SOS - Save our Sign

February must be a quiet month for the council as they have decided to object to our hotel signage. The fact that the sign is exactly the same size as the old one and in exactly the same place as the old one does not seem to count under Council rules.

The Planning Enforcement Officer seemed entirely reasonable in suggesting that it wasn’t the size or the font that was the problem but rather that council would prefer 18 individual letters to be drilled into our front wall so that we might catch a glimpse of the sills (and the drainpipe) which lies underneath.

The Conservation Officer who called around next had a different idea and thought it might be nice to have two small signs in order to identify the hotel as two buildings – so ‘da Vinci’ on one side and ‘eastbourne’ on the other....I dismissed his suggestion as aesthetically unacceptable and wondered whether other (seafront) hotels had been asked to split their hotel signage in a similar way.

The Planning Enforcement Officer called again and made some useful suggestions which we were happy to pursue pending a visit from the new Conservation Officer who suggested that the word ‘eastbourne’ in our sign was unnecessary....I am surprised to learn that we are now being discouraged from using the town’s name in our signage.

Anyway, we were subsequently told to shrink the size of all the letters to fit between two ledges in such a manner that the sign is now so small and insignificant that it will hardly be seen from the pavement let alone the road. It is evident that this is a battle we are not going to win so we duly submitted our application to the council.



STOP PRESS
It would seem that our application has fallen at the first hurdle as I now have a letter from the Planning Support Services requesting further information or they will send our application back to us. The letter suggests that want to see detailed scale drawings, three copies of an Ordnance Survey plan, a Design and Access statement and a Waste Management Plan....at least we didn't have to complete a Flood Risk Assessment like another establishment was required to complete!!!

The room at the back

The last bit of our building project is the back room....for want of a better description. The intention was to open a conservatory especially when we found the original glass ceiling (complete with some glass) in the original roof space.

Unfortunately, the building inspector had other ideas and we were told that we could not have a glass roof on the conservatory but had to have a slate roof instead. A conservatory with a slate roof is a new concept to me but I just do as I am told.

Anyway, our conservatory (with the slate roof) is proceeding at a pace and, as I write, I am waiting on the carpet to be laid and the light fittings to be finished. I am sure it will look spectacular as we have some excellent art and some interesting chandeliers.

The room will double up as a second dining room (for when we open the other bedrooms) and as a bar/lounge (because it is situated next door to the bar). We are still arguing over the furniture but what is new!

In the meantime I have to stop calling it a conservatory. The back room sounds a bit dismissive and the summer room does not fit the bill so if you have any good ideas then please let us know.

I’ll post some pictures as soon as it is completed.

Showers and sausages

Ten rooms open and we’re on schedule in terms of our building work with the conservatory as the only building work still outstanding....although this seems to be taking a lot longer than the three weeks promised! In the meantime, the good news is that we are now in the number one position on the tripadvisor website at http://www.tripadvisor.com.

Comments include: “ Superbly located for all amenities, business and pleasure as well as the tennis!”, “The hotel has been tastefully decorated and the staff are very friendly.”, “The art display is fantastic and the previous reviews about the standard of breakfast are very well deserved.“, “The bed was huge and the most comfortable we've slept in.” and “The weather was good too."...although I take no credit for the latter.

Naturally, our feedback is not all positive and we have had a few adverse comments about our showers and our sausages. We have to put our hands up to the showers and say that they are not up our usual high standard. We have started a programme of replacing but at £1600 each it is a lot of outlay. Regarding the sausages, we are trialling a different supplier so watch this space.

Another two rooms

The final two rooms are now open for business completing the ten rooms which were planned for this financial year. On Friday 22 August we finally opened the Mary Beaney room and the John Miller room to the general public.

Room 207 is a superior double/twin room featuring the local artist Mary Beaney who works as our art director and whose excellent art work can be seen in our breakfast room. The room includes a large superking size bed (which can also be converted into a twin) and two leather tub chairs. The colour scheme (magenta) reflects her most recent work which has been included in the room.

Room 205 is a double ensuite room featuring the artist John Miller. His paintings (but not his name) had become known worldwide as a result of the mass production and distribution of cheap posters, prints and cards with reproductions of his distinctive beach paintings. The room is painted blue and has already received many favourable comments.

These rooms complete the second phase of our project and we now intend to take a break and try to recuperate some monies to open rooms on the third floor during 2009 – watch this space.

John Miller

Two more rooms

Wednesday 13 August sees two more rooms opened at the da Vinci. Room 105 is a superior double room featuring the artist Joan Miro. This is the first room to include a fully refurbished bathroom so we now have a template for the rest of the rooms. Our first guests were most impressed with the decor, the comfortable bed and the tasteful furniture. The view from the window is nice too and you don’t need a pair of binoculars to see the sea.

Room 107 is an executive double/twin room featuring the local artist Elda Abramson - see www.elda-abramson.com. The room includes a comfortable superking size bed (which can also be converted into a twin) as well as a sofa which converts to a sofabed. We persuaded Elda to part with some of her finest paintings which adorn the wall and complement the feature wall which is coloured ‘funky orange’ ....take my word for it that the whole lot works very well together.

An apology from Buckingham Palace

I have just received a letter from Buckingham Palace....thanking me for the invite to the opening of the da Vinci and apologising for not responding earlier due to the high volume of correspondence.

The letter continues "Her Majesty was interested to read about your new concept da Vinci Art Hotel, and was grateful for your kind invitation to attend the opening on 30th May".

How nice.

The letter concludes by hoping that the opening was a successful and enjoyable occassion and wishing me "every success with the future of your business".

Of course, no one believes me when I tell them but I have the letter to prove it.

Number 51 on the list

I cannot believe that a month has passed since the opening of our first rooms at the da Vinci. The time has just flown past and I am embarrassed that I have not had the decency to update the blog and keep you informed about what is going on.

The art hotel idea has gone down very well and got us a lot of publicity. ....we even appeared in a travel article in the Sunday Times on June 15th. A two page spread followed in the ETC magazine and we had an excellent write up in the local art guide.

We have had our first review on laterooms.com and positive comments on booking.com but what is going on at tripadvisor? We are position number 51 (out of 51) in the hotel section while we await our first review....and there are some rough old dives above us on the list!!!!

In the meantime, Frank has swung into the routine of breakfasts at 8.00 and the comments about his full English are most complementary. Upstairs, work continues on our next four rooms which will be spectacular when they are finished - so watch this space.

That’s all for now but I have plenty more to talk about ....as soon as I have cleared the content with my lawyer !

PS The tripadvisor address is http://www.tripadvisor.com