My name is David McDonald, one of the General Managers within Coast and Country Hotels. I moved to St Mawes in November 2011 after spending the majority of my life in Devon, upon moving I was keen to discover Cornwall and the history of this beautiful part of the world.

Cornish Flag

My grandfather had been a farmer in Cornwall for over 40 years, and it felt right to discover Cornwall for myself and learn more. One of these things which interested me most is the Cornish language.

“Kernowek” – The language of Cornwall

What is it?

Kernowek is the name for the language which has historically been spoken by those in Cornwall.  The language is still important to many within Cornwall and is indeed spoken by many, it is seen as vital to the heritage and culture to some within Cornwall.

Where is it from?

Descending from a Brythonic Celtic language it is still recognised as a minority language, protected by the European Charter.  Kernowek was spoken for centuries within Cornwall until the English language became dominant, however in a minority it continued through the centuries to be used, and some still use it today!

Can you teach me some?

• Dydh da! – Hello!

• Duw genes! – Goodbye!

• Mar pleg – Please

• Meur ras – Thank you

• Sowyn – Cheers

And finally most importantly

• Pinta hweg yw hemma – Lovely pint this

Where can I learn more?

There is lots of information online and even some college courses which can be taken to learn the language.  Some links I found interesting are:

http://www.moderncornish.net
http://kw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernowek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_language

Discover Cornwall

St Mawes Castle can be seen from the National Maritime Museum

Cornwall has a huge amount of attractions and locations to visit, a few of my favourite’s are St Michael’s Mount in Marazion now owned by The National Trust, originally the site of a Benedictine Chapel, the spectacular castle on the rock dates from the 14th Century. National Maritime Museum, you can explore many galleries laid out over five floors. The museum is not all about boats you can climb the 100ft “Look Out Tower” and see Falmouth’s famous harbour from the skies. No trip to Cornwall would be complete without a visit to The Eden Project, here you can wonder around the two distinct biosphere’s, the Humid Tropical Biome featuring a jungle environment and the Warm Temperate Biome, featuring plant species from the Mediterranean, South Africa and California. Whilst outside there is a series of landscaped gardens where you can enjoy a diverse collection of plants from the Wild Cornwall section to the terraced tea slopes.

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In these modern times where the average temperate has risen 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century we are confronted daily with issues across the world concerning Global Warming and Environmental Sustainability highlighting how everyone must play their part in reducing their carbon footprint by becoming more eco friendly.

Here at Bay hotels we as a company are committed to environmental sustainability recognising that everyone has an important role to play. To this end over the last 3 years we have had a major drive to improve our Environmental Sustainability and doing what we can to help reduce our carbon footprint. In this blog post I will highlight some of the latest projects we have embarked on to help reduce our carbon emissions.

Reducing our Carbon Footprint

We have put more focus into training all of our staff on “Environmental Sustainability ” which is now part of our induction training courses and “Sustainable Tourism” is now one of the topics on an annual training calendar.

Moving on from training we looked at our recycling and waste management and by working closely with Biffa, our waste disposal company, we have been able to increase the amount of waste that got recycled since last year with 34% of our total waste now getting recycled. This 34% equated to an increase of 1.6 million litres of waste being diverted from landfills in to recycling plants.

Recycling and Waste Management

It is not only our refuse that we recycle but we also have a contract with 3663, one of our main food suppliers, whereby the oil we use in the kitchens currently is collected and recycled through Convert 2 Green. This oil is then used to fuel some of the 3663 fleet that deliver to our hotels.

Looking at some of the hotel projects that have been undertaken there is a new more efficient electrical heating system at the Valley of Rocks, New energy efficient gas boilers at the Eden Arms, New timed heated towel rails and LED lighting have been fitted at a number of hotels helping to reduce our energy output. Since this energy reduction drive consumption has been reduced by 17%.

Energy Efficient Lighting

It is not just energy that we have been able to reduce as since 2010 by improving awareness across our hotels and updating water controls where possible we have lowered our water consumption by nearly 8%

Lower Water Consumption

Moving further into 2013 we are continuing to improve these projects but also taking on some new ones as we have already installed more than 200 bedrooms with new LED lighting and have over 400 more planned and its only April. Also new heating systems in various hotels will be installed to help decrease their energy output.

All of the benefits implemented above have helped us achieve a much better energy efficiency score in the governments CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) league tables where we now stand at 303 out of 2097 submissions against the 926 we previously scored. This means that our actual Carbon Dioxide emissions decreased by 14.7%, which was a whopping 2,869 Tonnes all of which helps us to with our ongoing environmental sustainability mission.

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In this month’s “What’s on where?”  There are a number of attraction’s coming up around the country to cover a wide range of interests. If you’re a food lover then on the 20th April in Durham just 10 minutes from the Bay Eden Arms the Food Festival features numerous demonstrations, talks, book signings and samples on offer to whet your appetite. After all that food some exercise may be in order so  on the 27th April  the Devon and Exmoor walking festival happens which is dubbed “The UK’s Most Scenic Walking Festival” and starts near the Bay Valley of Rocks hotel in Ilfacombe. Moving up to East Anglia also on the 27th at the Bay Carlton there is the East Anglian Game & Country Fair an annual two day family event held at the Norfolk Showground, Norwich.

Fresh Oysters

Too busy this month to take in some of those events then why not take in something more musical at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival just half an hour’s drive from the Bay Prince of Wales starting on the 1st May with performing acts like Lianne La Havas, Van Morrison and Dionne Warwick.

If Jazz is a little to gentle for your taste then visit the World record breaking Pirate Festival in Fishing town of Brixham on the 4th and 5th May being only a 20 minute drive from the Bay Torbay, Bay Trecarn, Bay Esplanade and Bay Tor Park you could go and try to enter the record books yourself. If you wanted something more relaxed there is the Devon County show running for 3 days from the 16th May which is the largest show in Devon and Kids go free. This year there will be the JCB stunt team performing their gravity defying routine, the UKs leading mountain bike and freestyle display team demonstrating their skills and 2 national cattle shows.

This is to name but a few but there are plenty more that can be found at our Whats on Where page if you click here.

Jazz Festival

If you have been to any of these we would love to hear your thoughts on them or if there are any events you think should be included please leave a comment below.

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With the vast majority of the hotel refurbishment complete here at the Torbay hotel with only a few pictures left to put up we have been around again and got some more photographs to share with you all.

We feel that the Hotel refurbishment work that has been undertaken over the 2 weeks has made a vast improvement to the look and feel of the room creating a much more modern, contemporary, light and airy feel to the rooms. This was phase 1 of a 2 part refurbishment project covering 12 rooms being renovated to the new specification of bedroom and bathroom decor which will be complete by the end of this week.

Some of the work that goes into a hotel refurbishment of a room and bathroom means completely gutting the rooms as you can see down to the bare minimum from removing furniture to the carpets, tiles, curtains and bathroom units. From then the contractors are able to do the necessary plumbing and electrical work needed before any structural works are carried out (as in 417’s bathroom). Following the hard renovations they start work on the soft furnishing with the paining, laying of new carpets, installing the new furniture and lighting etc finishing with the pictures, curtains, appliances and amenities. After all this is complete and the housekeeping staff have put the finishing touches to the room it is ready for you to move in and enjoy your comfortable stay.

Day 8 308
Day 11 308
Day 14 308
Day 8 417
Day 11 417
Day 14 417

As we start looking ahead, over the coming months there are another 19 hotels with 256 rooms that are going to be refurbished as well as some public areas and a ballroom so ther will be a lot to look forward to over the coming months!

The post Torbay Hotel Refurbishment Project Part 2 appeared first on Bay Hotels Blog.

Here at Bay hotels we are constantly looking to move forward and listen to what you, our guests, are saying. With this in mind we have been undertaking an extensive refurbishment projects across a number of our hotels already this year including the Bay Glenburn, Bay St Ives, Bay Esplanade, Bay Beresford, Bay Valley of Rocks and the Bay Dilkhusa Grand totalling 84 rooms being refurbished already and that was just in January. As the year progresses we are looking to continue this refurbishment in other hotels and although we will keep you informed as and when they have taken place we thought it would be a good idea to show you a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes. During the latest 2 week hotel refurbishment that finishes shortly at the Bay Torbay Hotel I have been photo documenting the progress as it happens to share it with you.

Day 1 of the project room 308 looked like this
Day 3 308
Day 5 308
And 417 looked like this
Day 3 417
Day 5 417

As work carries on I will continue to document progress and will soon upload the 2^nd and final instalment of the refurbishment so watch this space for the finished product.

What do you think about the refurbishments? Do you have any ideas you would like to share with us, if so you can have your say below in the comments box. We would love to hear from you.

The post Torbay Hotel Refurbishment Project Part 1 appeared first on Bay Hotels Blog.

Example of Refurbished Standard Room

During the month of January we have been busy maintaining our hotels as part of our ongoing commitment to improving our facilities and giving guests the best experience possible. One of those items that makes your short break more enjoyable is your room. In January we have put a lot of work into our refurbishment projects including guests rooms at a number of hotels…

Bay Glenburn Hotel, Rothesay
In total 12 standard bedrooms have been refurbished

Bay St Ives Hotel, St Ives
We have refurbished 16 standard bedrooms

Bay Esplanade Hotel, Paignton
16 standard bedrooms have been refurbished along with 2 bathrooms. A new lift has been fitted into the hotel as well as a new carpet in the restaurant

Bay Beresford Hotel, Newquay
16 standard bedrooms have been refurbished and 8 bathrooms have been refitted

Bay Valley of the Rocks Hotel, Lynton
A total of 16 standard bedrooms have been refurbished

Bay Dilkhusa Grand Hotel, Ilfracombe
8 standard bedrooms and 8 bathrooms have been refitted

Our workmen are all ready to go on February’s projects, check back later in the month to see what has been happening.

Did you know we also have Premier and Superior Rooms, if not take a look here?

The post January Refurbishment Projects appeared first on Bay Hotels Blog.

Although a very old fashioned hotel, the atmosphere as soon as we arrived in reception gives us a really good feeling as we were met by really friendly staff on reception that were quick to get us checked in and to our room.

The staff were very much on the ball, the waiters and waitresses were happy to serve you and always remembered if you had tea or coffee, a little thing but all done with huge smiles which makes all the difference.

The food was really good, all very tasty and an excellent variety, each plate or dish looked great, the room was large and comfortable even being old fashioned this added to the character of the hotel, everything you needed was there, wonderful views from our room of the hover craft and bay.

The hotel is in easy reach of all the places to visit, a great place to have a walk after you evening meal. We went on the Isle of Wight steam railway during our visit which was really nice; a pleasant was to spend a few hours. We also visited Carisbrooke Castle which at £6.80 each we thought was reasonable and interestingly was where King Charles I was imprisoned.

The dining room was very well laid out with great staff that knew how to run it, well done to the manager for running the hotel so well and keeping happy smiley staff which was nice as we have been too many places where the staff don’t seem interested in their jobs.

Thinking of visiting the Isle of Wight? Why not have a look at Bay Royal Esplanade Hotel, Ryde

We would like to thank John and Judith Hall for taking the time to write this blog post.

If you have a story to tell us why not email us at: blog@bayhotels.co.uk.

The post Midweek Break at Royal Esplanade Hotel, Ryde appeared first on Bay Hotels Blog.

New for 2013 is our Sounds of Weekends. With these breaks not only do we feature headline acts on Friday and Saturday nights performing different songs from a range of eras, but you also get comfortable accommodation, full traditional cooked breakfast and /or continental breakfast and in the evening you will be treated to a three course evening meal before the star act performs.

The 60s

Started with JFK being elected at President of the US, Elvis hit the UK music scene. Doctor Who was first seen on Television in 1963, followed shortly after with Thunderbirds in 1965 and the Beatles making it big time. 1966 saw England win the world cup. Dads Army was setup in 1968 and man landed on the moon in 1969 along with Concorde taking off.

The 70s

Saw the Beatles split and go their own ways.  In 1970 a farmer turned a field into Glastonbury Music Festival. As for toys the Sindy doll entered with a makeover and the card game Uno started.  Glam Rock started with stars like Sweet, Garry Glitter, T-Rex, David Bowie and Slade. In 1974 Lego was finally named Toy Of The Year. During 1976 Starsky and Hutch were first seen on Television along with TISWAS and not forgetting Grease in the cinemas.

The 80s

Saw John Lennon got shot, and the Rubik’s Cube was shown at Toy Fairs all around the world. The 80s also saw New Romantics on the music scene. As for films in 1982 we could watch ET and in 1983 Michael Jackson released thriller with a 15 minute long music video to accompany it starting Zombies and Werewolves.  In 1985 we could all catch a glimpse of Back to the Future and on Television watch the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.

Acts performing at Bay Torbay Hotel:

8^th / 9^th March
Soul and Motown with Paul Sylvester and The Dreamettes

5^th / 6^th April
The 60s with Maxine Mazumder as Dusty Springfield and The Mersey Echoes

3^rd / 4^th May
The 70s with Karin Bello as Tina Turner and The Tribute Abba Show

>> Take a look around Bay Torbay Hotel

Acts performing at Bay Majestic Bournemouth Hotel:

22^nd / 23^rd February
Soul and Motown with VJK Soul and Motown Party and Souljoy a Soul and Motown show

15^th / 16^th March
The 60s with Adam Carter as Elvis and The Mersey Echoes

>> Fancy a break in Bournemouth? Take a look at Bay Majestic Hotel

Acts performing at Bay Royal Whitby Hotel

1^st / 2^nd March
The 70s with Karin Bello as Tina Turner and The Bootleg Bee Gees

22^nd / 23^rd March
The 80s with Debbie Farrell as Whitney Houston and Atomic Blondie

12^th / 13^th April
Soul and Motown with VJK Soul and Motown Party and Souljoy Soul and Motown Show

>> Never been to Whitby before? How about Bay Royal Hotel

Acts performing at Bay County Hotel

22^nd / 23^rd February
The 60s with The Two Beatles and Good Vibrations

5^th / 6^th April
The Stars with Paul Sylvester as Nat King Cole and Adam Carter as Elvis

26^th / 27^th April
The 70s with Debbie Farrell as Whitney Houston and The Bootleg Bee Gees

>> Visit Bay Country Hotel in Llandudno, Wales

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Having arrived in Braemar just a few weeks ago to take on the position of Assistant Manager at the Invercauld Arms, I have been amazed at the village, and the area, and just what goes on around here.

Our hotel is in a stunning location, nestling between the Eastern edge of the Cairngorm Mountains and the fringe of Royal Deeside. Just this morning I woke up to glorious sunshine and here is a picture of the view from my bedroom window. You are looking across to the Ballochbuie Forest.

The view from my bedroom

For serious walkers there is a wealth of walks and trails in the mountainous surroundings. For those who enjoy a less strenuous stroll, there is a seemingly unending choice of walks along and around the River Dee and in the beautiful Glen Clunie running south out of the village.

Braemar is the highest parish in the UK with the centre of the village standing at 339 metres, or 1112 feet, above sea level. It has a golf course set in idyllic scenery and although it is a seasonal course, there is a plethora of year-round courses along the Dee valley. Balmoral castle is just 9 miles to the east.

Do you recognise this scene? Taken from a slightly different angle from the original, as I am not (yet!) permitted to enter the Royal estate, this is the site of the famous “Charles and Diana” honeymoon photo. Just a 12 minute drive from the Hotel.

The River Dee

9 miles in a southerly direction is the largest and best ski resort in Scotland at Glenshee (I guess I must have looked mildly eccentric when I arrived here at the beginning of July, and the first item to come out of the van was my skis!).

If you want to take in the views from the top of a Cairngorm mountain you could go up The Carinwell at 933 metres, or 3061 feet making it a “Munro”. If you don’t relish the climb, then just drive 9 miles south of Braemar to the ski resort and there is a chairlift taking you to the top which operates all year round.

You do, sometimes, get an interruption…

An occasional interruption!

Braemar is, of course, World famous for the Highland Gathering (or Games) which is attended each year by Her Majesty the Queen, during her annual period of residency at Balmoral. All such events in Braemar start from the Invercauld Arms. This is because our site has a very important place in Scottish History. On the 6^th September 1715, following the Highland Gathering, the participants marched back to the Invercauld Arms lead by the Earl of Mar who, as an act of rebellion, raised the Royal Standard which marked the beginning of the Jacobite Revolution. A plaque marking the exact spot where this happened is on the wall, by a fireplace, in of one of our lounges, the Writing Room, inside the hotel.

In recent years the Junior Highland Games has been formed. The games follow the same structure as the Highland Gathering with many traditional Scottish competitions throughout the day. It is preceded by an evening charity dinner-dance on the Friday before the games which was great fun.

The Junior Games took place last Saturday, the 14^th July, and in line with tradition, the games started with the pipe band marching from the Invercauld Arms to the Games Field. At the conclusion of the day’s games, the band returned to the Invercauld and played for a while outside the Hotel (before coming in for liquid refreshment!).

The pipe band outside the Invercauld Arms

When the band finished playing, our General Manager, Jane Barr, took the salute and called for them to “fall-out”. Unfortunately I do not have a photograph of this as I had to go inside to assist with a busy drinks service!

Guest post by Tony Gaze – Assistant Manager

Coast and Country Hotels offer hotel breaks to The Invercauld Arms Hotel, theses can either be on the weekend or during the week.

The post Braemar Highland Games and Local Info appeared first on Bay Hotels Blog.

The view from Bay Torbay Hotel looks a little different at the minute, a 60m observation wheel has been erected in Princess Gardens opposite the Bay Torbay Hotel, don’t worry views from the hotel have not been obscured.

The 365 tonne wheel was completed in four days by eleven highly trained staff and has come straight from London’s Victoria Park Olympic celebrations. It is open to the public from 10am to 10pm until 31^st October.

From the wheel you will be able to take in stunning views over the bay and on a clear day you can see for miles. From the wheel you can see over to Paignton and Brixham.

The ride will last approximately 12 minutes and passengers can hear commentary on Torbay’s history, events and attractions.

Within Torbay we have four hotels namely, Bay Torbay (Torquay), Bay Tor Park (Torquay), Bay Trecarn (Babbacombe) and Bay Esplanade (Paignton) each of these hotels offer weekend and midweek breaks throughout the year.

The Big Wheel

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