Posts Tagged ‘Accomodation in Swansea’

Louise Howells, Tim Priestland and Cath Garcia

It was a pleasure to see so many enjoying afternoon tea on Monday, 11th April 2011 when The Dragon Memories Exhibition was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Swansea, Councillor Richard Lewis.  With a trip down memory lane conducted by historian Professor Peter Stead, memories were flowing as swiftly as the tea and coffee!

With a delightful mixture of those who used to work at the hotel, those who celebrated their weddings here and those who simply came to enjoy the afternoon teas of a Saturday, there were plenty of tales captured live on air as Shanny broadcasted live for The Wave.

Ex Dragon staff take a trip down memory lane

The exhibition runs throughout the public areas of the hotel until May 12th 2011 and all are welcome to visit at their leisure to view the memorabilia on display.

Happy St David’s Day everyone, the daffodils are blooming and the sun is shining!!

Tracey and I have been enjoying the 6 nations, we won’t talk about the team’s one defeat! We are preparing for the descent of our friends across the water – the Irish.  They definitely know how to party in style.  We love our Celtic visitors they are all so much fun!

“…Have I told you lately that I love you?” (The dulcet tones of our Reservations Manager fill the Front office and dogs everywhere start to howl!!)

Calling all Rod Stewart fans out there, we are already very busy for the 1^st June so don’t leave it too late to reserve your room..  I am in great preparation learning all of his songs and I love to sing – badly as Tracey would say!! That should be a very good day/night so get your hair coiffed and your ‘Handbags & Gladrags’ at the ready!

Congratulations to Lee Langley who was awarded The Dragon Hotel’s prestigeous Team Member of the Month award for December! 

Lee is a member of our reception night’s team, who has over the Christmas season put in numerous extra hours, including time spent within other departments helping at festive events, as well as spending the best part of the snow week in house to ensure he was present for work as usual.      

Lee joined the team at The Dragon Hotel in September 2010, bringing with him work experience from various bars and nightclubs within the Swansea area.  During his short time here Lee has become a valued member of the reception team and we would like to take this opportunity to welcome him to The Dragon Hotel. 

Some interesting get to know you facts about Lee:

1. Lee has been in a relationship with his partner Dom for 2 years.
2. Lee is a second Dan in Wado Ryu karate.
3. His favorite film of all time is Seven.  
4. His worst fear is spiders (apparently snakes and rats are not an issue).
5. Lee’s friends and colleges describe him as bubbly and friendly. 
6. Lee has described himself as spurious. 

 Well done Lee and thank you for your continuous hard work!

It gives us great pleasure to award the prestigious Team Member of the Month award for November to the lovely Tanisha, who has elf-lessly gone above and beyond to ensure that the Hotel was trimmed up to perfection ready for Christmas!

Like a shining star she tirelessly ‘Decked the Halls’ and made sure that every tree was worthy of ‘Rockin’ around’ in preparation for the seasonal festivities and with five trees to trim it was ‘snow’ mean feat!

With all the effort she has put in whilst continuing to deliver excellent customer service and high standards it’s no surprise to learn that this year Tanisha can be found on Santa’s NICE list (and we’ve checked it twice!) and her one Christmas wish this year is to find Taylor Lauter in her stocking!!

 Some interesting facts that you never knew about Tanisha:

1. Her most favourite food is Chicken Fried Rice (Turkey for Christmas Day!)
2. She is a big fan of the TV show Glee!
3. Her most embarrassing moment ever was when she went to school and discovered that she was wearing odd shoes!! Talk about having two left feet or the boot being on the other foot!!
4. She has worked at the Dragon Hotel for six and a half years and still loves her job.

 Well done Tanisha and thank you for all your hard work!

That time of year is here again!! (Too quickly may I add)…. The Reservations department tends to be quieter this time of year, but the hotel is buzzing with people for their Christmas Parties, the sound of crackers and blowers and the good old Christmas songs…(Which I love to sing badly too!) We have been very busy preparing for the descent of the Irish fans for the Rugby match of Ospreys V Munster, we will show the Irish how to have a good Welsh Christmas!! Tracey and I have managed to stay injury free during the Baltic conditions that we have all been experiencing, although we have been Dancing on Ice most mornings. We have been very good girls this year and we have asked Santa for: A British Bulldog – for me (Squire may disapprove!) and enough bling to sink the Cruise ships that she resides on every summer for Tracey!! We would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The tag line reads ‘The Best of The Best’ and staff and management at The Dragon Hotel are indeed delighted to be included within this elite group once again. (more…)

An Ode to Kasia

Cleaning this and polishing that,

 always a smile and ready to chat,

Scrubbing here and vacuuming there,

unwavering standards of customer care

Your boundless energy shining through,

in all you say and all you do.

The extra mile by far exceeded

As you strive to do what’s needed.

You never grumble, never gripe

 about the things you have to wipe,

You get stuck in and never cease

 with vigour, vim and elbow grease.

With many thanks for all you do, team member this month belongs to you!!

Well done to Kasia for being chosen as Team Member of the Month for October 2010.  Kasia originates from Poland and has worked at the Hotel for 5 years, during this time she has become a highly valued member of the House Keeping Team.  Always ready with a smile and hello to both staff and guests and consistently maintains the highest standards in all she does.

Kasia got married in May this year and is so far enjoying being a wife (give her a few years!)

She is a fan of most sports but in particular Volley ball, unfortunately she doesn’t have time to participate anymore what with making the Hotel glisten and gleam!  Her favourite food is vegetable and chicken soup and her favourite colour is white (not a recommended colour choice whilst eating soup!)

Thanks and congratulations

By Friday morning every semblance of style was out the window if you had looked closely at the lucky few that had been celebrating the night before, but nothing can detract from The Dragon Hotel’s win last Thursday night at The Wave & Swansea Sound Culture & Lifestyle Awards.   A big thank you is due to all those who supported the popular city centre hotel as they depended on the public’s on-line voting to claim victory in The Hotel Award with TWK Thomas and Manor Park.

In a spectacular black tie event at Swansea’s Waterfront Museum with entertainment from the likes of Britain’s Got Talent success story, local dancers A3, and last season’s X Factor runner up Olly Murs, the evening celebrated a mixture of iconic Swansea classics as well as the latest enterprises to hit the city.

Long standing favourite The Cross Keys claimed success in The Bar Award sponsored by Swansea BID and new face Odyssey was victorious in The After Dark Award with The Norton House Hotel.  Café TwoCann added to their list of awards with The Coffee Culture Award sponsored by McDonalds and MODA was the winner of The Boutique Fashion Award. 

Cath Garcia, of The Dragon Hotel says ‘Winning an award like this, where members of the public go out of their way to vote, is a real privilege.  It’s like a big thank you card that tells us our hard work does not go unnoticed.’  

 According to Sean Tighe of The Wave and Swansea Sound, the calibre of nominations this year was strong ‘It’s difficult to believe that such eminent establishments such as Morgans Hotel or  Oceana night club came in as runners up – such is the quality of life in and around Swansea these days.’  He says.  ‘The amount of votes cast was staggering as well.  The response from our listeners has been tremendous, a real testament to the city in which we live.’

It has been a busy time in reservations as myself and Louise have been enjoying our well deserved 2 weeks holidays.

I have just returned from a fab 2 week cruise with Royal Caribbean which took us around France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. What a ship it had a rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, surf rider and for the shopaholics a promenade the length of the ship with shops, bars and cafes plus too much more to list.

Myself and my husband Peter were treated like VIP’s for the whole 2 weeks and could really get used to living like that.

Our stay was in a balcony cabin and the view certainly is not the same from my office window!

We have already booked again for next June and have set the countdown on our computer at home (I think this is what is classed as wishing your life away)

Louise is currently on leave for 2 weeks but is not going away just enjoying her days off and is no doubt missing me loads.

Bedrooms have been busy at the Hotel over the last couple of months including some celeb guests. We have seen Victor Spinetti, Sandra Dickinson and Norman Pace stay with us while they starred in a show at the Grand Theatre. We also had Rolf Harris stay while in Swansea overnight.

We will keep an eye out for anymore celebs and keep you updated in future blogs.

Check out this article from Visit Wales giving tips on what to do if you’re in Swansea for a couple of days: http://www.canada.visitwales.com/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.12924 - how great to be included in this glowing report of the city by the sea!