Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and goodbye

Dear readers!

A year and a half ago, I started writing this blog. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw how many people from all over the world read it. This was indeed a pleasant experience for me.

The time has come for me to say good-bye to you all. I thank you for the time that you have spent reading my posts as well as for your comments and nice words. Before I go, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2010.

Yours sincerely,

Petra Vengušt
Hotel Manager
Grand Hotel Toplice

More medals

Another annual competition of Slovene Tourism and F&B workers is behind us. This one was held in Maribor and Grand Hotel Toplice employees have come back with yet another set of medals: Simon gold for culinary exhibition, Miro gold for barman's competition and Renata gold for chambermaid's competition. Our team (Asmir, Tatjana, Nada, Drejče and Klemen) won third place among 14 teams from all over Slovenia, winning gold for food and silver for service.

Photos are attached and I must say I am extremely happy and proud of them all. Imagine sending 8 people to competition and they come back with 5 gold medals and 3 silver medals! Well done indeed!

Golden Honey

This weekend Grand Hotel Toplice is hosting a very special exhibition. In the Lake Saloon you can see several unique products called Golden Honey. Gold was added to natural honey and poured into hand made crystal vessels, decorated with precious and semi-precious stones and golden ornaments. Every set is unique made by several Slovene artists and designers.

Lake Saloon is a perfect setting for them as you can see on the photos. This is a true feast for the eyes.

The Painting

Our guests are very special people, and one of them is even more special. Mrs. Norma Hathaway, our regular guest from Great Britain is an artist in her free time and this year she has finished a wonderful painting of Grand Hotel Toplice which she donated to Asmir. Here is a photo of her with Mr. Hathaway and Asmir and on the wall behind them you can see her beautiful painting. Next time when you come to Grand Hotel Toplice on your way to Grand Restaurant, make sure that you stop and look at it. You will be amazed by all the details Mrs. Hathaway has drawn. It is clearly a work of art made by love and appreciation.

I often say how proud I am of my staff. This is a time to say that I am also proud that we have such accomplished guests as Mrs. Hathaway.

Basketball players and hotels

There are several sports that I enjoy watching on TV and basketball is one of them. European Championship 2009 in Poland is taking place right now and Slovenian team is already in the semi-final. Why I am talking about basketball? Because basketball players are notoriously tall and usually have large problems fitting into standard beds. Did you ever consider that with the average population height in the world rising, beds will have to be longer, also in hotels? And if the beds are longer, the bed sheets, blankets etc. will also have to be longer. That must be exciting news for furniture and bed linen producers all over the world. On the other side bigger sheets require more water, detergent and energy to be washed which represents jet another burden on the environment. Every coin has two sides, doesn’t it?

Well, good luck to our boys at the semi-final against Serbia today! I wish that they had a good night sleep and that their beds were long enough!

Triglav

Triglav with its 2864m is the highest mountain in Slovenia. The name Triglav meaning “three-headed” probably comes from a Slavic god Triglav. The mountain is such an important simbol for Slovene people that it is depicted also in the Slovene coat of arms.

There is a saying in Slovenia, that you only become a true Slovene once you have climbed mount Triglav. Well I am very proud and happy to announce that this week I have done just that. I climbed to the summit of Triglav and the whole trip up and down took me two days. I know that this information has nothing to do with the hotel, but I fell that this is such an achievement for me personally that I have to share it with you.

Pletna

Today’s blog I dedicate to Pletna, a wooden boat that has been transporting people to the Island of Bled for at least 800 years. At first it was a ride for pilgrims that wanted to visit the church of St. Mary and in the 12th century the villagers of Mlino had to transport the pilgrims to the island instead of paying local taxes. In the 18th century Empress Maria Theresa of Austria gave the rights to perform the rides to 20 local families. Even now, the right is transferred only within these families usually from a father to a son. The attached photo shows Grand Hotel Toplice taken from one of the Pletna boats by our guests Mrs. and Mr. Seely.

English bone china swan

Would you look at this beauty? This is a swan made of English bone china that just arrived from Grimsby, England and it is a wonderful addition to my collection. My sincere thanks to

Mrs. and Mr. Fenelon!

Summer Bay Cocktail

Here is Miro and his huge trophy. Just in case you were wondering what are the ingredients of Miro’s cocktail Summer Bay, here they are:
Bacardi Carta oro
Midori
De Kuyper Blue Curaçao
Marie Brizard Coconut
Routin 1883 Lemongrass
Granini Pineapple Fruit Juice

Great News!

This is Miro Petrevčič. I hope you remember him when I announced that he became champion of Slovenia in preparing cocktails and that he will represent Slovenia at the World Championship in Berlin. Well, I am glad to tell you that yesterday, at the 35th W.C.C. Competition Classic, our barman Miro won 2nd place. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Grand Hotel Toplice is proud to have a world vice-champion in its ranks. Well done Miro, congratulations!

A new Swan

This beautiful Swarovski swan has become a new addition to my swan collection. Thanks to Luciano and Monica from Italy. Grazie mille!

A penny for your thoughts!

Anže and I went on a boat to take some photos of the hotel, since it looked so beautiful in the evening sun. Incidentally this photo was taken and I keep wondering what was I thinking of at the time.

Maybe something like:

» Did I remember to sign the electricity bill for the hotel for last month? ”

Or

“I wonder where I have left my hotel master-key. It must be somewhere in the hotel.”

Or maybe it was something really trivial:

“ The hotel looks beautiful yes, but will we reach the targeted occupancy rate this year?”

Or something very important:

“I know Anže can row, but what if the boat is leaking and we will have to swim back?”

If you have any ideas of your own let me know and I will publish it!

The Swans

The swans are nowadays an important part of Bled landscape. Here is a photo of my small swan collection from around Europe. One is from Italy, the other one from Holland and the third one from UK. It should be easy for you to guess which one is from which country, especially if I give you a little hint: Island of Murano, Venice, Italy. They were given to me by special guests, without knowing for other swans. Therefore this is an unintentional collection and yet very dear to me.

The guests

I published the photos of the Lido Party yesterday and today it is time for pictures of our dear guests. Most of them have been coming to the hotel for many, many years.

Lido Party

Yesterday we organized a dinner for our regular guests on the Lido. Everything went well, although I was rather worried in the beginning whether the temperature will be appropriate, whether it will rain or not etc.. The atmosphere was amazing and the view of the fireworks as well. Lido is an incredibly romantic place for organizing private parties. I enclosed a lot of photos so that you can see what it looked like. Asmir and Simon and their teams have set up tables and chairs and a lot of really good food all along the lido which was lightened by torches and garden lights. I do believe that we will have to repeat this event sometimes, since everybody really enjoyed it. I must complement our life guard Gregor that not only made sure that we were all safe, but was extremely helpful with the organization.

The very last ostrich feather fans of the Kevin Darby Costumes

This probably seems as an unusual photo for my blog, but there is a rather interesting story behind it. Mr. Kevin Darbin, a creator of costumes for many shows in the UK and abroad, was a regular guest of Grand Hotel Toplice. His partner Mr. Michael Grensted, featured in the middle of the photo wanted to bring to Bled the very last ostrich feather fans from the Kevin Darby Costumes Collection, that closed down after Mr. Darby’s death a few years ago. Mrs. Wane and I were very honored by his wonderful gift that he gave us.

Thank you Mr. Grensted. It is a privilege to have something so beautiful to be brought to me from so far with such a noble purpose. Mrs. Wane had a wonderful birthday surprise as well.

Panorama Terrace

I just had to take these photos of the Panorama terrace in the morning sun since it is so charming. The flowers are in full blossom and the views are amazing. I do believe that we have the prettiest summer terrace in whole of Bled. Can you imagine sitting down here for a lovely lunch, while watching over the tranquility of the lake?

Young violinists

We had the most enjoyable concert in Grand Hotel Toplice yesterday. Several young violinists, all students of Bled Festival, performed the program that they will perform at the competition today and on Sunday. We had a pleasure of listening to the works of Mozart, Bach, Paganini, Lachner, Kreisler and Francaix. The artist were: Davide de ASCANIIS from Italy, Katja FROLOVA from Russia, Maya ITO from Japan, Hugues GIRARD from France, Ho Joon LEE from Korea, Elisa SCHACK from Italy, Eleonora NIKOLIĆ from Serbia, Sofija TOMIĆ from Serbia and Maria SOHN from Korea. I am quite sure that some of them if not all will become great stars of international world of classical music.

My sincere thanks go also to their Master Class Professor DDr. h.c. Rector em. Michael Frischenschlager, from Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts and to Mrs. Francesca Succuro for organizing such a wonderful evening.

Simply Green and Clean

I have just spent a part of my holidays abroad and there is one fact that always pleasantly surprises me when I come back to Slovenia. Slovenia is simply clean and green. I mean that the streets are clean, the rivers are clean and the motorways are clean. And I mean that we have a lot of green forests, green meadows and green pastures. Simply green and clean. This could be Slovenia’s new slogan. Of course I have to mention that in this time of the year whole of Bled is embraced by an abundance of green color.

Conducting

I am sure that you have all watched a symphonic orchestra perform a difficult symphony. But did you ever wonder if they could manage without the conductor? I am sure that if they are well rehearsed they could actually make it on their own, at least for a while. The first violin would probably have to take over a part of conductor’s job, but all in all, they would probably do just fine. This brings me to my next question, whether or not a hotel can do without a manager. The answer is probably very much the same. Of course it can. If the staff is synchronized and well trained, they should have no problem for a couple of weeks, maybe even a month or more, until eventually there would be a dilemma and they would need someone to make a decision for them. Or there would be a problem and they would need guidance. Or at least someone to tell them that they are doing a great job and that the road they have chosen is the right one. Managing is a little bit like being a parent: a lot of motivation and a lot of guidance and of course setting a good example. I am leaving for a short holiday now and I am putting the managing of the hotel in the hands of my two first violins Asmir and Anže! I will be back soon! Bye.

Thanks God for differences!

All hotels inspire to meet the needs of their guests. Some have set a goal of having 80% of guests whose expectations have been either met or exceeded by the establishment. How come that the goal is not 100%? This is due to a very simple fact. Not two people are alike and what is highly desired by one person could be quite terrible for someone else. For example: if I decide and change the color of table cloths in the hotel restaurant from beige to red, some guests will applaud and other write complaints about it. Due to these differences, our world is an interesting place to live on. Therefore I say: “Thanks God for differences!”

P.S.: We just purchased red table cloths for Panorama restaurant and I do hope you will like them!

In Memoriam Seiichi Kobayashi

Dear Sasha!

I will remember you every time I will pass our Japanese Garden. I will remember you every time I smell the Dior Addict. I will remember you every time that I will learn a new Japanese word. I miss you very much!

Petra

A Duck

This is a photo taken by Anže that might be just a photo of the amazing view from the Presidential Lounge overlooking the lake. But if you look really carefully, you will see on the window shelve at the extreme left side, a duck. This duck is actually sitting on the nest. This is a second duck this year that decided upon laying eggs somewhere near Grand Hotel Toplice. This one is rather extreme in its behavior since it can be easily observed by the guests and staff. Welcome and good luck with the offspring duck!

Small Luxury Hotels of the World Plaque

Here it is. Brushed steel plaque for Small Luxury Hotels of the World members has been put on the wall next to the front entrance of the hotel. Grand Hotel Toplice is now officially also on the SLH web site and rooms are now opened for reservations.

On the second photo you can see our new maintenance manager Robert, who replaced Štefan. Štefan just recently retired after working in the hotel for 40 years.

Prime Minister of Slovenia

Mr. Borut Pahor, Prime Minister of Slovenia, is probably one of the most handsome PM-s in Europe. Not that this is an extremely important quality of a PM, but it certainly does not hurt. I have attached a few photos of him, since he visited Grand Hotel Toplice last week and you can decide for yourself whether you find him handsome or not. On two photos you can see him together with Mr. Igor Shchyogolev, Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation that was also our guest. Event was organized by Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Slovenia and Iskratel, telecommunication company from my home town Kranj.

P.S.: For all Manchester United fans: Do not be sad, since they will surely win next year! ManU forever! Go Reds, go!