Brighton Rock

Interesting to note that the new film release of Brighton Rock was actually filmed in Eastbourne rather than Brighton. You only have to compare the sea front at Brighton to the sea front at Brighton to appreciate exactly why. Compare our three tier promenade. renowned floral gardens and blue domed bandstand with their tatty shops, NCP car park and burnt down pier to appreciate why more and more visitors are coming to spend their holiday time in Eastbourne.

A trailer for the film featuring many views of Eastbourne can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoGHiBsrJKk

Feedback from customers

Just found an interesting website which compiles comments from various review websites. Information can be found at www.hotelscombined.com. The hotel fares well with positive comments about helpful and polite staff, convenient location, large rooms, comfortable beds and good food. A few negative comments about bathrooms but these have all now been upgraded.

Meanwhile Frank has been doing his own analysis of the feedback statistics and it seems that we get the best ratings from couples and single men. Our worst ratings are invariably from single women....heaven only knows why we are not delivering for this group but it is an interesting statistic and one which we will need to investigate.

It never rains but pours

Just when you think that things couldn’t get worse...they get worse. The hotel is closed over Christmas to refurbish the last rooms when both water tanks flood the new rooms upstairs. The water damage is extensive including ceilings, floors and furniture. The new rooms are put on hold while we return these to their original splendour. Our financial planning goes to the wall and the new rooms will just have to wait. As they say, it never rains but pours....and certainly it pours a lot here.

STOP PRESS Both water tanks are mended and the top rooms are open for business.

Mapplethorpe Exhibition

Just got back from the opening of the Mapplethorpe exhibition at the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne. The entrance is swamped with warnings about the sexually explicit nature of some of the photographs which should certainly get a few of our local gentlefolk reaching for their pen to write to the Eastbourne Herald newspaper.

In the circumstances, I was a bit disappointed to find very little which might be remotely described as erotic.....perhaps I should write to the Eastbourne Herald to complain.......

The exhibition runs from the 25th September through to the 21st November 2010 at the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne.

Priceless.....

Who would believe that buying five television sets (32 inch Samsung TVs for the technically minded) could cause such a problem. First the credit card we used bounced and, while we are sitting here awaiting delivery, nobody bothers to tell us.

So we submit a second order (using a different credit card) which bounces because the company cannot believe that anyone would want to buy FIVE television sets….certainly no one bothered to appreciate that the first line of my address has the name of a hotel in it!

Finally after I have convinced everyone that I really do want five TVs the shop gets cold feet because it is my name on the credit card and not that of the hotel manager…… I now know why the MasterCard advert says ‘”there are some things that money can’t buy” …..

……five Samsung television sets!!!!!

Positive Reviews

Definitely in a good mood today as I read three positive reviews on Laterooms then then find another positive review written on TripAdvisor.





The Laterooms reviews talk of the friendly staff, amazing rooms and excellent breakfast although one guest said they had to wait too long on the first morning….the staff got a real telling off over that I can tell you!!!

The TripAdvisor Review said they felt as though they were “staying with friends” and suggested that “customer service here is not just a phrase in passing, but in the culture of the hotel” ….. what a nice comment and what an aspiration for all of us.

PS My good mood was further lifted when I read a review for one of our competitor hotels titled ‘A Big Disappointment’ describing the place as more cheap than chic . The reviewer goes on to describe the room as tiny, the curtains as terrible, the breakfast as simple and the look as jaded.

PPS I am now reading about the dirty pants on the balcony of room 108 at the Travelodge….and the reviewer has even been kind enough to include a picture for us all to see. …I am off to check my balconies!!!!


TripAdvisor reviews at www.tripadvisor.com

Art @ the da Vinci

The da Vinci Hotel offers an excellent venue for local artists with ongoing exhibitions in the spacious downstairs rooms. Recent shows have included work by a community group of disabled artists as well as the annual Open House exhibition.
The latest exhibition is provided by FrockArt which is a group of Sussex based women artists who regularly exhibit together. The works is exhibited over 4 rooms and includes paintings, prints, photography and textiles.
The exhibition is open between 10.00am and 5.00pm each day and runs until the 30th October. Members of the artist group will regularly be in residence to talk to visitors...we look forward to seeing you here.