By 8 O'Clock in the morning, it sometimes feels that the day is half done. That's certainly the case at Well House Manor on the "early shift", where the two hours from opening shortly after 6 a.m. through breakfast from 7 a.m. to early departures at 8 a.m. mean that whoever's on duty needs to hit the ground running. During the week, there's an opportunity at about 9 a.m. for the team member on duty to take a mid-shift coffee / food break before tidying the kitchen, cleaning and changing rooms, and starting to prepare for whatever's happening later in the day.
I've done a lot of "earlies" in my time - and I enjoy them. I've had several opportunities this week, with staff taking holidays in what we incorrectly forecast to be a quiet period. But I couldn't do them regularly on top of the training and other things I do too, and I'm aware that the team we have to do the hotel shifts (all of the shifts!) now do a far better job than I can, and in a far more efficient way too. And I'm proud of the team for that (for lots of other reasons too!).
Today, I'm not on earlies - my computer confirms that the front door screen has said "Come in" since 06:12, and I can write up notes from yesterday and prepare for today's
Perl Programming Course. It needs a little more preparation than usual, as the course is being updated and this is the first run with the new running order and some new examples.
During the morning, we have a meeting in
the museum, and at lunchtime we're expecting a party of around fifteen for a light lunch - ploughman's or soup has been pre-ordered, with seating in the garden requested if the weather is fine, otherwise inside. As it's Friday, most of the guests will be checking out (so that gives us a number of room changes to do), and in the afternoon the museum will be open, and we'll have the cafe open for Cream Teas. Finally - let's add to the mix that there's major work being done on our patio.
"If you want something doing, ask someone who's busy". Yes, we can take bookings, serve you coffees, check you in for tonight, show you the museum. Love to see you. For "we are busy" please read "we are having an exciting time and would love you to share our excitement".
I had best get going. When I get to "The Manor" there will be the smell of fresh bread ... and tables to move, and laptops to clear from the large function room in case we get rain at lunchtime! (written 2012-08-10, updated 2012-08-11)
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)
[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)
[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)
Some other Articles
In the garden at Well House ManorThe Information age - not yet truly with us?Geekmas 2012 - celebrating open source languages such as Perl, PHP and PythonLearning to use existing classes in PerlA busy day at Well House Manor - so come in and make it even busier!Our Melksham Hotel is not quiet - but we are waiting to give you a quiet welcome. Big difference!Traversing a directory in PerlTraining courses - rest of 2012, 2013 and January 2014Pimms and Croquet in Edwardian Melksham - 8th September 2012 - Food Festival EventMelksham Community Apple Pressing Day