Ditt och datt

Trevlig lördag alla! Så här har dagen sett ut hittills. Vaknade till strålande solsken och träningsvärk from hell. Varje steg gjorde ont i lår-, bak- och till och med höftmusklerna. Jag lät det emellertid inte stoppa mig utan halv ett var jag som vanligt på gymet för ett pass Body Attack. Ibland kan faktiskt träningsvärk bli bättre av ett träningspass.

Kom just tillbaka från ett svettigt pass, som blev ännu svettigare då vi inte fick luftkonditioneringen att fungera förrän efter en halvtimme. Om det är 30 grader ute så var det minst lika varmt i gymet, och syrefritt. Att det ska vara så svårt för gym att få luftkonditioneringen att fungera.

Jag hittade också två positiva nyheter i min inkorg i morse. Det första var att jag äntligen kommer att få mina 1 000 poäng från sajten Toptable som jag bokar de flesta restauranger genom (när man fått tillräckligt med poäng får man gratis restaurangbesök). Vi har haft en intensiv mailkontakt den här veckan. Orsaken var att jag och en kompis åt på en restaurang i början av juli (som skulle ge 1 000 poäng) som sedan påstod de att vi inte varit där. Jag sade att vi visst hade varit där och att jag meddelat personalen att vi kom från toptable. Det är inte mitt fel om de har hörselproblem. Det gick ett par email fram och tillbaka med toptable och de ville ha en kopia av kvittot som bevis. Problemet var att det var min kompis som betalade för allt och jag sade att hon knappast hade sparat kvittot så länge. Jag sade också att jag gärna ger namnet på min kompis så kan de be restaurangen att kolla igenom sina kortbetalningar för den dagen. Resultatet blev iallafall att toptable, för den här gången då:-), ger mig mina 1 000 poäng men bad mig att i framtiden spara mina kvitton, speciellt om jag bokar ett 1 000 poängbord (normalt får man 200 poäng för en restaurangbokning). Trägen vinner:-).

Det andra emailet kom från The Frogmill Inn, hotellet som vi ska bo på 26-27 september. Jag bokade hotellet redan i juni men fick aldrig den utlovade bekräftelsen och skickade ännu en påminnelsee-post igårkväll. Lite argare den här gången. Jag vill ha allt på svart och vitt, för hur kul skulle det vara sen om vi anlände dit och de inte hittar vår bokning och vi har ingen bekräftelse. Jag har också spenderat morgonen med att läsa igenom feedback om stället och fått många goda skratt när man läst de negativa. Ok, de som råkat ut för den dåliga servicen skrattar garanterat inte men jag tycker att många av dem skriver så kul, man kan riktigt höra deras frustration:-) På basen av feedbacken verkar hotellet och omgivningen vara fantastisk men det finns rum för förbättringar i servicen. Bra att veta vad man har att vänta sig och vad man kan kräva, ifall att. Här är några exempel:-)

I can honestly say this hotel is like the moon "absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever". We arrived at the hotel on the Friday afternoon with no welcome at all, we had no help with our luggage and the room we were given was dark and gloomy and faced the back of the hotel, anyway we went down to the bar which is so uninviting, I asked for a what lagers were on sale and told only 1 which was Becks, obviously at a premium price, my wife wanted a Zinfandel Rosie, which of course they didn’t have and only had, you guessed it 1 choice, so I suppose in the bar the real choice was take it or leave it, The barman looked as if we were interrupting his day when we wanted service, he was busy talking to either an off duty member of staff or a friend, who constantly swore using the F an B words, loud enough for everyone in the bar to hear, but the staff made no attempt to quiet him. Another couple asked for some bar meals or snacks but were told nothing was available, the barman said they could have some crisps which he brought in a tiny bowl and then charged them a £1 for the crisps, which really annoyed the couple as the obnoxious idiot at the bar was getting bowls full of crisps for free and with dips. To be honest I wanted to move to another hotel that afternoon, but my wife persuaded me to stay and ask if we could change rooms, this I did, first I was told there was nothing available as the hotel was full, then after saying that I had booked a luxury room and the one I was in was certainly not luxurious they managed to find a room empty next door, which was much brighter though neither was particularly clean, so we moved to that one again with no help. I have to say that none of the rooms are luxurious, and there were a lot of complaints from other guests who said they had no hot water, though ours was fine. On the Friday night we were told we could not dine until 9.30 as the restaurant was full, but it didn’t look full all night, anyway we ate at the restaurant and what we had was really good, though I have to say that the menu is very small and pretty plain considering it is owned by Marco Pierre White, we found the choice was very disappointing, Now as for the service I don’t think there was any, I ordered a bowl of 3 times cooked chips, but when they came it was just a tiny bowl of common French fries, which was just put on the table and the waitress just left before I could complain, eventually when she returned I asked what defined these fries as 3 times cooked chips, she said they were not as, they had sold out, and just walked away, 5 minutes later the table next to me had 2 bowls of 3 times cooked chips, I asked the waitress how was this and she just shrugged her shoulders and walked away.

Här är en annan:
Our deal included an evening meal, as we hadn't thought to book ahead, we were offered either 6.45pm or 8.30pm. We chose the later slot as we don't mind eating late. We came to the bar a little early with the idea of having a drink before dinner. There was some consternation as despite only having booked the table 2 hours previously, the booking seemed to have gone missing. We were given menus to look at. Then we were just left.... eventually at 8.45 we asked if we could go to our table and, slightly grudgingly, we were shown to a table.... and then just left for a further 15 - 20 minutes. No-one came to take our order, no-one offered us drinks, water or bread. In fact, the staff seemed to be missing altogether. There did appear to be a maitre d' but he wasn't much in evidence & certainly wasn't watching the restaurant. When we finally managed to attract attention, we went ahead & had a lovely meal. No complaints about the standard of the food or the service when we got it. Sadly breakfast wasn't much better. When we arrived at the restaurant, the waitress was taking an order from a table by the entrance but she never looked up or made eye contact with us. Eventually, we managed to secure a table & then - guess what - we waited & waited. No-one offered us coffee (in fact the waitress walked past us several times just ignoring us) & the order for our cooked breakfast wasn't taken until we had long finished our cereal & fruit. Again the quality of the food was good - lovely smoked salmon and scrambled eggs but.... this is a Marco Pierre White hotel so why oh why was the toast made from the cheapest, nastiest sliced white bread you can get?