaper up on the stairs today.  This means that we have done all the bedrooms and the hall, landings and stairs but as with all these old buildings it will be time to start again next November!

The look on around the hotel is getting much more contemporary without forgetting our classic roots, we are trying to make the hotel feel much lighter and fresher with much simpler designs and a cleaner look.  The task for Peter next winter will be to work on the Met Lounge, some of the premier rooms that we did first and I’m sure some of the new rooms will benefit from a touch up too.

We will leave the restaurant, lounge and bar for the moment as we have bigger plans for this area and may well need a larger firm to do this job.

One last job that Peter did, which provoked a tongue in cheek complaint from one guest, was to paint the window frames in the restaurant.  These have been crying out for some TLC for a while now and we decided we couldn’t wait until we do the big job next winter so we set Peter onto them and they now look great.  The complaint was that these windows had become so much a part of the hotel’s features over the last 15 years!

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/29/peters-escaped/feed/ How does your garden grow? http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/26/how-does-your-garden-grow/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/26/how-does-your-garden-grow/#comments Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:16:09 +0000 andrew Hotel Life http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/26/how-does-your-garden-grow/ Very well indeed!  I was just chatting with Giles about the herbs he’s just bought and is putting in, we will have a really good selection for the kitchen this year: loads of marjoram, some thyme, flat leaf parsley and dill as well as different types of mint.

We will leave Miles to bring us in the more esoteric things that he forages but we should be able to grow all we need of most herbs that we use. 

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/26/how-does-your-garden-grow/feed/ The vampires are back in town! http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/the-vampires-are-back-in-town/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/the-vampires-are-back-in-town/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:57:06 +0000 andrew Hotel Life About Padstow http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/the-vampires-are-back-in-town/ Well, OK it’s blood donor day today not a Bramstoker Appreciation Society event.  Mel, Laura and I went along around 2pm, Cath and Tracey are going to go nearer tea time and I am hoping Joyce will be able to go today too.

That was the good start, I am now sitting here wearing my sticker but both Mel and Laura were sent on their way!  Not sure why, hope to find out when Laura comes back to work later on today.  I will update on the others when I find out but so far our average donation rate isn’t very good.

 Well I’m pleased to say that Tracey and Cath have done their bit and we now have a positive donation ratio.  The girls are both OK but Tracey did have a problem stopping bleeding - it is a long time since she’s given blood so I guess a bit more wanted to escape.  They assure me they haven’t gone to the pub to replace their lost fluid but…

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/the-vampires-are-back-in-town/feed/ Wild food http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/wild-food/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/wild-food/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:59:08 +0000 andrew Hotel Life http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/wild-food/ I met a supplier called Miles this morning who has set up a great business selling wild, foraged foods.  He had a great range of seaweeds, wild garlic, sorrell and two sorts of samphire to show us.  Mark took a selection to try on tonight’s menu and I’m really looking forward to seeing what it is like. 

Some of it will be a salad or a vegetable part of the dish and others will just be for garnishing but it is really exciting to see these things on the menu.  Using local and sustainable produce is quite rightly all the rage at the moment and it is good for us to be able to play our part.

 Have a look at Miles’ web site to see what he sells http://mileslavers.googlepages.com/ towards the bottom are some thoughts and ideas about wild foods and then a couple of meat recipes, don’t worry - we’re not going this far!

I’ll let you know what the leaves are like later in the week.

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/22/wild-food/feed/ Guinness is good for you http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/12/guinness-is-good-for-you/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/12/guinness-is-good-for-you/#comments Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:40:36 +0000 andrew Hotel Life http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/12/guinness-is-good-for-you/ April 22nd is the next time we will all go and give blood here in Padstow so we need to make sure our iron levels are good.  I must admit the Guinness is the most pleasant option above liver and spinach but I am happy to say I would happily have all three!

Cath is the team member who needs the most iron boosting ahead of the donor day but it wouldn’t hurt us all to build our red counts up.  I am hoping we will all be able to get appointments at a similar time and it would be reat if we can encourage a few more people from the hotel to go along.  At the moment there are at least five of us who go - it would look great if we could fill all the beds at the same time but that may be too much of a challenge.

I am going to let our local paper know we will be going - if it is a quiet news week we may make the middle pages!  Wish us luck and we’ll see how many pints we give between us.

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/12/guinness-is-good-for-you/feed/ Sorry Amy! http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/02/sorry-amy/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/02/sorry-amy/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:16:05 +0000 andrew Hotel Life http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/02/sorry-amy/ While Amy was chatting with Matt in the kitchen about tonight’s menu she was asking about staff tea; tonight is pork stir fry which Amy likes but there is a perfumy taste which she’s not too sure of.

I went to see Matt to clarify a couple of questions I had and when I’d finished asked Matt for a piece of star anise to see if that was what Amy could smell.  We went through the changes and then I showed Amy the spice to ask her if this was what she could smell.  I must admit I did produce this quite quickly and she had to trun to look at it.  Her first reaction was to jump away very quickly - how am I supposed to know she has a phobia about spiders!

She has now calmed down, her pulse rate is back to normal and her eyes have stopped watering - I’ll know for next time - sorry!

]]> http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/04/02/sorry-amy/feed/ “There’s somebody stuck in the bath” http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/03/27/theres-somebody-stuck-in-the-bath/ http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/03/27/theres-somebody-stuck-in-the-bath/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:39:24 +0000 andrew Hotel Life http://the-metropole.co.uk/blog/2008/03/27/theres-somebody-stuck-in-the-bath/ For once it wasn’t me in a scrape nor me stuck in the bath!  One of the housekeeping staff came up to reception earlier in the week to report that somebody had said they were stuck in their bath so Joyce despatched Jackie to investigate.  Joyce had two reasons for sending Jackie, she was previously employed in a care home so is highly trained at lifting people and she has just started doing duty management shifts.

Jackie went down to the room, saw a do not disturb sign but had no option but to knock and enter, calling out that she was the receptionist.  When she got around to the bathroom she knocked on the door and the gentleman came out just in his boxers.  He was a little surprised to say the least but was able to reassure Jackie that neither he not his wife was stuck so Jackie was able to beat a retreat (swiftly!)

I was reminded to write about this because Jackie has just spoken to him again at reception - he was asking if she managed to find out where the stuck person was.  I appeared at the end of this conversation but Jackie was still very red.  At least he is now able to see the funny side of this but I am sure we will all tease Jackie mercilessly until the next incident involving somebody else.

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