The Grosvenor Hotel, Torquay - Blog
2010 The year of promise and change!
Sadly Jason Parry has left the Grosvenor Hotel to pastures new - he is already missed by the team, but thank him for his support and we all wish him the very best in his new challenges!
On April the 2nd we are going to be celebrating our 1st birthday of the INN @ The Grosvenor, and to say thank you to all of our supporters we are offering 50% off food from the 28th March until the 3rd April - members of the INN crowd just need to give us a call to book a table, and bring along the voucher that was emailed to them. Not a member of the INN crowd? To become part of the crowd, all you need to do is eat at the INN, and complete a comment card with your details - you are then automatically added to our friends list, and will receive information on promotions and offers - like our birthday treat!
JSL - 28/01/10
Merry Christmas to all of our guests, diners at the INN @ The Grosvenor, suppliers and supporters of 2009!
It's been a challenging year for everyone, and we would like to thank you all for your continued support, and look forward to welcoming you back to The Grosvenor Hotel in
2010!
It’s been a little while since I last wrote the blog for the hotel and we’ve had an awful lot happening. We have implemented our new customer focussed mission, “ we want you to be sorry to leave” and this has gone done extremely well with 80% of our customers telling us that they are sorry to leave and all the comments centre around how friendly the staff are (which certainly makes my job a lot easier).
I’ve celebrated my 36th birthday, and some of the senior staff took me out for a day of fun (trying to relive my youth) with crazy golf, pizza lunch and ten pin bowling just some of the fun activities. We later all met up with some other friends and descended on Torquay for a few drinks. A great night was had by all. Thanks again guys.
We hosted the retirement dinner for Heather Maxwell OBE, the out going Principal of South Devon College, so we played host to a number of local dignitaries and business people (all of whom were really impressed by what we have to offer).
We have recently restarted the Jazz Sunday Lunches but this time with a difference – they are now in our Garden Restaurant along with a delicious carvery, so do come along to sample the delights of our Head Chef, Ricco, and listen to the Annie Noel Swing Quartet all at our usual reasonable prices.
The INN @ The Grosvenor has gone from strength to strength with August doubling our forecasted business and that has continued into September, and the customer feedback is continually fantastic.
Finally we are planning the first Halloween party that the Grosvenor has hosted, and again everyone is really enthused by the idea and everyone is helping out so book your tickets now at only £15 on Friday 30th October; hope to see you all there.
JMP 1/10/09
Oh what a night, Mardi Gras Party provided laughs, entertainment and dancing til late. The delicious Cajun style food was a great hit including Reggae Reggae chicken, Gumbo, Ribs and little sugared dough balls served warm were so moreish! The entertainment included Danceworks Devon, Zak Stone, Dan the Juggler and City Steam Jazz Band plus a disco into the night. The weather was a big let down, but to be honest the feedback was great, bright outfits including Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts and a rag doll - photos will be put on the Grosvenor Hotel Facebook page, for all to see.
For those that attended and enjoyed the night, we hope to see you again at the next event - Halloween!! And those who didn't, be sure to Bookmark this site and find out when the next exciting event is taking place!
Why not join us this Bank Holiday Sunday for some spectacular fun? With entertainment planned throughout the night from some of the Bays local talents, a Cajun barbecue to compliment the Mardi Gras celebrations, fancy dress and dancing you will be sure to have a great time.
Tickets are just £18 and include an arrival drink, barbecue and the entertainment! With the weather being good all of this will take place outside in our beautiful gardens and barbecue area ..... however, we are in Devon so IF the sun isn't shining down on us, the event will continue inside.
Fancy dress is not essential, but definately encouraged - Be Loud and be Proud is the moto, so competitions for the most outrageous outfit and the brightest costume will win a special prize!
Call now to get your tickets on 01803 294373 or Email: enquiries@grosvenorhoteltorquay.co.uk
'We Want You To Be Sorry To Leave'
We’ve been really busy over the last few weeks, and on the whole our guests’ have been really happy with the service we offer, however whilst all of this has been going on we realise that we can’t stand still and we have all been going through some pretty intense customer service training (not that there was much wrong with what we were already doing, just that we feel we could do it much better). From that training we have come up with what we call our customer focused mission, this is a statement that should be the end result of everything we do – Tesco’s have one and theirs is “every little helps”, ours is “we want you to be sorry to leave”, and now in everything we do we will be asking ourselves if what we are doing will make you feel like this. We will also be asking you if we have achieved it and we are in the process of designing new comment cards that will ask that very question.
The INN @ The Grosvenor is really going from strength to strength and with the new summer menu in place there are nights it can be difficult to get a table straight away, although Mike and his team will be as accommodating as possible. We are now also doing our business lunches where that if you don’t receive your first course within 20 minutes from the point of ordering then you don’t pay a penny for your whole meal. A tough ask for Ricco and his team as all of the food is prepared to order but they are up for the challenge.
Let’s hope for some more of the wonderful sunshine that we had last month and a really busy summer holiday!
Sharing the love
Well since our last blog things have been going really well here at the Grosvenor Hotel, our bookings are coming in (albeit with quite a short lead time) and the feedback from the guests has been excellent. The INN @ The Grosvenor is doing pretty well and we have a few different ideas to stimulate trade such as our daily “random act of kindness”, the purpose of this is two fold – we ask only that the person who receives it passes the 'act' on to someone else and that if they have enjoyed their meal they tell others, and if not they tell us. The “act” is actually having their entire meal with our compliments. I’m sure the cynics out there will think this is a marketing ploy and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want it to have an effect on our business, but this is the only place that you will see it mentioned from us directly. We are looking forward to a busy month and already enjoying the scorching sun here on the English Riviera..
31/05/09 JMP
What's going on ? ...
OK, so it's been a little while since we told you what was happening at the Grosvenor, but it's a good sign, business has been really good, with lots of guests coming and going, smiling faces throughout, which obviously makes our jobs a lot nicer, and reassurance that we are getting it right!
INN @ The Grosvenor is picking up nicely, with word of mouth getting about, and the best part; return customers time and again, and visitors from Australia and the United States!!
Today has been a magnificent day, we have had a couple get married in our gardens, the first one this year and didn't the weather tease us?! It all turned out fine, and the moment the registrar said "I now pronounce you husband and wife" a burst of sunshine came through the clouds, how perfect! The meal went without a hitch and the day has been a great success, the night is still young and the music is still playing in the background, the sounds of happy guests and the wedding party is beautiful, but I have to say my bed is calling me, and since I have an early start in the morning, I will leave you with a short note to tell you that in July, we will be holding a special event at the hotel, but you'll have to keep posted here to find out more!
Goodnight
10/05/09 JSL
Opening Night @ The INN
Well here it is, the first General Managers' blog for the Grosvenor Hotel. Last Thursday was the opening night of our first new venture here at the hotel, the INN @ The Grosvenor – a pub themed restaurant. We had a number of local business people and dignitaries on the invite list and were joined by over 60 people for a Champagne and Canapé Reception (well more of miniature menu dishes, really). The canapés ranged from Steak and Kidney Tartlet, Sausage and Mash, hand cut Chips to Jam Tart and Custard, to name but a few. Also on hand were all the INN staff, newly recruited for their attitude and enthusiasm to offer good quality locally sourced British food. The INN opening was a huge success and since we have been through our “soft opening” where invited family and friends have been in, allowing us to check our systems and service for any last minute glitches, and I’m really pleased to report that again the feedback has been really positive about both the food and service.
The INN is open everyday from 12pm until 3pm and 6pm until 11pm with last orders at 3pm and 10pm, we look forward to welcoming you to the INN @ The Grosvenor in the very near future – Take a look at the 'Restaurants' page above to see some of the dishes and comments so far, plus listen out on Heart FM 96.4 for our special advert with Ricco the Chef of the INN.
08/04/09 JMP
Welcome to the first ever Grosvenor Hotel blog!
Over the coming months this will be the the place to find out more about what is going on at The Grosvenor and in the local area.
So, where to begin - well from the beginning I guess!
Late last year newly appointed General Manager Jason Parry, brought innovation and drive to what has become known as 'Torquays hidden jewel', The Grosvenor Hotel. With fresh investment planned for 2009, to refurbish the 47 rooms, design a new purpose built meeting room, plus Inn @ The Grosvenor opening early April - the future is set to be challenging and eventful for everyone involved!
My role in all this? Sales Manager - and making sure that everyone hears about the exciting plans going on.
Having previously worked at The Grand Hotel, being busy is something that certainly Jason and myself are accustomed to. And developing links with Riviera International Conference Centre, and local attractions has already proven to be great - not only have we discovered business, but strengthened relationships, and began to put the hotel on the map.
Of course it has been here for some time, and with the Reception team on hand with a warm and friendly welcome, the Restaurant team serving delicious food with a smile, and the Housekeeping team cleaning a multitude of rooms every day - is what keeps guests coming back year after year, and we hope that you will be visiting us soon.
So with our best foot forward we aim for another busy week. Make sure you visit us often to find out about the launch of Inn @ The Grosvenor and tales of what else is going on in Sunny Torquay!
29/03/09 JSL
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