Table talk

14 June 2001
Table talk

And, of course, we British never complain

It's the little things that make or break a foreign tourist's holiday to the UK, according to a survey conducted by the British Tourist Authority. Bathrooms that are carpeted rather than tiled floor German and Dutch visitors, bidet-free bathrooms do not wash with the Spanish, while no-smoking zones are a no-no for French and Italian guests. Hotel staff should avoid pressing New Zealanders for tips - they find it embarrassing - and steer Japanese guests away from the number four (it's their version of unlucky 13). Amid this minefield of cultural tastes, the non-complaining Belgians may seem like a godsend. The downside, however, is that you'll never know if you have upset them.

Perhaps he should call it the Fat Drake

From the DailyTelegraph‘s television and radio guide, 2 June: "There's science and gastronomy later on Radio 4 in Kitchen Cornucopia, in which physicist Dr Peter Barnham and UK Chef of the Year Hester Blumenthal combine to prepare a three-part feast in her kitchen at the celebrated Fat Duck restaurant in Bray."

Maybe he handed the key in at reception

A German man had to call police after he lost the key to the handcuffs he used to chain his wife to a hotel bed in Cologne. Officers used a selection of handcuff keys but could not free the woman. In the end, firefighters were called in to use bolt cutters. The man insisted he had searched the room before calling the police.

You don't like the view, we'll change it

Engineers in China have begun the biggest and heaviest hotel relocation project in Chinese history. With the help of pneumatic pumps, concrete rails and sliding steel rollers, they are moving the six-storey, 8,000-tonne Jiang Nan hotel 26 metres to make way for a new road. What is particularly striking about the engineering feat is that they are so confident they can move the entire building safely that they are allowing guests to stay at the hotel while they reposition it.

Hilton and Jarvis look for net profit

Employees at hotel consultant Insignia will be taking a day off from their Berkeley Square offices one day next month to raise money for industry charity Hospitality Action with a tennis tournament. Not all the action is likely to be that charitable, however: several of the entrants are from rival consultants and agents, all determined to win the Insignia trophy for their own office. But they will have to get by a number of determined competitors first, including regular doubles partners David Michels, chief executive of Hilton, and John Jarvis, of the hotel group of the same name. Needless to say, neither man likes losing, so it should be an interesting day. For information, contact Heulwen Jones at Insignia: 020 7491 0404.

A new slant on power breakfasts

Los Angeles Airport has begun a six-month programme to recycle leftover food into power generators, which feed electricity into the local grid. Each year, 7,800 tonnes of food is wasted by diners at the airport's restaurants.

A little too literal

A man who paid £600 for a singles holiday in Tuscany, in Italy, arrived at his hotel to find that he was the only person there. He flew back to London the same day.

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