Valentines and a visit from a mystery shopper!
Uncategorized | Feb 21, 2018
It has certainly been a busy few weeks. Whoever said that January and February would be quiet times hasn’t been to Weymouth is the winter. Not that we are complaining – its exactly what we needed and has helped to hone our hospitality skills. We have now mastered catering for a full house without too many harsh words or arguments, although the day that I told everyone breakfast was at 9 am did cause Andy a bit of anxiety in the tea making department!
On a personal note we have now organised our own flat with a new sofa – much to Bellas pleasure! She has been so lost without a sofa to snuggle up on next to me, especially after we also took her grass away too! 
The delivery day involved moving Chloe’s bed and wardrobe out into our little garden. Easy you may think, but Chloe’s wardrobe was full, as was her ottoman bed. It was planned down to the smallest detail, including choosing a sunny day! Big thank you to the London Lounge team – they were stars!
Any way while we’re talking about furniture we have spent the last couple of months living with our clothes on an extendable rail in our small corridor. The alcoves next to the old chimney breast looked perfect for matching wardrobes so we got a price for fitted ones but would have needed to raid lots of piggy banks to afford them! So plan B was two wardrobes that in theory would fit quite snugly into the gaps. We measured and we measured again before we ordered them from Amazon. They were delivered without too much problem – flat packed so squeezed past Chloe’s bed. But when the man arrived to fit them he pointed out the wonky wall in the alcove which went inwards at the bottom and stopped the wardrobes fitting. We were pretty gutted!
Never letting a bit of a hitch turn into a disaster we kept looking and now have two beautiful M&S wardrobes and matching chest of drawers in our ‘dressing corridor’. Okay they only fit a fraction of my clothes with the rest of my out of season clothes up on the 5th floor, but it works!
Valentines weekend was a success with some guests booking for the romantic package and others just a winter weekend away. We really loved spoiling our couples with petals on the bed and prosecco in their rooms. The temporary alcohol license was easy to obtain – I’m not sure the full one will be but it really does enhance what we are offering, Andy is studying hard in preparation! We will be offering romantic packages all year round now and already have a booking for an engagement and a wedding anniversary. 
We did have a little mishap over the weekend when our guests from Hong Kong got locked in their room – we could hear some knocking whilst doing breakfast and found them unable to get out. They were so gracious and understanding when the locksmith managed to free them and they headed off to the tank museum. They even left us a gift at check out! And don’t worry all the doors were checked out and it can’t happen again!
And saving the best til last, we had a gent ring for a same day booking. We don’t tend to take same day but on this occasion he sounded OK (rapid judgement made!) and we agreed to him booking. Andy was convinced he must be the AA man doing his assessment. He arrived, I checked him in, offered tea, explained the room and breakfast times. All good. Next morning he had a minimal breakfast – tested my poached egg skills and went off to pack. How could he be the AA man? Where was his feedback? Andy went to say goodbye and handed over the invoice, only to be given an AA business card in return! We passed! Without blowing our own trumpet too much, he loved what we are doing and what we have planned. He agreed that my background as nurse and midwife is perfect for hospitality – just caring in a different form and commended Andy for his front of house. Three months in and we’ve managed to keep our 4 star – aiming for 4 star silver now!
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