Letters

01 January 2000
Letters

Guides must keep track of changes

I have just read the news report "Top guides admit failing to inspect hotels this year" (Caterer, 9 September, page 4).

Good grief - how on earth can guides claim to give an accurate picture to their customers when they have not even visited or inspected the establishments listed?

For the past three years Taste of Scotland has committed to taking a meal in every establishment listed in its publication and under no circumstances would it place a feature if there had not been a thorough inspection. Even now, as we are about to go to print with the 2000 edition of the guide, there are places selling and changing hands. In this business, information goes out of date very quickly.

We are a much smaller organisation than the AA. However, our members will confirm the very real significance and business benefits brought by Taste of Scotland membership. There can be no doubt that our customers and members all find that our methodology works.

Amanda Clark

Chief Executive,

Taste Of Scotland,

Edinburgh.

Dying days of the corporate jolly

Queens Moat Houses has blamed a decline in the number of conferences for a fall in its pre-tax profits. The group claims that belt-tightening by corporate clients was a contributory factor.

As the operator of a group of conference centres dedicated to business users, we are finding increasingly that in order to justify their spending companies are seeking to get away from the idea of a "jolly at a smart hotel". The days of living it up on expenses with the excuse of being at a conference are fast disappearing. Ever-aware of the bottom line, those who hold budgets need to be seen to be spending more wisely than ever.

While corporate clients may well be belt-tightening, they are seeking to be more focused and accountable about where they spend. I predict that more companies will devote a larger proportion of their budgets to corporate education and training and that they will continue to make the switch away from hotels to dedicated conference and training centres.

Jane Littlewood

Sales and Operation Director,

Hayley Conference Centres,

Milton Keynes,

Buckinghamshire.

Hotels pay less for Soft drinks

Who's being na‹ve about the price of drinks, Helen Liddell (Caterer, 26 August, page 10) or Brian Taylor (Caterer, 16 September, page 20)?

Mr Taylor justifies exorbitant prices for soft drinks because they're served in a five-star establishment.

However, I do not accept the notion that simply buying in a product for onward sale, without any further processing save emptying into a glass, justifies the high prices charged. Has he forgotten that most hotel chains are able to purchase drinks below the cost level available to corner shops and that the price charged by the corner shop also includes an element for wages, profit, etc?

John M Spencer

Livingston, West Lothian.

Changing the view of ‘Ripoff Britain'

Earlier this month I was among several British hoteliers attending the Travel Mart organised by API, the North American association of leading travel agents, held in Whistler, BC, Canada.

The event centred on three days of intensive selling to upwards of 300 agents. While the interest in Britain as a destination was always a priority, many agents commented on how expensive they felt Britain had become.

Obviously, one did one's best to reassure them that this was not necessarily the case throughout the UK but that, maybe, the cost of accommodation in London was having a knock-on effect in other regions of the country. This argument, however, was not helped by an article that appeared in the Vancouver Sun on Saturday 4 September under the heading "Ripoff Britain". Travel agents are not slow to take in such press comments, particularly when the article states that food, cars and travel are much cheaper in Europe.

I feel there is a lesson to be learnt here: not only that we as UK citizens are undoubtedly being overcharged for a whole range of products and services, but that, if the situation is not addressed quickly by government, industry and retailers, it could have a considerable adverse effect on our tourist industry.

Perhaps the arrival of cost-cutting supermarket chain Wal-Mart will do a lot more than just help UK citizens get a better deal. It may also assist in convincing overseas tourists that Britain can still offer good value for money.

David A White

Shurdington, Gloucestershire.

l See Reader diaries, page 22.

Hotel guide for the disabled

The Smooth Ride Guide to the United Kingdom is a guide for travellers with disabilities. We are now researching our next guide, which includes accommodation.

We are sure that we have missed some hotels. It would be useful if any that do offer adapted rooms could contact us so that we may include them, if appropriate.

We are funded by a National Lottery grant and there is no charge whatsoever for an entry in the guide - indeed, we need your submissions.

July Ramsey

Smooth Ride Guides,

Duck Street Barns,

Furneux Pelham,

Hertfordshire SG9 0LA.

Tel: 01279 777966

Ickworth and the National Trust

Following the article "Luxury hotel proposed for Ickworth House" (Caterer, 23 September, page 5), the National Trust would like to point out that it has had no contact with prospective partners for the development of the east wing at Ickworth.

It was suggested that the most likely candidate is luxury hotel group Cliveden. The National Trust would wish to emphasise that it has had no approached from, nor has it made any approaches to, this or any other group of prospective operators.

The National Trust will be undertaking an extensive advertising campaign in early November and intends to operate an open and strictly controlled selection procedure.

Richard Hill

The National Trust,

East Anglia Regional Office,

Norwich.

Guide's facts were checked

Paul Whittome has criticised the Good Hotel Guide for getting its facts wrong (Caterer, 23 September, page 10). It is a pity that, unlike the 600 other hoteliers in the guide, he did not take the trouble to make sure we were given accurate information.

We sent him a copy of his entry in last year's guide, asking him to read and correct any errors of fact. He did not inform us that jazz evenings are no longer held. And when we asked in our questionnaire if smoking was banned in the restaurant or any public rooms, he wrote "No".

We suspect that the real reason he is unhappy with his entry is that it referred to criticisms from readers.

Caroline and Adam Raphael

Joint Editors

The Good Hotel Guide,

London W11.

You can't buy objectivity

With the best will in the world, it is inevitable that there will be some mistakes in the thousands of facts contained in a typical guidebook.

It seems, on the basis of your report, that the publisher of the Good Hotel Guide did try to confirm the facts, but the hotelier failed to respond. He now seeks to condemn the guide on account of his (the hotelier's) own failure to co-operate.

You can concentrate proprietors' minds on getting the facts in a guide right, of course - by charging them for entries and giving them copy approval. The problem is that the subjective "opinions" in the resulting guides are entirely without value.

Richard and Peter Harden

Harden's Guides,

London WC2.

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