Posts Tagged ‘The Dragon Brasserie’

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!!

Why not hit the sales this month and relax & refuel with us at The Dragon Hotel! (more…)

The Dragon Hotel was bursting at the seams on Thursday 15^th 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 21^st 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

BONG – Payslip requests increase.  Accounts Assistant Kelly Palmer has been forced into hiding, following  a surge of employees requesting paperwork.  Today she issued a press release asking for staff of  The Dragon Hotel to remain in their posts and stand together!!

BONG – Tragedy has struck in the Helen John household (Accounts Manager).  Beloved Norman the hamster, who has for the last 18 months entertained friends, family and blog readers passed away peacefully.  This sad news has indeed caused a cloud to hang over the accounts office.

Norman was a happy soul,  he had his faults as we all do.. and was under going therapy for his nut addiction and biting habit.   Forensic reports showed traces of nut in his bloodstream and tiny nut particles hidden under his bed.  Police are not treating his death as suspicious. The family have asked people to respect their privacy at this difficult time.

BONG – Administrator airs her assests.  The people of Briton Ferry were shocked and outraged when Kelly Allen dared to bare all in a comedy play written by Eric Chappell.  The shapely sex bomb suggestively sauntered onto the  stage and bared her bootie in  a blatantly bold display.  Members of the public are being treated for shock and their families have been informed.

…and now the weather

Cold and damp for the remainder of the week, followed by cold and damp!!

It’s the pitter patter of four tiny feet for Louise our reservations manager as she has a new addition to the family!!

Flo the British Bulldog is new to the Reservations team here, and is busy at work..

It’s a hard life being a dog!

Flo is only 8 weeks old, so Louise is now her substitute Mama.

Flo likes nothing more than having her belly tickled and biting your toes!

Flo is originally from North Wales but is now a fully fledged Swansea Jack, even down to her toes being black & white!

Hopefully when Flo is big enough you will see her strutting the green at Crufts!

Take advantage of this great opportunity to enjoy a sporting weekend in style here at The Dragon Hotel, Swansea!  (more…)

Once again, it’s time for us to honour a Team Member whose actions and efforts have impressed and inspired us.  There was no hesitation or debate within the team that the very special and deserving person to take the title Team Member of the Month for August was the lovely Tanisha Williams – Conference & Banqueting Supervisor.  Tanisha has been the recipient of this award on a number of occasions now which goes to show how valued she is.

Tanisha has been with us at the Dragon Hotel for 8 years and has worked her way up through the ranks to her most recent promotion to full time Conference & Banqueting Supervisor.  Her dedication to the role and to providing first class customer service is inspirational.

Tanisha is also the Queen of Christmas tree decorating which was beautifully demonstrated at our recent ‘Christmas in September’ event.

T-aking the initiative, you never do complain,

A-lways happy, never glum, in sunshine or in rain

N-ever do you quibble when tasks are big or small

I-nspiring all around you, you’re a credit to us all!

S-miling as you work, with quiet grace you serve,

H-elpful to guests and staff alike, this honour you deserve

A-n inspiration to us all, and also you are really tall!!

The Dragon Hotel , Swansea entertained guests to an early Christmas last night when we hosted our Christmas in September party.

Guests were invited to celebrate the festive season early where they were greeted by Santa in the lovely hot sunshine! A mulled wine drinks reception was hosted in the lounge followed by Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings and our resident DJ with his tunes. Santa gave out festive gifts early where everyone received a gift voucher to spend in the hotel.

The Christmas Quiz got everybody in the festive swing with 3 tables calling it a draw!

The event was organised to promote our Christmas parties so if you would like further information please contact our events team on 01792 657125/126 or view our Christmas page.

Thank you all once again for a great night.

See you all soon, Sarah, Cath, Gethyn, Sian, Cheryl, Helen & Tara