“Great hotel, great food” - Tripadvisor.com

“Great hotel, great food” - Tripadvisor.com: "

Date of review: Feb 16, 2011 - New

We had a really good weekend, we stayed for two nights and had two eveing meals in the restaurant, both were excellent. The quality and quantity were outstanding. The first evening we had starters and main course but couldn't manage a sweet and so the second evening we had a main course and sweet, it was all great. The staff were very friendly and helpful. We requested an extra heater in the bedroom and it was there within minutes. We had booked before a special offer for Valentines weekend was available but still got the weekend at the reduced price. We will be going again.

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Sex in the City: Spearmint Rhino pulls bankers bearing bonuses

Sex in the City: Spearmint Rhino pulls bankers bearing bonuses: "Specht reads out sections of the code of conduct for the dancers: never give out personal information, or swap telephone numbers; hand back business cards before you leave the club; but you are allowed to tell the customer when you are next on shift. ...
See all stories on this topic »"

How to use apprenticeships to drive hospitality business

How to use apprenticeships to drive hospitality business: "

People 1st has launched an apprenticeship strategy aimed at helping hospitality businesses meet their staff needs and improving the long-term performance of the sector.

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Pontin's rescuer Alex Langsam plans to bring Disney-style resorts to Britain

Pontin's rescuer Alex Langsam plans to bring Disney-style resorts to Britain: "

New Pontin's owner Alex Langsam wants to add a touch of Disney to the Bluecoats tradition in revamp of holiday camps

California, Florida, Paris and … Prestatyn Sands? Disney-style resorts could be on the way to Britain under plans to revamp the struggling Pontin's holiday camps as themed seaside destinations for children.

Alex Langsam, whose Britannia Hotels empire includes the Adelphi in Liverpool and the Grand in Scarborough, reportedly paid £20m to rescue cash-strapped Pontin's from insolvency last week, averting a threatened closure of the business founded by Fred Pontin in 1946.

Langsam, who accuses Pontin's previous management of 'tremendous arrogance' and of starving the business of investment, is promising a £25m makeover. He wants to supplement Pontin's famous 'bluecoat' entertainers with Disney-style cartoon costumes and attractions.

'There are things we don't manage to do so well here that the Americans do so well,' Langsam said. 'If I go to the Disney site in Florida, I'm back to being a child – I see all those individuals dressed up. It's the adults that enjoy it as much as the kids.'

Insisting that Pontin's five remaining resorts are in 'wonderful' locations, Langsam believes he can spark a revival by aiming for the pre-teen market: 'The most important thing for me is getting some of the kiddie generation in, getting the kind of stuff kiddies like into parks on a large scale. The bluecoats will stay, because if it ain't broke, you don't fix it. But there will be people dressed up in all sorts of different ways, too.'

During its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, Pontin's had 24 sites, but today only Brean Sands in Somerset, Camber Sands in Sussex, Pakefield in Suffolk, Southport in Merseyside and the Welsh resort of Prestatyn Sands remain.

Demand for domestic short breaks and so-called 'staycations' has been relatively strong as holidaymakers cut back on foreign trips during the recession. But Pontin's struggled to compete with the likes of Butlins, Haven Holidays and Center Parcs. Its troubles were aggravated by a BBC Watchdog investigation that highlighted shabby conditions, poor cleanliness and tatty rooms. The business went into administration in November, owing £40m to the high-street bank Santander.

Langsam accused former managing director Graham Parr, who led a management buyout of Pontin's in 2008, of 'milking it for money' in order to repay loans and of failing to invest: 'There's been tremendous arrogance – that you don't have to control costs, you don't have to control service, you don't have to control staff.'

These allegations were flatly rejected by Parr, who said any money taken out of Pontin's was used to service hefty borrowing taken on to refinance the business in 2008. 'We did everything we possibly could to keep the business afloat. We were just beaten by the amount of money we borrowed in the good times to buy it.'

• Travel & leisure
• Family holidays

Andrew Clark

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Tourist information centres face extinction

Tourist information centres face extinction: "

TICs closing across UK as council funds favour websites to attract visitors – but locals are not giving up without a fight

They were Britain's response to the package holiday; a network of Tourist Information Centres funded by the government to divert vacationers from the sunny lure of the Costas toward domestic destinations.

Forty years on they are battling to survive. Usurped by the internet, now the final death knell for many is being sounded by accountants from cash-strapped councils.

TICs are vanishing from high streets. The clear message is 'adapt or die'. But communities desperate to save this local asset are not giving up without a fight.

A raft of recent closure threats include centres in the Cornish tourist hot spots of Falmouth, Penzance and St Ives, while in Wiltshire five are under review, including Salisbury. In Gwynedd, the council has estimated losing three centres will save £76,000 per year, blaming the internet for a 48% drop in footfall. While on Anglesey three will be replaced with scaled down tourist information points, or TIPS.

'It is absolutely mad,' said Unison regional organiser Stuart Roden, of the Cornish threat. 'Cornwall relies on tourism; it's probably the largest industry in the county. Many local businesses could not survive without the help they receive from these centres. Many visitors arrive without having anywhere to stay and rely totally on the centres.'Once prominently placed near the town's iconic 17th century stilted Market Hall attracting 80,000 visitors a year, salami-slicing by the county council saw it moved to shared council offices in a car park, according to locals, where numbers dropped by three quarters.

Further cuts will see it reduced to a tourist information point, or TIP, within an office dealing with parking fines and other civic mundanities, said resident Ian Cook, whose petition to save it has attracted 2,000 signatures – one fifth of Ledbury's population.

As well as providing information on local services and attractions, it sells local wares and promotes the work of local artists, and its future has become an emotional issue.

Though originally funded by the government, there is no statutory requirement on local authorities, now facing difficult budget decisions, to pay for the running of the centres. 'Which is why, currently, there are many of them under review and why we are seeing some of these closures,' said Sarah Long, from Visit England.

Many have evolved over the years, being run in private-public partnerships, or through local business associations who value their contribution.

Now, those that remain reliant on council funds, are increasingly at risk despite locals believing them an asset.

It's a difficult argument. Gwynedd councillors have scrutinised the Snowdonia Mountains and Coast website, which has seen the average number of online visitors increase from up to 4,000 per month to up to 20,000 per month in three years, and see online information as the future.

In the north west many TICs have withered on the vine with the decision taken that scant resources must be channelled to key locations. One such honeypot location is Manchester, which rates as one of England's most sophisticated visitor centres.

'There's Liam Gallagher's clothing range, Manchester United and Manchester City merchandise,' said Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester.

The Manchester centre models itself along Apple-store lines. Using the latest Microsoft technology, it now attracts an average of 1,000 people a day.

Malcolm Bell, from Visit Cornwall, said: 'The number of people who use a TIC before coming to Cornwall is less than 1%. But for information while here, about 30% of visitors would look to a TIC. People still want to have the human side when they are in situ. It's getting the balance and making it commercially viable.'

Options might include looking at partnerships with other information bodies, such as libraries or museums.

David Weston, chief executive of the Bed and Breakfast Association, said members were concerned, "because B&Bs will lose what tends to be the last minute type of booking, the tourists that are in the town that day, and haven't booked anywhere, and may not find those B&Bs independently".

As part of Visit England's strategic framework for tourism it is now looking at the whole gamut of tourist information and role of TICs, in order to help local authorities find alternatives if they cannot afford to provide a dedicated TIC.

'The internet has had some impact,' said Jenny Mcgee, head of strategy amd engagement at Visit England. 'When you look at the fact you can sit at home, surf, and get the information you require in advance, why would you sit on a telephone waiting for someone to aswer between the hours of 9-5. Technology is changing, information sources are changing, so that service potentially in some areas needs to be redefined.

'But I absolutely agree, when I am on holiday the last thing I want to be doing is looking at my BlackBerry. You want local people, local advice, and you can't underestimate that personal touch. It's the ambassador for the area. So, it comes down to how much does the local community value that'.

'How to fund it, that's the bottom line. Or how to deliver the service in a different way.'

• Local government
• Travel & leisure

Caroline Davies

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Bring on the secret shoppers

Bring on the secret shoppers: "

Her mission to “wage war on poor service in Great Britain” has made sure customer service is on companies' agendas, and will with luck encourage the public ... See all stories on this topic »

Research Magazine

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Businesses Urged to Improve Customer Service

British consumers want businesses to improve customer service as the majority claim to have suffered bad experiences recently.

Research by Convergys revealed that consumers are becoming less tolerant of poor business practices as four out of five believe that customer service standards have slipped during the past year.

The investigation discovered that 51 per cent of people claim to have had a bad customer care experience in the last year which has resulted in 49 per cent of consumers taking their business elsewhere.

Convergys’ president of global sales and services Jim Boyce said: “Today’s consumer expectations are clear. They expect good value for their money and timely acknowledgement and resolution of their issues by knowledgeable employees.

“It is more apparent than ever that consumers are willing to take their business elsewhere when their needs are not met.”

The investigation also found that an increasing number of people were willing to complain if they did not receive and adequate level of customer care in order to force a resolution.

Businesses that fail to improve customer service can expect bad news to travel fast as 85 per cent of consumers told their friends and colleagues about poor experiences through face-to-face chats, email, text messages and social networking sites.

A “meaningful” number of British consumers are willing to give businesses a second chance and start buying from them again if they make a concerted effort to win them back, according to Mr Boyce.

Business author and marketing expert Don Peppers has said that companies can improve customer service by putting less emphasis on what products they offer and focus more on the consumer experience they provide.

He said: “Customers are far more centrally connected to the issue of value creation for companies than products are. You can have all the patents and warehouses full of desirable products that you want, but the only way that you can actually create value is with a customer.

“Because if you don’t have a customer, it doesn’t matter how many products you have, you don’t have a business.”

Firms should move away from what Peppers coins “short-termism”, which is the view that customers only exist to generate sales and move towards a long-term approach where consumers are provided with after-sales care.

Customers who enjoy good customer service are more likely to continue buying from a business and share their experience with colleagues, which will lead to more sales and bigger profits.

"

Businesses Urged to Improve Customer Service

British consumers want businesses to improve customer service as the majority claim to have suffered bad experiences recently.
Research by Convergys revealed that consumers are becoming less tolerant of poor business practices as four out of five believe that customer service standards have slipped during the past year.
The investigation discovered that 51 per cent of people claim to have had a bad customer care experience in the last year which has resulted in 49 per cent of consumers taking their business elsewhere.
Convergys’ president of global sales and services Jim Boyce said: “Today’s consumer expectations are clear. They expect good value for their money and timely acknowledgement and resolution of their issues by knowledgeable employees.
“It is more apparent than ever that consumers are willing to take their business elsewhere when their needs are not met.”
The investigation also found that an increasing number of people were willing to complain if they did not receive and adequate level of customer care in order to force a resolution.
Businesses that fail to improve customer service can expect bad news to travel fast as 85 per cent of consumers told their friends and colleagues about poor experiences through face-to-face chats, email, text messages and social networking sites.
A “meaningful” number of British consumers are willing to give businesses a second chance and start buying from them again if they make a concerted effort to win them back, according to Mr Boyce.
Business author and marketing expert Don Peppers has said that companies can improve customer service by putting less emphasis on what products they offer and focus more on the consumer experience they provide.
He said: “Customers are far more centrally connected to the issue of value creation for companies than products are. You can have all the patents and warehouses full of desirable products that you want, but the only way that you can actually create value is with a customer.
“Because if you don’t have a customer, it doesn’t matter how many products you have, you don’t have a business.”
Firms should move away from what Peppers coins “short-termism”, which is the view that customers only exist to generate sales and move towards a long-term approach where consumers are provided with after-sales care.
Customers who enjoy good customer service are more likely to continue buying from a business and share their experience with colleagues, which will lead to more sales and bigger profits.