Love was in the air at The Dragon Hotel on Valentine’s day
Our bedrooms were presented with swans and rose petals
Valentine’s menu was a big success with our guests
Everyone including staff really enjoyed the occasion
Many thanks to Jaidon Williams for his hard work making the bedrooms look fantastic!
It’s once again that time where we proudly announce the member of staff who has stood out amongst all. Our team member of the month goes to our ‘Kitchen Porter’ Christopher Brown!
Chris has worked for the Hotel since July 2009, since his time at the hotel he has clearly demonstrated that his commitment and determination to his job shines through! From washing dishes to helping to prepare for some of our large events, Chris has been a big support to Steve and his team of chefs!
Chris has now decided to move departments within the hotel and will be joining our night’s team later this month. I am sure that he will continue to show great enthusiasm within his new role and be an asset to Kelly and her team!
Please join me in saying ‘Congratulations’ Chris on your well deserved award and good luck in your new position!
Shrove Tuesday will be upon us so we thought we’d get in really early and make sure that not only are you prepared for some flipping good fun, but you’re also having a healthy pancake day this year!
Tara Hammett, our Health Club Manager and one of Swansea and South Wales’ top Personal Trainers (Did we mention finalist in the National Fitness Awards Personal Trainer of the Year 2012?) has shared her healthy pancake recipe that will keep your mid week healthy nutrition in check! It’s gluten free, high in fibre and massive on taste!
Ingredients: (for one pancake, increase ingredients accordingly)
For the pancake:
1 Tablespoon Coconut Flour
2 Egg Whites
¼ Cup Coconut Milk
For cooking in the pan:
Coconut Oil
For adding at the end (optional):
¼ teaspoon Truvia
Lemon
Mix all your pancake ingredients together. Firstly I whisked my egg whites up, then I added the flour and milk to a nice little batter.
Add ½ teaspoon of coconut oil to the pan and swish it around.
Add your pancake batter to the pan and cook on one side for about a minute whilst swishing (said that twice now) the batter evenly around the edges.
Then…..the next move is your shout….what will it be??
A Flip????
Or
Risk a toss???
Well…..I’m gonna put it out there – I flipped!! Which I must say is medium on the adventurous scale, because sometimes I totally bail out and cook the other side under the grill (top tip).
Cook the other side for about another 30 seconds, then slide it out onto your plate, sprinkle with a bit of truvia and squeeze some fresh lemon and tuck in!!
NOM!!
So, you’ve had fun, you feel like you’ve indulged and you can enjoy the rest of your evening guilt free!!
Macros per pancake:
139 kCals
9g Protein
6g Carbs
3g Fibre
9g Fat
Enjoy!!!
Tara x
We are pleased to announce that The Dragon Hotel has become an Associate Hotel with Macdonald Hotels & Resorts.
This marks a really exciting chapter for the hotel. Macdonald Hotels & Resorts has over 45 hotels across the UK and 6 resorts in Spain and Portugal. One of the UK’s largest privately-owned hotel groups, with its roots in Scotland, we’re looking forward to being part of a family that also includes famous hotels such as the five-star Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel and Macdonald Compleat Angler on the banks of the River Thames.
The hotel will continue to be owned by asset management and property development firm London Devonshire Trust and The Dragon Hotel brand will not be changing. This is yet another new chapter in the hotel’s colourful history – we thank you for your continued support during this exciting time.
Well she couldn’t have picked a busier week to come and join The Dragon Hotel, but our Work Experience girl Katherine made the most of her Week of Work. Organized by Swansea University where she is a Language student, the scheme was set up to help those who didn’t have much experience get an insight into the running of a hotel.
During her days with us, she has got stuck into the cleaning of the rooms (literally getting tangled in the bed sheets . . . but got the hang of it in the end). Attended the meetings after which she had taken in so much information an urgent lunch break was needed, and helpfully created 2 months worth of Hootsuite databases which the staff seemed extremely grateful for!
Most importantly though, she got to talk to most of the people who work at the hotel, who sat down with her and explained their personal roles in detail. This was a great help to her and she is extremely grateful to those who took time out of their jobs to talk to her about their responsibilities at The Dragon Hotel.
Of course the snow arrived, which meant Katherine had the experience of seeing the trouble this bought to working life. However, even though the weather outstayed its welcome she never got the impression that she was doing the same.
Everyone has been so welcoming and friendly! And despite the fact that according to her badge, her name was ‘Work Experience’, they all remembered her name and always took the chance to ask how her experience was going and if she was enjoying her time here.
On the whole, her time with The Dragon Hotel has proved to be a great experience and she has enjoyed every second! She would like to thank all of those who have looked after her in the different departments (there are too many to name!) and a special thanks to the General Manager Catherine Garcia for giving her this opportunity!
She will look forward to seeing you again when she visits the hotel – which after seeing the rooms, will be very soon!!
Well it has been a very coooold one in Swansea!
The snow certainly came and made its mark and it’s been getting to the health club staff as outdoor training has been a no go and it’s been quiet as many of the team’s personal training clients from Swansea have been snowed in, even though Swansea City Centre was still moving. Although residential areas certainly resembled more of a winter wonderland!
Andrew hasn’t been out on his bike for a week – which is unheard of! Tara had to sleep in the hotel (not that she’s moaning) on Thursday night. Rob has put on a few pounds as he’s not been able to go out running and believes ‘comfort eating’ will protect him from the cold. James has also missed a few gym sessions but luckily, we all have Tara’s home HIIT workout video’s to follow to make sure the snow doesn’t sabotage our fitness to much!
But…we’re hopeful that the big melt is on its way and getting back to fitness and healthy eating is high on the agenda!
Tara has kicked off the Diet Tribe with Badger & Claire on 96.4fm The Wave and we’re all looking forward to seeing how much weight the tribe will lose over the next 6 weeks! Listen out to Tara on air for all her top fitness and nutrition tips.
You can also download her FREE E-book and join in with the journey on Facebook.
We hope you’re keeping safe & warm and continuing with your healthy 2013 goals!!
Want a change from the normal Advent calendar?
Need some motivation to keep in shape in December and burn off the Christmas party buffet & the celebratory drink or two?
Then join in with Tara Hammett, one of the Top Personal Trainers in Swansea and The Dragon Hotel Health Club Manager as she kicks off her FREE ‘Merry Fitmas – Advent Workouts’
Tara will be kicking off the festive fitness on Saturday 1st December and will be helping keep everyone fit & fab with 12 minute home workouts that you can do every morning. You can join in too for free and receive your short workouts every morning in your inbox. Take part with hundreds of others and stay in shape for your party outfits and sign up with your email on www.taransformation.com
So get ready to open the Advent workout doors and make December 2012 the most fittest, fabulous and festive yet!
Merry Fitmas from The Dragon Team!!
The Dragon Hotel was bursting at the seams on Thursday 15th November when we welcomed over 300 guests to celebrate Beaujolais Day. While many cities have seen a decline in Beaujolais celebrations Swansea has grown from strength to strength and The Dragon Hotel has been fully booked since September with a waiting list!!!
The Dragon Brasserie and restaurant was offering individual bookings with many city businesses taking a table to entertain their clients and The Pembrey Suite hosted a three course lunch with entertainment from Colin Price and resident DJ.
The lunch event in our Pembrey suite was sponsored by Croner Solutions who did a quiz on HR with a chance to win a bottle of Champagne and the room was decorated by Flags & Bunting Galore who boast a huge collection of traditional Sewn Flags
The afternoon continued into the early evening when our resident DJ hit the decks and entertained guests with some French classics!!!
Beaujolais Day is on Thursday 21st November 2013…………………..book now to avoid disappointment by calling our Events Team on 01792 657100
Watch out for our first ‘St David’s Day Event’!!!!
This weekend I took part in the most INCREDIBLE experience of my life. Strictly Swansea was the most magnificent event and I feel so lucky to have been part of it. The journey was so emotional, I was nervous, scared, anxious but also very very excited!
Many months ago Blanche Sainsbury, the Managing Director of SWWMedia had a lightbulb moment about a Strictly event and I was so excited that I was asked to dance. Taking on a challenge and learning a new skill is right up my street, but never in my life would I have predicted that it would soon become one of the biggest highlights of my life.
Mario and Rebekah from DeMarco’s Dance School in Swansea have been amazing. They are the most incredible instructors and now wonderful friends and I can’t thank them enough for all the effort they have put in to teaching me, and all the others who were dancing on the night. My new Strictly family!
I also feel like the luckiest girl to have been teamed up with the amazing Blair Crewther. We got on like a house on fire from day 1. Blair had a hard task of putting up with me over the months, but he is the most patient, professional and fabulous person (and an amazing dancer btw) and with the help of Mario and Rebekah, somehow managed to turn me into a dancer! We have had so much fun along the way and have become brilliant friends.
The night was a huge success and I was over the moon with my Rumba performance with Blair.
We had the highest score of the night with an amazing 10 from Mark Jermin, 9 from Camilla Dallerup and 10 from Kevin Sacre! Wowweee!
I was so happy to get to the final with the lovely Melanie Walters and along with Lara Johnson, who was so fab the judges decided to choose her with a wild card; we had a really tough Jive in the dance off. It was one of the hardest workouts even for me as a Personal Trainer in Swansea but the best fun too!! Melanie was the winner of the night, and I was proud to have come second and delighted to have raised £300 for my chosen charity Tan Yr Allt Service Users Fund.
Now my amazing journey is over I have the Post-Strictly Blues. I want to go back in time. (In fact, Blair is also amazing by day and is a scientist – so I’m putting all my faith in him to invent me a time machine pronto!!) I miss my lessons, I miss Mario & Rebekah, I miss my new friends that also went through the same journey as me and I miss Blair. Sooooooo…that can only mean one thing!!! I’ve got to keep at it.
Strictly Swansea may be over for me now, but the journey was too amazing to leave there. The dancing shoes are with me to stay and I can’t wait to see what exciting memories they will see me through in the future!!
Keeeeeep Dancing!
Tara xxxx
