Hotel and training centre, Melksham, Wiltshire
High quality accommodation for course delegates, business travellers and the leisure visitor too.

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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Tipping Policy - Well House Manor

The other night, I think I spent more that I have ever spent before on a meal for two three of us - Lisa, myself, and Zyliana asleep in her cot; and when the bill arrived at the meal end, there's an extra line printed on the bottom showing how much a top of 15%, 18% and 20% would be. I can understand that - for we were in the USA, where base salaries in the service industry are painfully low, with much of the income for the staff earned from gratutities. In a place such as Orlando, where we were, there are a lot of Brits for whom giving a tip of more than 10% is a new experience ... with prices in US Dollars rather than pounds, too - so the numbers are higher. Lisa reminded me to leave a tip in the hotel room for the maids when we left as well - calculated at X dollars per day.

It's so different in the UK. Certainly as a business hotel, and serving only breakfast which is included in the room price, tips are a rarity. And that's not due to any lack of service on our part - travelling in the UK for work, I often stay away, rarely tip at a hotel, and if I were to tip in a restaurant at US levels I would be asked "are you sure"? In the USA, I see signs like "Gratuities welcome" even on buses, and handscrawed signs on plastic tubs on the end of the self service buffet counters at times - and there's some creep to the UK for such things - one of the cafes in Melksham has a tip bowl next to the till.

We've never really needed a tip policy at Well House Manor until ... now! What happens when the first person leaves a tip after their cream tea for the excellent service that I know that Sarah, Rachel, Heather and Kim will provide? None of our current team is the sort to be making a dirty dive to get to clear tables of departing guests so that they can pick up the money, but never the less this is an area that we need to decide what to do.

"If guests feel they have had good service at Well House Manor, they are welcome to leave a tip. Any tips will be pooled in a jar that's already been hidden away out of public view, and when the hours of each team member who serves are worked out at the end of each pay period, the money in the jar (if any) will be split between them in proportion to the number of hours worked in that pay period.".

I started this article talking about a very expensive meal indeed; and it was a really lovely meal too - certainly the best we had while we were in the USA, and served by a waiter who provided exactly the right degree of attentiveness. He advised well on the menu, but was then able to help Lisa move things around so that she got two treats on one plate. He seated us in such a way that Zy was well placed beside me as we ate, without her crib getting in the way of our eating or passing traffic, and when the beer barrel had to be changed and there was a slight delay, he came along and let me know. Small things - but things to say "yes - we should do that". We tipped him at the upper of the levels that were calculated for it, and felt it was well justified; good service is so important, and I hope we'll do as well as he did.
(written 2011-05-29, updated 2011-05-30)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
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)
  [2724] Escapee Grandparents welcome - Henfield and Melksham - (2010-04-15)
  [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)
  [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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How fast is your Internet access? Do you need something faster for your business or home?
Some other Articles
What does our MP do on a Bank Holiday?
Are you cheerful, reliable and available on Saturday mornings?
Exhilarating day!
How fast is your Internet access? Do you need something faster for your business or home?
Tipping Policy - Well House Manor
Behind the scenes - setting up a cafe
Melksham Community Radio launches
Photogenic Place
Getting away from the madding crowd - an intercontinental journey
Scones with or without fruit?
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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