Merry Christmas!

Wheels Festival 2014

On a bright sunny day back in October, I had the great pleasure to be stood in the Lower Gardens here in Bournemouth watching a high-speed pass by Michael Schumacher's former Benetton F1 car, followed by a procession that included Hot Rods, Low Riders, a Monster Truck, Super Cars and some great Beach Cruiser bicycles..... A great morning out for a 'Petrol Head' like myself and a fantastic insight into what we can expect from the three-day Wheels Festival in May 2014.

Arts By The Sea - 2014

Dates for next year's festival here in Bournemouth have now been confirmed, as 26 September - 12 October 2014.

Genius - thinking out of the box and onto the seas

The ice cream market here in Bournemouth is massive in the summer - over last weekend alone, just Saturday and Sunday; 70,000 ice creams were sold by the official beach vendors.

Over the years, this must have presented itself as an obvious opportunity to many a budding entrepreneur, wanting to grab a piece of this 99 action.

The challenge has been however, that the council owns and license all of the retail opportunities along the beach - the beach and promenade that they own.  I have no issue with this, as they do a phenomenal job of cleaning the beach every single night to present visitors with untouched golden sand every morning.

So, with all this said, for the creative thinker, there must be a way around this obstacle......  So, if you can't work from the beach or promenade,..... what about from the sea???

Genius!

Keeping it Indigenous

Our food philosophy here at The Highcliff is very much based around local produce, but only when it supports our sustainability principles and of course, when it is first and foremost great produce.

So here is a cracking new ingredient that will be making its way into our kitchen, on to the Highcliff Bar for our awesome bloody Mary's and on to our breakfast buffet.

Dorsetshire Sauce...  Quirky, cool and very much of the region - we love it!

Have hut - will travel

We are on the move...  

We are taking the Highcliff Hut on the road this summer, to launch #Streetfood, our very own "pop up"

street food concept.

First stop will be Bournemouth Town Hall Square, where we will be positioned for the entire 10 day duration of Bournemouth Food Festival.  Future gigs include the famous Bournemouth Air Festival, where you will find our hut positioned up on the West Cliff and then hopefully at a few more gatherings across the region during the summer.

The menu, as simple as it is, is still under wraps, but as with everything that comes out of the Highcliff Grill, you can expect a strong seafood element (sustainable of course) and a nod to some of the great gastro street food that the likes of Kerb in London have been doing a great job to promote.

Matt (Matt Budden - Exec Chef) and I have watched with interest the growth in pop-ups and the increase in street food culture that has developed over the last couple of years, nipping up to London from time to time to sample the food and soak up the atmosphere of this great movement. Now it's our turn to have a go and bring some of this foodie fun to Bournemouth and Dorset.

Engaging customers and Spotting new opportunities

I like to think that I walk around the hotel with my eyes open every day, thinking about and looking at what our customers see and experience, whilst trying to evaluate how we can commercially evolve our business to do more;  More, both financially and more, to engage our changing customer's expectations.

I always try to break down great customer experiences or smart ideas at other businesses, to consider if and how we could do that, or apply the principle laterally to our business.

I visited my local quality Chinese takeaway last night, possibly the most expensive takeaway within a fair radius, but good food, so worth it.
Recently, they have had a price hike right across their menu, adding a good 20% to a typical order, but I have stuck with them because as I said, the food is good, in fact the best in the area. 
On getting to the counter last night to pay my telephone ordered £32 bill, I was told “Oh, we charge £2 now for debit cards!" 
What followed was an uncomfortable exchange; because I just don't buy it. 
Running a business that deals in a volume of cash every day as I do, I would say "give me debit cards every time."  The real cost of dealing with cash; cashing up each shift, time spent banking, security firm cash collections and the genuine risk of theft, far out way what are the relatively small charges for the secure and audit tight payment process of accepting debit card payments.  So I don't get the logic and I don't appreciate passing this cost of doing business on to the customer.
I will take your pay hike, but I won't take such attempts to be clever with a stealth charge that far out ways the genuine cost.
So I will now be taking my regular, weekly, mid-week spend of between £28 and £35 somewhere else.


So, this morning I arrive early for my train to London at an unmanned station that serves some very smart conurbations in the Poole area.  With 10 minutes to spare before my train, I nip into the very smart gastro pub that sits proudly in the station car park, not 20 meters from the platform.  My plan, to get a takeaway coffee for the journey, knowing that all I will get on the train is sachet coffee.

I enter the pub and “result!"  There before me, stands a magnificent 2 stage espresso machine and smiling bar staff - I am in luck!  "A black Americano to go," is my polite request, which is met with an equally polite but very disappointing "sorry, we don't do takeaway coffee......but we have been thinking about it!"   Well, think a bit harder!!  This business has a phenomenal new revenue stream staring them right in the face and all they need to do is buy some paper cups and if they really want to make some money, invest in a sign.


So, whilst I know that neither of these examples apply to The Highcliff literally, there are some good lessons to be learnt about disengaging otherwise loyal customers and not missing the obvious opportunity under your nose.

It is easy to criticise other peoples businesses.  The important thing is to learn from such experiences and ensure that you are not in denial about similar instances in your own business.

Happy 86th Anniversary, Marriott!

On this day in 1927, a tiny new enterprise opened its doors at 10 a.m. in Washington, DC: a nine-stool root beer stand that was soon named The Hot Shoppe.

Who would have believed that this small business would be the start of one of the most successful lodging companies in the world and it all began with a root beer stand.  Founder J. Willard Marriott and his wife, Alice, got their young business off the ground by quenching people’s thirst during Washington D.C.’s hot, muggy summers. Good food and good service at a fair price became a guiding principle for Hot Shoppes restaurants--and for Marriott International as it grew.

Today, Marriott International has more than 3,800 hotels in 74 countries - including the wonderful Bournemouth Marriott Highcliff Hotel.

No monkeying around - the serious side of associate appreciation week

With the same kind of consistency as Marriott Burgers on the menu and Oatmeal on the breakfast buffet, you will find every single Marriott hotel around the world delivering their own Associate Appreciation Week this month.

"Putting people first" is a core value here at Marriott, something that is focused upon every single day, but Associate Appreciation Week allows us to go a little crazy - some might say bananas!

My welcome to AAW, from the Housekeeping team

here at the Highcliff - It's going to be a great week!

This has given me a great idea for a welcome to some of our younger guests in the summer season.....

Sometimes it is the simple things in life that make you happy

Ever since I arrived at the Highcliff, I have been embroiled in the "ying & yang" of road cones, the "should we, shouldn't we" of conical traffic management aids...

On the one hand they are absolutely required to manage parking, especially in our prime cliff top location.  On the other hand, they are just so unwelcoming. 

Nothing quite kills the sense of arrival at a nice hotel more than a dirty red road cone.

So, I was very happy to find these little beauties....

Somehow, bright blue is just a little more pleasing on the eye.

As I said; sometimes it is the simple things in life!

Special Olympics

I am just back from another interview on Hope FM, where together with Sue Gorman from the finance department here at the Highcliff, we have been doing our bit to further raise the profile of the Special Olympics and in particular the Bournemouth & District Team.

Bournemouth & District Special Olympics are the hotel's chosen charity for 2013 and our goal, beyond helping them to raise much needed finance, is to bring their great work to a much wider audience here in Dorset and UK wide. 

I am really grateful to Hope FM for allowing us onto the airwaves once again, to talk about what we are doing and have planned here at the hotel and more importantly the impact that training and competing with the Special Olympics has on the lives of the athletes that take part.

http://www.activedorset.org/clubs_coaches/Disability+Sport/specialolympics

http://www.hopefm.com/

Some of Dorset's most acclaimed chefs come together at the Highcliff

Top Chefs impress at Forest Holme Hospice dining event

Thursday, April 25, 2013 Posted in Lifestyle

Chef Matt Budden plating the main course

Diners were treated to an evening of culinary delights as they experienced the stunning creations of four of Dorset’s finest chefs.

On Sunday April 21, The Bournemouth Marriott Highcliff Hotel provided an elegant setting for Forest Holme Hospices’ fine dining event, Dorset on a Plate. Event guests enjoyed a unique four course meal cooked by top chefs; Gary Kilminster, Richard Allsopp, Matthew Budden and Russell Brown. The chefs exceeded all expectations and ‘wowed’ guests with their creativity and culinary talents.
Hannah Parsons, Event and Corporate fundraiser at Forest Holme Hospice Charity said; “The evening was a great success and showcased the fantastic local produce that is available in Dorset. I would like to thank all of the chefs that took part in the event and our event sponsors; Samways Fish, Harvest Fine Foods, Essential Cuisine, Lyme Bay Winery and The Dorset Charcuterie company”.

Gary Kilminster and Hannah Parsons will continue to build the profile of restaurants and suppliers in Dorset by producing a local hardback cookery book that will be available to purchase later in the year. All of the proceeds from the book will go towards end of life care at Forest Holme Hospice

http://www.seekernews.co.uk/2013/04/top-chefs-impress-at-forest-holme-hospice-dining-event/

Dorset On A Plate - Charity Dinner

Highcliff Executive Chef; Matt Budden

 Preparing his main course dish for our forthcoming

"Dorset on a plate" charity dinner.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/B_rT0IH4oxE

My top 10 reasons to visit Bournemouth in 2013

• Bournemouth Air Festival -  Officially recognised as one of the top 10 air shows in the world - August
• James - Live at the O2 Accademy - April
• Bournemouth Food Festival - June
• Beach Polo - at Sanbanks beach July
• Friday night fireworks - Every Friday in August.
• Pier to Pier swim -  Join the thousands taking part in this 1.4 mile swim from Bournemouth to Boscombe Pier - July
• Goodwood Revival - Stretching it a little in geography, but a great run through the new forest from Bournemouth to this petrol head's nirvana - September
• Explore the Jurasic Coast - Anytime
• Catch a wave. Try your luck at the man made surf reef or head for our famous pier break in the winter - Anytime
• Just come and enjoy the Highcliff Style - Great food, great service and awesome seaviews - Anytime

Announcing the Highcliff Hut

Great news today; as we have just heard that we have been successful in

our attempt to acquire a beach hut for the hotel.

Situated directly below the hotel on the lower promenade, just a few steps from the golden sand of Bournemouth's award winning beach, our hut will be available to book as part of a new suite package and also available for our guests to hire on an ad-hoc basis.

We can't wait to get the keys and give it a make-over.  We will be launching a competition in the coming weeks for all budding interior designers to help us give it the Highcliff Style!!

Bournemouth V's California

What better way to ensure that an interview brings out the natural and human side of you, than have your own son conduct the interview.

Looking very relaxed and clearly enjoying his new role, Mr Marriott talks in front of some of the companies most senior leaders, about how we are evolving the brand to engage with the latest generation of business travellers and how the Marriott culture is just as relevant today as it was over 80 years ago. 

I particularly enjoyed the bit about the very simple and effective early revenue management techniques employed at Twin Bridges back in the day.

A short video that is sure to make you smile.

Every town / city has the Monday morning blues.... Even sunny Bournemouth at this time of year, but not today; today is going to be a great day!!

Honk if you love someone!

Take your supercar to work day....

Nice to see the team at the Renaissance St Pancras getting involved

in Global Take Your Supercar To Work Day

Mr Marriott's new book; "Without Reservations" is available now to buy and to download, on his 40 years as CEO of Marriott and 60 years in the business.

Mr Marriott's new book

I'll be downloading my copy tonight.

Blagging an upgrade

After a busy Christmas and New Year period, things are starting to get back to normality at the Highcliff;  in a "no two days are ever the same," kind of normality.

I was quite amused reading Richard Branson's Top Travel Tips today and his thoughts on trying to "snag and upgrade" - even on his own airline:

5. Try to snag an upgrade

Virgin’s economy options for passengers are excellent, if I do say so myself. Still, plenty of people try to tell stories to get free flight upgrades. Over the years, some of the funnier attempts have become legendary at Virgin Atlantic. My favorite: ''Manchester United lost today. I am really upset, and need the extra space to get over it.'' That particular request didn’t work, but if you don’t ask for what you want, you will never get it!

 Another good attempt happened while I was standing in a queue waiting to be checked in. A man in front of me was at the counter demanding an upgrade because he was supposedly my best friend. He went a little white when the check-in agent suggested that he turn around and say hello.....

Here at the Highcliff we have some fantastic suites and tremendous sea views that are always worth a tall story to see if you can get one.  Just don't leave it until check-in for a sea view in the middle of Summer, as they will all be bought and paid for.

Happy New Year

Andrew