Rewards for lovers of boutique and independent hotels

A reward programme has been set up for guests who like staying at boutique and independent hotels.

Pillow Perks allows guests to earn free nights at some of the country’s best boutique and independent accommodation from chic city hotels to laid back seaside retreats. On joining members get 250 bonus points and then for every pound spent one point is earned. Once 3000 points have been accumulated, guests can start to redeem the points for free reward nights. Points are not just gained from overnight stays but also using hotel spas, golf courses or bars and restaurants. The ultimate aim is to have 250+ hotels and a dynamic, powerful database of 200,000+ guests within three years.

For further details go to www.pillow-perks.com

P.S: content credit & copied from: http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/index.php/hotels/1016-rewards-for-lovers-of-boutique-and-independent-hotels.html

London leading chefs climb Kilimanjaro for charity

One of the leading personalities from the London restaurant scene has joined top UK chef Ashley Palmer-Watts in the challenge of a lifetime to help tackle hunger in Africa.

Paulo de Tarso, winner of Best Front of House 2010, is the senior Maître D’ at Knightsbridge’s restaurant Bar Boulud but he will soon be swapping the elegant  surroundings of his dining room for the mountain slopes of Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro.

De Tarso has joined forces for the climb with another powerhouse of the London restaurant scene, Ashley Palmer-Watts, who is head chef at Dinner by Heston Bumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental in Hyde Park.

Ashley travelled to Kenya last year with the leading UK charity Farm Africa to see for himself its work to help tackle hunger in the country. The charity supports farmers living at subsistence level and helps them to build food and income security, so they can grow a better and reliable future for their families.

Explaining what got him involved in climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro which stands at 5,895 metres above sea level, Paul said: “My friend Ashley Palmer Watts asked me to be part of it. We had coffee at Bar Boulud and he told me about his last trip to Africa. He was so emotional about it, so moved by the experience of being there, I had to be part of it.

“I love what Farm Africa is doing. They are helping with funds and raising awareness, but what I love is that they also teaching self-reliance and sustainability. This can be passed on to future generations and have lasting meaning. Hopefully with projects like this, we can end hunger!”

Paulo and Ashley will be joined for the climb by two other leading UK chefs: Paul Foster (head chef at Tuddenham Mill in Suffolk); and John Freeman (head chef at Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham).

You can follow the chefs in real time as they train for, and take on Kilimanjaro, via their dedicated blog: www.farmafrica.org/chefswithaltitude

You can also follow all the action on Twitter via #Chefkili

To support Ashley, Paulo, John, Paul and Paul, please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/chefskilimanjaroclimb or text CHEF13 followed by £(amount) to 70070

P.S: content credit & copied from: http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/index.php/events/1012-london-leading-chefs-climb-kilimanjaro-for-charity.html

‘Wise up on Waste’ toolkit for chefs – packed with practical advice

Hotel makes big changes after ‘Wise up on Waste’ toolkit highlights improvement areas

Erskine Bridge in Glasgow, is just one of the many hotels involved in the United Against Waste campaign, using the ‘Wise up on Waste’ toolkit for chefs – packed with practical advice, tips and resources.

In 2011, Unilever Food Solutions, having partnered with the Sustainable Restaurant Association, called upon the hospitality and foodservice industry to tackle avoidable food waste by providing the toolkit for free.

Mark Potter, head chef at the Erskine Bridge Hotel, was fed up of seeing how much food was being thrown away at the end of each day and worked with Unilever Food Solutions to track his food waste over a week.

Mark said: “In just one week the Wise up on Waste toolkit had made a huge difference to the way my team deals with waste. The audit revealed that our breakfast buffet was to blame for the majority of food thrown away – with 17 kilograms of leftover baked beans, sausages and toast on one morning alone.

There is also a free Wise up on Waste mobile app, challenging chefs to reduce their food waste by at least five per cent. It is designed to accurately track food waste over a three-day period highlighting the average waste generated per day and per cover.

For more details on how Unilever Food Solution’s free downloadable Wise up on Waste free toolkit and new app can help your business visit www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.uk/wasteapp

P.S: Credit & content copied from: http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/index.php/hotels/1006-hotel-makes-big-changes-after-wise-up-on-waste-toolkit-highlights-improvement-areas.html

Benefits of careers in the food and beverage industry

Hospitality Guild highlights the benefits of careers in the food and beverage industry

The Hospitality Guild has launched a video and competition to raise awareness of the excellent career opportunities in food and beverage industry.

Starring former Centre of Excellence student Bunmi Okolosi and shot on location at South Downs College, Galvin at Windows, Babylon at the Roof Gardens, the Lockhart and Cinnamon Kitchen, the video aims to highlight some of the exciting places that a career front of house can take an individual.

The ultimate objective of the campaign is to encourage students to sign up on a food and beverage service course at one of the Hospitality Guild accredited Centres of Excellence; New College Nottingham, City College Norwich, Bournemouth and Poole College, University College Birmingham, Runshaw College and South Downs College.

As an added incentive, the guild is offering four lucky students the chance to experience working life at one of the UK's best restaurants with one overall winner jetting off to experience working at a high profile establishment in Europe with all expenses paid.

Suzy Jackson, executive director of the Hospitality Guild said: “Interest in food and beverage service has been growing of late, helped by high profile TV shows like Michel Roux’s Service and by events like National Waiter’s Day. This is brilliant news for this fast-moving sector which has so many exceptional opportunities for fast career advancement.

“People like Bunmi are fabulous ambassadors for this role – he’s been in the sector since graduating from college and has now opened his own business. It’s our aim to show young people and their parents that food and beverage service can be a great, fulfilling career, not just a job. ”

To watch the video, enter the competition and find out more, visit http://www.hospitalityguild.co.uk/Whats-Happening/Campaigns/Food-and-Beverage-Service

P.S: content credit & copied from: http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/index.php/trade-organisations/1011-hospitality-guild-highlights-the-benefits-of-careers-in-the-food-and-beverage-industry.html

The Cavendish London is behind the British Hospitality Association's to reduce the rate of VAT

Cavendish London cuts room rate in support of VAT campaign

The Cavendish London is getting behind the British Hospitality Association's (BHA) Campaign to reduce the rate of VAT in the industry from 20 per cent to five per cent.

The hotel will be the first in the UK to simulate the proposed lower rate of VAT on its room rates during the summer months.

The industry’s on-going campaign to reduce the rate of hospitality VAT will support long-term and sustainable growth for the UK economy.

Independent research shows that a VAT cut on visitor accommodation and attractions would have three massive benefits: it would drive £4 billion of new revenue into the UK, create 80,000 jobs and would not cost the Government anything.

General manager for the Cavendish London, Neil Braude said: “By offering a reduced room rate to simulate less VAT, we are providing our customers with a more affordable stay. In turn, we aim to promote the impact an increase in business and leisure stays will have on the economy, including the creation of new jobs. Ultimately, we hope the Government gets behind this campaign.”

P.S: content credit and copied from: http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/index.php/hotels/1002-cavendish-london-cuts-room-rate-in-support-of-vat-campaign.html 

Independent Hotelier of the Year Award 2013

The Independent Hotel Show has announced the shortlist of nominees for its Independent Hotelier of the Year Award 2013, in association with Towergate Insurance.

The nominees are Robin Hutson of Lime Wood and the Pig hotels in the New Forest; Paul Milsom at Milsom Hotels; Andrew Stembridge at Chewton Glen and Cliveden House; Terence and Vicky Conran, and Peter Prescott of the Boundary Hotelin Shoreditch; Christoph Brooke of Hillbrook Hotels; Charles and Edmund Inkin of the Felin  Fach Griffin in Brecon; Claire Randall of Lucknam Park, near Bath; and Ruth and Ken Hunt of Combe House in Devon.

The award will be given to the individual who has consistently helped change the landscape of the independent, luxury and boutique hotel sector and is a pioneer with a reputation for pushing boundaries. Above all, the winner will be someone committed to the development of their team, the success of their establishment and the industry at large.

Commenting on the award and its significance Tim Etchells, managing director of the Independent Hotel Show organiser SME London Ltd and one of the nomination committee, said: “Following the success of last year’s event we are building on the prestige of the award to recognize real excellence in a fast-paced and highly competitive marketplace. The nominations committee has picked eight highly impressive candidates and we now put them forward to the vote, by others working in the independent hotels industry, to choose who will be crowned Independent Hotelier of the Year 2013 in association with Towergate Insurance.”

The shortlist is now live on the Independent Hotel Show website. To vote, simply register to attend the show here and select your chosen candidate at the end of the registration process. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony immediately following the first day of the show on 30 October 2013.

The shortlist was painstakingly selected by a committee of well-respected industry figures who brought their wealth of experience and expertise to the judging to nominate someone who best reflects excellence in hospitality. The nomination committee included James Lohan, CEO of Mr & Mrs Smith; Peter Hancock, chief executive of Pride of Britain Hotels; Chief executive of the Ellerman Group Ciaran Fahy; Robin Shepherd, the chairman of Bespoke Hotels; Tom Bell the editor of Alistair Sawday’s British Hotels & Inns; Pam Foden, head of industry development at Visit England; and Tim Etchells, managing director of the Independent Hotel Show.

The award offers the perfect opportunity for independent hoteliers to come together and recognize those who have helped to shape, change and make a lasting contribution to the industry. Furthermore, the Independent Hotelier of the Year Award is joined by the inaugural Outstanding New Hotel of the Year Award. The shortlist and subsequent instructions for how to vote for the nominees of this accolade will be announced shortly.

P.S.: content credit and copied from http://www.hotelowner.co.uk/index.php/events/1008-shortlist-announced-for-independent-hotelier-of-the-year-2013.html

The first Tomorrowland Rum – The Elixir of Life

After 9 years of aging, the secret is ready to be unveiled…

The first Tomorrowland Rum – The Elixir of Life – arrived at Tomorrowland.

In 2004 – the first year of Tomorrowland – 10 oak Tomorrowland barrels where stocked deep in the Bacardi cellars hidden in Puerto Rico. This all to blend a special 10 year old Rum next year to celebrate Tomorrowlands 10 year anniversary.

Now in world premiere, Tomorrowland gives you the chance to taste this amazing Rum one year before it’s ready to leave the cellars.

The maestros de Ron came over from Puerto Rico to fill 3 hand crafter CRYSTAL bottles.