The Buckingham Hotel Buxton. Three star accommodation in the peak district (Archived News)

ARCHIVED NEWS

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"This is Buxton, What do you expect?...Sydney Opera House" Award (monthly)

February 2002 - The New Statesman revisited?

Very quiet on the news front for a few months but we can identify with the following:

A HOTEL guest who had a late-night row with a receptionist woke next day to find a bill addressed to "Mr Bastard" put under his door. Foreign exchange dealer Colin Bastick, 37, had been falsely accused of charging drinks to another room. Colin of Ilford, Essex, is now disputing his £182.85 bill for the night. He said "I'm not paying to be insulted."

Yvonne Colgan, manager of the five star Celtic Manor Hotel in Newport, Gwent, said "I don't know how it happened." From The Sun, February 2002

Obviously they'd got the his room mixed up with someone called Mr B'astard, simple really.

December 2001 - Over-paid, over here and over-gullible:

The bust of a distinguished Victorian gentleman now sits in the far corner of the cocktail lounge at Marriot Hotel's Hanbury Manor in Herts, having been moved from its original position where it rested on a cupboard by a door. Apparently when new fire regulations caused the cupboard which contains firefighting equipment, to be labelled with the notice "hose reel", American guests started looking at the bust and asking "Who is that Jose Re-al?". Staff at the hotel got so tired of making up stories about a fictitious Spanish prince that they moved the scuplture to its presnt position.
From Caterer & Hotelkeeper, 15 November 2001.

November 2001 - Attention all footy toursits for next year:

"S Korea has seen hot dogs for sale outstide English football grounds and got the wrong idea"

The above headline appeared in sports section of a daily newspaper above an aticle explaining how the President of FIFA (Mr Blatter) ) had written the South Korean football authorites requesting that the sale of dog, a national delicacy, be withdrawn from around the stadiums during the 2002 World Cup. Mine's a hind leg of Lassie, Scooby Style!
From The Daily Telegraph, Saturday 10 November 2001.

August 2001 - not to somebody at this hotel (thankfully given the content of what follows!!)

The executive housekeeper of the 129 bedroom Trafalgar hotel was asked:

Q - What is the most embarassing situation you have dealt with?
A - I had to keep a straight face and tell a guest that the toilet would probably flush if he took the goat's carcass out of it first. (Apparently, some guests from the Middle East perform sacrifices in the bathroom before certain religious events. They bring the goats in their suitcases).

From Caterer & Hotelkeeper, 2 August 2001

June 2001 - the award goes to a certain "junior" member of staff who finds himself in earshot of a conversation involving a senior member of Derbyshire WI and her guest speaker who is about to deliver a talk on "Corn Dollies". Turning to the young lad she says

"And what do you think of Corn Dollies?"
To which he replies
"What do they taste like?"

He claims his reply was intended as a joke - we remain unconvinced.

May 2001 - the award goes to Clive, our longstanding barman who is profiled on Meet the Muppets

A guest dining in the restaurant having just been served to table a bottle of wine by Clive approaches the bar and is heard to say to Clive
"Can I trouble you to open this bottle you've just served me?!!"
Clive responding with his usual level of polite indifference
"Right sir, I'll be along in a minute with a corkscrew"

We have decided not to enter Clive for The 2001 Sommelier of the Year.

However corkscrews may become a regular part of our place settings.