For the last couple of nights, I stayed at a B&B in Henfield. ("Where's Henfield", I hear you ask). A big change from the Holiday Inn Express at Dublin Airport where I had spent the previous two nights ... and of course a comparison would be like comparing chalk and cheese. But I love the variety - it stops me getting too set in my ways, and it means I get to "see how others do it" on the accommodation side - to note things that I say to our team (self included) we should not do xxx, or to learn extra little tips.

From the HIExpress, I came away with an admiration for the calm and collected handling of too much work by the check out lady, and noted the priority in customer handling:
1. Answer the phone (you may loose a prospect if you don't)
2. Go and deal with problems in the car park (customers get road rage / cause chaos very quickly there)
3. Deal with the checkout queue (if you're pretty, smile, and say "sorry to have kept you waiting", people will put up with an extremely long wait and not complain loudly)


From No 1, the Laurels, I came away with the term "Escapee Grandparents" - who are regular (return) visitors to Malcolm's B&B. These are the people who are visiting family in the village, but want a quiet "escape hatch" for the evening rather than cramming into the kids's small house to be woken by crying baby at 2 a.m.

We welcome "escapee grandparents" at Well House Manor too - we may sell ourselves primarily as a training centre, and then as a hotel for business visitors, but we're also peculiarly suited for the more mature guests looking for a bit of space, and quiet, where they can (re)charge their batteries between rounds.

Malcolm at "No 1" was talking about so many of his guests being regulars - and indeed, that's becoming much more our experience too. A quick look at tonight's register shows one room occupied by first time guest(s), and three more by repeat visitors who's visits can sometimes be counted in double figures. And that's a big difference between the two sides of our business - on a training course, the same person coming back on the same course is something of a failure [didn't "get it" the first time?] but a person checking in for the two dozenth time is an old friend returning, and an indication of both our success in providing something to meet his needs, and his business success and continuity in that he keeps coming back to Melksham.

We do have rooms available for more "Escapee Grandparents" - and more business visitors. Please do have a look at our hotel site, (we have a new FAQ too) book through there, or get in touch if you have any questions.

Earlier on, I compared the Holiday Inn Express with No. 1, The Laurels. I said they were as different as chalk and cheese. A summary main difference? I would consider the HI Express again if I happened to need to stay near Dublin Airport, but I have no brand loyalty. If I needed to stay again in Henfield (which is in West Sussex if you haven't worked that out!), I DO have brand loyalty and I would be calling Malcolm again if I have another Lua course to give in the Crawley - Brighton - Worthing - Horsham box.

Oh - some links:

No. 1, The Laurels, Henfield
Well House Manor, Melksham
Lua Courses

(written 2010-04-15, updated 2010-05-14)

 M400 - Well House Manor - The Hospitality Business
  [774] Bed and Breakfast, or Hotel? - (2006-06-22)
  [884] Drive time - (2006-10-02)
  [922] Staying at your own hotel - (2006-11-12)
  [988] You should think you're first in a hotel room - (2006-12-15)
  [1002] Meet the neighbours - (2006-12-20)
  [1046] Bounce, bounce, bounce - (2007-01-20)
  [1048] Getting rid of people - hotel techniques - (2007-01-21)
  [1084] Writing terms and conditions for conferences and other events - (2007-02-17)
  [1108] Express service - (2007-03-14)
  [1122] Hotel - online feedback forms compared - (2007-03-30)
  [1161] A contrast in room rates and facilities - (2007-04-25)
  [1180] Conjugation - (2007-05-08)
  [1248] How NOT to oversell a hotel - (2007-06-27)
  [1284] An update on the West Wilts show ... - (2007-07-30)
  [1421] Castle Lodge Hotel, Ely, Cambridgeshire - (2007-11-04)
  [1422] Wiltshire - speaker / after dinner talker offer - (2007-11-05)
  [1445] Looking after you Christmas Customer Crowds - (2007-11-26)
  [1548] Hotelympia - show report - the lighter side - (2008-02-21)
  [1622] An extra step - victory from defeat - (2008-04-25)
  [1792] All the pieces fall into place - hotel and courses - (2008-09-10)
  [1877] Guests doing a bunk? - (2008-11-09)
  [2007] Launch of Melksham Food and Drink Festival - (2009-01-24)
  [2283] Everyone is in the customer relations business - (2009-07-12)
  [2303] Turning potential customers away - (2009-07-24)
  [2593] Food and drink launch - (2010-01-21)
  [2879] Night Porter and reception - 24 hours a day? - (2010-07-20)
  [2936] The service that customers should receive - (2010-08-27)
  [3147] Hotel star ratings - towards a better system of review - (2011-01-25)
  [3164] Brown - or Mrs Sally Brown, accountant from Whitstable? - (2011-02-10)
  [3309] Tipping Policy - Well House Manor - (2011-05-29)
  [3660] A Pivotal Incident - learning how to welcome your guests - (2012-03-18)
  [3743] Sunday - no longer a day of rest - (2012-05-28)
  [3832] A busy day at Well House Manor - so come in and make it even busier! - (2012-08-10)
  [3838] Guest review - Well House Manor, Melksham - (2012-08-14)
  [3909] Every Customer Counts - (2012-11-01)
  [3988] Three cheers for the staff at Well House Manor - (2013-01-24)
  [4033] Official Star ratings for hotels - still worth having? - (2013-03-07)
  [4051] On reading a new hotel review - (2013-03-24)
  [4202] Excellent Railfuture conference, but some setup lessons - (2013-11-03)
  [4232] Not wanted here - hotel guests who will not be happy - (2013-12-30)
  [4321] Are administration / review charges on hotel guests acceptable? - (2014-11-20)
  [4521] Should we get an AA or Visit Wiltshire hotel assessment? - (2015-10-09)
  [4543] Saturday morning at Well House Manor - (2015-10-17)
  [4603] Happy New Year. Our customers are our ambassadors - (2016-01-01)
  [4613] Our best hotel customers help us ... to help them ... be our best customers. - (2016-01-04)

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Redirecting a home page using mod_rewrite
Making a Lua program run more than 10 times faster
Every cloud has a silver lining
How do our tactics help us meet the strategy, for the greater good?
Escapee Grandparents welcome - Henfield and Melksham
Returning multiple values from a function - Lua
Mixins example in Python
Regular Expressions in Python
Multiple inheritance in Python - complete working example
Traffic lights in Python