Manager's Blog - Grand Hotel Toplice

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and goodbye

2009-12-24T02:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-10T04:50:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-26T01:50:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-19T03:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-25T23:41:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-20T08:55:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-08-11T23:56:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-08T01:51:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-04T05:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-11T01:10:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-10T03:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-07T01:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-17T08:17:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-09T04:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-06T00:17:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-05T02:41:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-28T04:44:00.001-07:00

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!

Voting fot Lake Bled

2009-05-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

I hope that you heard about the New7Wonders of Nature campaign. Out of 261 nominees, only 7 will be chosen to become new seven wonders of nature. One of the nominees is Bled Lake. I am kindly asking you to help us and cast your vote for out beautiful Lake Bled in the category lakes and rivers on the following page:

http://www.new7wonders.com/nature/en/vote_on_nominees/

Thank you!

Special blog anniversary surprise

2009-05-07T03:21:00.000-07:00

It has been 1 year since I started writing my blog. I can hardly believe it, but it is true. To celebrate this occasion I have prepared a special surprise for all of you my dear blog readers.

For all room reservations in Grand Hotel Toplice made with our reservations manager Mrs. Dagmar Bernard at dagmar.bernard@hotelibled.com during period May 8th 2009 - November 12th 2009 you will get a special 10% discount on accommodation rates if you send this code to Dagmar when you make a reservation:
TB71PV-X10

Discount of 10% is valid both for regular room prices published on:
http://www.hotel-toplice.com/grand-hotel-toplice-bled-slovenia-pricelist.html
as well as for 5 and 7 days packages published on:
http://www.hotel-toplice.com/grand-hotel-toplice-bled-slovenia-special-offer-025.html

Thank you for being my faithful readers!

Best regards from Petra.

Grand Hotel Toplice joins Small Luxury Hotels of the World

2009-04-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

I have some great news for you!

It is my great pleasure to be able to announce that Grand Hotel Toplice has become member of international chain of independent hotels Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

Small Luxury Hotels of the World has more then 480 member hotels in 70 countries around the world and I am especially proud that Grand Hotel Toplice is the first hotel in Slovenia to have become a member.

New offer at the Luisa Studio

2009-04-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

This is Romana. She is manager of our wellness center Studio Luisa. Studio Luisa is now offering three new body treatments with fantastic contents and even more fabulous names:
Honey for Lighter Feet Sensation, Spices for a Slimmer Silhouette and Sweet Embrace of Chocolate. Aren’t you curious what could be hidden behind the Sweet embrace of chocolate? Well, you will have to talk to Romana if you want to find out more.

Some people say that the world human population can be divided into dog people and cat people depending on the preference towards certain species. Well if this is true, then I am definitely a ……. chocolate person. I like no animal better then chocolate. It is my favorite pet since it is never noisy and it always makes me feel good!

New round tables at Grand Restaurant

2009-04-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Grand Restaurant is currently looking more beautiful then ever. According to the proposal of Mr. Asmir Jusufagić, our F&B manager, we purchased new round tables for Grand Restaurant. You can see on the photo what an amazing effect this has on the entire outlay of the restaurant. I am very happy with the effect and I do believe that guests are happy too. Well done Asmir! Thank you!

Easter bunnies etc

2009-04-07T02:25:00.000-07:00

If you come to Grand Hotel Toplice during Easter, you will find little bunnies and sheep hiding among flowers around the hotel. Did you ever wonder what do rabbits and sheep and other animals have to do with such important Christian religious holiday? Probably not much. It must be a remnant of much older pagan customs. Nevertheless, they are quite cute, aren’t they?

Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin

2009-03-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Very few times in my life have I been so honored and privileged to meet someone as I have been today. Russian Prima ballerina assoluta Mrs. Maya Plisetskaya and Mr. Rodion Shchedrin, a Russian composer visited Grand Hotel Toplice today. It was my great pleasure to be able to talk to them both. I admired their elegance, kindness and their genuine interest in all things new. I was truly honored that they both signed our book of guests as you can see on attached photos.

Mrs. Plisetskaya, has made a huge impression on the ballet world at the Bolshoi Theatre and also Rome Opera Ballet and Spanish National Ballet. Mr. Shchedrin is not just a composer but also an excellent pianist. Their mutual co-operation has been shown in wonderful ballets such as Anna Karenina.

The host of their visit was Mrs. Barbara Miklič Türk, first lady of Slovenia

Statistics

2009-03-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ever since July 28th2008, I have been following the statistics regarding visitors of my blog, that is of you, my dear readers. From July 28th 2008 till March 17th 2009, this blog has been visited by 3135 people (8119 pageviews in total). Each one has spend an average of 1 minute and 20 seconds on the site, which is 376% more then average of other blogs published via google. The most amazing fact is that people, who read my blog come from 38 different countries. Top 10 readers are from Slovenia, UK, USA, Italy, Japan, Croatia, Spain, Serbia, Ireland and Canada. Fascinatingly enough, I have readers also from Nepal, Bermuda, Sri Lanka and Costa Rica.

My kind regards to all of you, especially my faithful regular visitors, since according to the statistics, I have 604 regular readers that have logged on to my blog for more then 9 times. Thank you!

Photo session

2009-03-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

There are people that are loved by camera and love to have their photos taken. And then there are people who do not feel like that at all. Unfortunately, I am the later. A few days ago we had a photographer in the hotel, taking pictures of the hotel and staff for a magazine. I was asked to have a “photo session” with him as well, since, lets be honest my picture on the internet is a bit outdated. Being a woman, I actually prefer to have a photo published that shows me at a “younger” age, but I suppose it is OK to admit your true age, so I agreed. The “session” (I love this world, since it makes me feel like a model.) meant that I had to stand on a balcony of one of the hotel rooms and the photographer was standing on the street below. It was difficult for him and he had to direct me a lot. Look left, look down, move that way, put your hand here,……A part of the end result is visible on the attached photo. Oh, I just realized that I have never published my own photo on my blog, so a lot of you don’t even know what I look like. Well, there you are. This is me. Petra.

Champion from Grand Hotel Toplice

2009-03-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Great news from Grand Hotel Toplice: Our barman Miro Petrevčič just came back from Slovenian Barmen Competition 2009. In the category of preparation of cocktails – fancy drinks - he won gold medal and first place and will be representing Slovenia at the World Barmen Championship in Berlin this August. Well done Miro!

Here he is on the photo with Mateja, showing her one of his fancy creations!

Grand Hotel Toplice Gift Shop

2009-03-03T01:38:00.001-08:00

I am happy to announce another great addition to the services of Grand Hotel Toplice. We just opened a gift shop with the following items: baseball caps, umbrellas, polo shirts, bathrobes, towels, Leo toys and postcards all with GHT logo.

Carnival Time

2009-02-26T06:46:00.001-08:00

Yes it was a long and cold winter and carnival time is a definite sign that people want spring, sun and warmer weather. Here are photos of a lovely masqueraded lady that visited Grand Hotel Toplice. I know who she is, but I am bound to secrecy. We hosted two carnival parties at Panorama restaurants with a lot of music, dancing, prizes for best masques etc..

Ice on the Bled Lake

2009-02-09T03:19:00.000-08:00

Finally, we have a proper winter. A few days ago even a tiny crust of ice has appeared on the lake and the photos are so great that I just had to share them with you. Bled with its beauty never stops to amaze me. I apologize for the fact that I haven’t written anything for a long time. I have been absent from the hotel and from Bled. That is probably why I am so excited to see it again looking so beautiful.

Luisa

2009-01-11T03:12:00.000-08:00

Today, Romana, head of our wellness studio, showed me the newest member of staff. Her name is Luisa, she is very young, actually a baby and has the most amazing body color. She is namely a gold fish and lives in an aquarium in the reception of the wellness center. Welcome Luisa!

New Year's Eve at Grand Hotel Toplice

2009-01-01T03:44:00.000-08:00

We had two parties in the hotel last night, one in Grand Hall and another one in Panorama restaurant. There was a lot of dancing and singing, including a performance by Nuša Derenda, one of Slovenia's best female singers. She even represented Slovenia at the Eurovision song contest some years ago. Of course there was a lot of good food as well. After the midnight there was firework from the castle which emphasizes the magic of Bled even further.

There is a lot of work and preparation behind such events as New Year’s Eve and no better reward then guests telling you how much they enjoyed it.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T03:35:00.000-08:00

Angels, oranges, candles, ribbons, trinkets and ornaments, and other decoration were set throughout the hotel for the holiday season. The photos will hopefully bring some of the festive spirit from Grand Hotel Toplice also to you.

I wish that the year 2009 will be one of those years we will always remember with a smile.

Happy New Year to all of you my dear blog readers!

Concert

2008-12-29T03:47:00.001-08:00

We had a really lovely concert in the hotel on Saturday. Mrs. Alenka Zupan on flute and Mr. Denys Masliuk on piano were performing the following program:

Charles Gounod: Ave Maria (On the Prelude of J. S. Bach)
Robert Schumann: Drei Romanzen, op. 94
Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise op. 34, no. 14
Gaetano Donizetti: Sonate
Astor Piazzolla: Ave Maria
Wihelm Popp: Staccato Fantasy

Luckily our “Lake lounge” is very acoustic and suitable for classical concerts. I must confess I enjoyed the concert very much. This is an advantage of being a hotel manager: You get to listen to great concerts as a part of your job!

Christmas time is here!

2008-12-25T02:44:00.001-08:00

Father Christmas came to visit us at the Grand Hotel Toplice. He brought with him a group of wonderful young singers that sang Christmas songs to our guests.
Happy Christmas to you all!!!!

Japanese garden has a new story

2008-12-24T04:55:00.000-08:00

My employees never cease to amaze me with their ideas. Here is a fine example:

Robert, our gardener, finished reading a book about Japanese gardens, kindly provided by our guest Mr. K. (Thank you Sasha!)

Robert decided to renovate the garden by placing the stones in a new position. This position was inspired by a 19th Century Slovene poem »The Baptism at The Savica«, where each stone represents one of the main characters from the poem thus creating an interesting story with the Japanese garden.

Pictures of Robert in the process of creation are attached.

Italian

2008-12-07T23:53:00.000-08:00

Many of our guests come from Italy. In fact, during this New Year's hollidays , Grand Hotel Toplice will host mostly Italian guests. This is one of the reasons why I decided to brush up my knowledge of Italian language and started to take leasons.

Below text in Italian is for Monica Z., a regular guest of Grand Hotel Toplice:

" Cara Monica! I risotti erano buonissimi! Grazie mille!

L'albergo è gia addobbato per le feste di Natale e Capodanno.

Tanti saluti, Petra."

Gala dinner for the guests of Bled

2008-11-17T01:50:00.000-08:00

Every November all the hotels in Bled invite their regular guests to a gala dinner. This year’s dinner took place in Grand Hotel Toplice. It was a lovely evening, filled with music, great food and exceptional service. More then 100 people attended the dinner including 14 regular guests of Grand Hotel Toplice: Mrs. and. Mr. Hathaway, Mrs. Scarpi, Mr. Grensted, Mr. Hibbs, Mr. Kobayashi, Mrs. and Mr. Spinelli, Mrs. Zancanaro and Mr. Roncon, Mrs. and Mr. Aranicki and Mrs. and Mr. Blumenow. Photos of them are included as well as photos of kitchen and service staff.

New uniforms

2008-11-17T01:47:00.000-08:00

Staff of Grand Hotel Toplice has new uniforms. The designer was our very own front office manager Mrs. Dagmar Bernard and the manufacturer is a Slovene company Kroj from Škofja Loka. Uniforms were presented to the guests for the first time during gala dinner. Here is a photo of our models with fashion designer Dagmar. The style is modernization of the 1930’s when the hotel was built. The design and colors are very elegant and I am extremely happy the way it all turned out. Don’t they all look very handsome?

Autumn red

2008-11-11T03:15:00.000-08:00

The leaves of Virginia creeper that cover Grand Hotel Toplice have got such a wonderful red color I just had to take a photo of them. I use this opportunity to present to you also our beautiful new white gates to the hotel terrace.

The "Golden Lion" Golf Tournament

2008-11-02T09:57:00.001-08:00

Since 1977, Grand Hotel Toplice has been hosting its own golf tournament called »The Golden Lion«. This year's tournament which took place on October 26th 2008 at Bled Golf Course was won by Mr. Jernej Pavlič and his name will be added to 31 names of winners alread written on a plaque on the trophy. Congratulations Mr. Pavlič!

New head chef in Grand Hotel Toplice

2008-10-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that we have a new head chef in our kitchen Mr. Simon Bertoncelj. Simon has been working in Grand Hotel Toplice since 1996. His latest position was assistant head chef. Only a few days ago, he was appointed as the new head chef. His achievements amongst other are also 5 gold medals in national competitions. This year together with his colleague Mr. Drejče Ravnik, he got 98 points out of 100 in the team menu preparation category and of course won first place with the highest score. Congratulations and good luck to Simon in his new position!

In Memoriam

2008-10-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to Mr. Robert Worcester, a regular guest of Grand Hotel Toplice, who sadly passed away in his home in England on October 16th 2008. His energy and humor, his kindness and his laughter will always be with us. We all miss him dearly!

Mr. R. Worcester (born on May 2nd 1951), was from Billericay, Essex.

Fashion Show

2008-10-14T01:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Grand Hotel Toplice was turned into fashion event setting. Afrodite Mode Collection from Belgrade represented the autumn winter collection for business women. Words are not necessary, since photos tell everything.

Competition

2008-10-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Each year Slovene Chamber of Commerce organizes a competition for tourism and catering industry employees in Slovenia. This year’s competition was held in Moravske Toplice in eastern Slovenia. 9 of my staff members were competing this year in they came back with fabulous results. Miro won gold in barmen’s competition; Tatjana also won gold in the preparation and serving of coffee. Two chambermaids Zorica and Renata won gold and silver. In the team event, Asmir, Simon, Drejče, Nada and Aleš, were better then any other team, and I am proud to say, that the best team in Slovenia in the “preparation and serving of menu” competition comes from Grand Hotel Toplice. Another gold for us. Well done to all my competitors! I am extremely proud of you all!

Bled, Summer of 1936

2008-10-02T02:37:00.000-07:00

I like to collect old photos and materials of Grand Hotel Toplice. This year I even managed to produce a small historical gallery made of copies of postcards send from Grand Hotel Toplice in the 20th century and its predecessor Louisenbad in the 19th century. The sources of such materials are different. Some come from private collectors and some from hotel archives. This summer the most amazing thing happened. I was approached by Mr. Yoetz Deutsch, who showed me a photo taken in 1936, showing his family on vacation in Bled. And in the background you can clearly see Grand Hotel Toplice, only 5 years after it was built. With the courtesy and permission of Mr. Deutsch, I am publishing this photo today on my blog site. Thank you dear Mr. Deutsch for sharing such a wonderful family souvenir with me!

Culinary Olympics

2008-09-24T05:06:00.000-07:00

I am sure you all know that the next summer Olympic Games will take place in London 2012. But do you know that the next culinary Olympics will take place in Erfurt Germany in October 2008? Yes they will and Slovenia will be participating as well. One of the members of the Slovene National Culinary Olympic team is Igor Jagodic, head chef at Grand Hotel Toplice. Yesterday, the whole team gathered together in our hotel to prepare for the last time publicly the menu with which they will compete in Germany. They will compete in the so called Category R: Restaurant of nations, where each team has to prepare a 3 course menu for 110 people. They are judged by different criteria: mise en place and cleanliness of preparation, correct professional preparation, arrangement and presentation and taste: Attached are some photos of the team and of their masterpieces. I wish them all the best of luck and since I tested the menu myself, I think they have great chances of winning a medal!

Gregor got married!

2008-09-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

I have the most wonderful news: Gregor Dežman, our receptionist got married to his beloved Andreja this Saturday. Attached is their photo and I must admit they both look gorgeous. The best of luck and sincere congratulations to both Mrs. and Mr. Dežman! May you be happy together forever!

Table Decorations

2008-09-11T00:54:00.000-07:00

Flowers and candles on tables do sound quite normal, don't they? But have you ever seen live gold fish as table decoration? Well, it seems that this is the latest fashion with florists and it happened on one of the wedding dinners we hosted in Grand Hotel Toplice this summer. I have attached a photo in case you still do not believe it. It looks fabulous doesn't it? I also attached some more classical arrangements which are luckily still preferred by most guests. I have nothing against gold fish, please believe me, it is just that I was thinking what comes next. What if somebody decides to have live snakes or spiders on the tables? Where is the limit? In case you were wondering what happened to all the fish (12 in total) after the dinner, let me say that the guests were given plastic bags filled with water and took them home.

Bled Strategic Forum

2008-09-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

Between August 31 and September 1st 2008 Bled was once again hosting Bled Strategic Forum. This year’s topic was Energy and Climate Change: Si.nergy for the Future. In addition to several VIPs that Grand Hotel Toplice had the privilege to accommodate in the hotel, we also prepared a gala dinner for 380 guests. Main speaker was Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary General of United Nations. Once again, a job was extremely well done by our staff. Attached are some photos of the preparations for the dinner as well as the dinner itself. Planning and preparation for such events take weeks. In the beginning, several meetings with the event organizers are necessary in order to establish their needs and wishes. After that careful planning is required within the house, regarding staff, working arrangements, purchase of materials etc.

Flags

2008-08-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why some hotels have flags displayed above the entrance? Well I certainly have, but never really got the answer. I imagined all thoughts of thinks, for example, that they represent a tribute to the countries from which the guests come from. Maybe it is a sign for people passing by telling them that we are an international hotel. Maybe if a person would see his home country flag, it would make him feel more welcome. Maybe it is just a decoration. I really don’t know and would appreciate very much if someone could tell me. Anyhow, at Grand Hotel Toplice, we have exactly 28 flags above the front door as you can see on the photo. Since our guests come from a lot more then 28 countries, it makes it impossible to cover them all. Questions often arise regarding why this flag and not that flag. This year we bought new flags and Mateja and I had to decide which flags to buy. (Remember that we were limited to 28.) We decided to go with the EU and Slovene flags first. Next on the list were neighboring countries (Italy, Austria, Croatia, Hungary), then all the countries where majority of guests come from (UK, USA, Germany, ….) and then there was a problem. For the very last place, we actually did not decide by ourselves, since His Excellency Mr. A.M. suggested it. Which one was the last one? Let me just hint that the country has a very long name and the flag is very different from the others.

Web site in Russian language

2008-08-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

We have another novelty on our web site and I am extremely happy about this. Our web pages have been translated into Russian language available under http://www.hotel-toplice.com/ru-index.html. We now have a web site available in five different languages! That is something I was really looking forward to. I am extremely partial when it comes to Russian language, since I consider it to be one of the most beautiful languages in the world. I especially like the softness of it. Since the number of guests from Russia in our hotel is constantly increasing, I do hope that they will find this addition helpful. добро пожаловать!

Novelty on the web site

2008-08-14T03:21:00.000-07:00

I am glad to be able to announce that there is a novelty on our web site. A wonderful photo gallery has been added, showing not only the present images of the hotel, but also historical pictures, some more then 100 years old. Special features are two virtual panorama tours, one from the balcony on the 5th floor and one of the main hotel lounge. Please go to: http://www.hotel-toplice.com/ photo gallery.

Getting older

2008-08-07T00:02:00.000-07:00

How on earth Mr. H. and Mr. K. found out about my birthday, I do not know. Well, it is too late, since the word is out and yes my birthday is coming. It is not one of those critical birthdays, when people go around thinking that the world is coming to an end. I had one of those when I turned 30. I was convinced at the time, that my life was not half but completely over and that nothing good can happen to me afterwards. It sounds absolutely ridiculous now, but back then I did believe it. When I turned 32 I suddenly noticed that my skin wasn’t so elastic any more, but it didn’t seem to bother me. At the age of 33 my hair dresser gave me a “nice” remark about my hair turning gray. At 34 my cosmetician said that my skin looks very young and that she would have sworn I was 33. Imagine a wonderful feeling when somebody tells you that you look a whole year younger. At the age of 35 my son told me not to accompany him to the school door, since he is big enough to do it himself and that I can easily drop him off at the corner of the street, which of course I did. Anyway, I am turning 37 on August 10th and I feel happy about it.

Christmas Holidays

2008-08-01T07:04:00.000-07:00

Being August, it might seem to you that Christmas and New Year are still light years away, but I actually had to spend quite some time today, considering both holidays. The thing is that we need to have the contracts for the music bands that will perform during Christmas and New Year period signed as soon as possible. Otherwise we will be too late and all the good bands will be taken. Of course they have all increased the prices compared to the last year which is an important thing when considering the budget. When choosing a band for New Year's Eve one has to consider the fact that guests come from different countries and are of different age groups. Another problem is that people hardly ever share the same taste in music, especially when you talk about the crowd of 100 people or more (last year we had more then 400 people in the hotel for New Year's Eve dinner). Therefore no matter which band I choose, somebody will be disappointed..... and at least somebody will probably love it...... I feel better already, since I can not make a wrong choice, can I?

Gala dinner for regular guests

2008-07-28T02:13:00.000-07:00

One the most precious treasures of any hotel are its regular guests. In Grand Hotel Toplice we have guests that have been coming to the hotel for many, many years, some even for more then 40 years. Each year in July we prepare a special gala dinner for them. Yesterday, we had the most wonderful time once again. Talking, laughing, dancing,… Once more I was very proud of the staff, that made our guests feel very special. We have been preparing for the event for quite some time, choosing the presents, the food, the drinks, making invitations, deciding regarding seating arrangements etc.. The smiles on their faces and many thanks I received at the end were all I could ask for. There is only one thing I have to say to our dear regular guests: “Hvala”, which is Slovene for thank you.

Winter

2008-07-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

During a hot summer, there is nothing more entertaining then to look at a photo with snow and ice. This is an old photo of Grand Hotel Toplice during one of the winters when the lake was frozen and you could walk or skate on the lake. Actually it was taken in the same year when I was born. In those days, winters were severe, and temperatures were low enough to enable the lake to freeze over. The ice crust on the lake shore had to be broken and cut away; otherwise the ice could damage the boat house or even the hotel itself. Nowadays, we have global warming and ice on the lake is no longer an issue, which is quite sad. I do wish that we could once again discuss on the weekly staff meeting, whether or not the ice should be cut today or if it can be done a day later. That would be a “nice” problem for me.

Swimming pool

2008-07-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Like many other hotels. Grand Hotel Toplice has a swimming pool. Only ours is a bit different. First of all it was built 80 years ago and secondly the water in it comes from a natural thermal spring right under the hotel. The hotel was actually named after this spring, since “toplice” in Slovene language stands for spa or bath. The water has 22˚C and is very beneficial for inner organs. The spring was discovered in the beginning of the 19th century and very soon the first hotel called Luisenbad was built on the spot. Once again “Bad” in German means the same as “toplice” in Slovene. I often get requests from the guests to warm up the water, but we don’t really want to change the historical connection with hotel’s name. Besides, the quality of water will definitely change if we warm it up.

When things go wrong

2008-07-12T02:09:00.000-07:00

Of course things go wrong sometimes. Imagine a hot summer, a hotel full of guests and a broken air-conditioning system. Yes, that’s exactly what happened to us. A part that will have to be replaced has been ordered from Belgium and it arrived on Thursday, but as it turned out they have send a wrong part. Now we have to wait for a new one to arrive. It will take another 5 days before it will arrive and in the meantime all we can do is to apologize to guests. Luckily, it wasn’t the entire system that was broken, since the air-conditioning is working in all the rooms facing the lake. Another good thing is that the part that will have to be replaced is still under warranty and we will not have to pay for a new one. Always look on the bright side of life!

Letters

2008-07-08T03:07:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, we tend to communicate via e-mail, SMS, blog and other modern means that require advance technological equipment and hardly any effort from the side of the writer. The language of such communication is poor and very little emotions are put into it. For that reason I can not tell you how happy I am every time I receive a proper letter via ordinary mail. With a nice stamp on a really nice paper, preferably in blue, green or yellow colour. My sincere thanks to Mrs. H.W., Mrs. H.P. and Mrs. N.H. that regularly supply me with news by mailing them to me using Royal mail. Even opening of such a classical letter is an adventure by itself. The smell, the feel of paper under one’s fingers can not be compared to receiving an e-mail. I always write my letters in ink with a pen. It seems that the words flow more easily onto the paper when I use ink. Besides it reminds me of the early years in school when we had to use ink pens. The only problem is that with age, one tends to change his/her handwriting into sometimes illegible mess. Therefore a danger of a hand written letter is that it will not be understood properly. But then again sometimes even typed letters are misunderstood for many reasons beyond illegibility.

Hollidays and Weekends

2008-06-26T02:38:00.000-07:00

Each and every Friday morning and a day before every national holiday, I get really angry with radio hosts saying things like » This is the last day of the week, you don’t have to come to work tomorrow and you can rest over the weekend« or “Holidays are coming and we are sure that you will be enjoying your free time.” Don't they realize that some people work on weekends, holidays and nights? It is not just people in tourism in hotels and restaurants, but also police, hospitals, power plants etc... Funny thing is that even people on the radio and the TV have to work on weekends as well. Or do they record everything in advance and then a machine plays it? Well, for sure cleaning of a hotel room can not be recorded in advance and neither can be a massage in the wellness center. Although with the latest advances in robotic technologies, you never know? If they can teach a robot to dance and play football, they might teach it to check you in at the front desk. Would you like that?

Anyhow, hotel business simply means that we work especially hard when other people are on holidays. Hopefully they are on holidays in our hotel.

EU presidency

2008-06-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

Slovenia took over the presidency of EU in the first half of this year. For Grand Hotel Toplice this was an important event since we hosted people such as Mr. Solana, Mr. Barroso, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon and many others. We also hosted several gala dinners for different events. On one side I am sorry that it is over and the presidency will be taken over by France in just a few days. On the other side, it will be quiet a relief for many of our guests as well as staff, since everything will go back to normal. No more tight security measures, no more police in and outside of the hotel, no more VIP related stress. I suppose if this was a kind of international test for Slovenia, we all did quite well.

Now back to the hotel. Julijana, our “A la carte” restaurant has opened its outside terrace with new set of chairs and tables made of acacia wood. The photo will tell you more! Don't you just wish to be able to sit there, admire the view and enjoy good food?

VINARTE

2008-06-14T01:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very important day for our hotel. We opened a new facility, a wine bar called Vinarte. It turned out really beautiful thanks to our architect Andreja Remih who did an amazing job. The wine bar features 300 different labels of wine, mostly from Slovenia, but also books about wine, wine accessories etc.. Place is perfectly suitable for wine tasting for groups of 10-30 people. The opening went really well. Five wine makers from Slovenia donated and presented their wines at the opening and we all enjoyed good wine and good food. I was nervous of course, but it kind of melted away, since the company was nice too. Vinarte will be opened from Tuesday till Sunday from 9a.m. till noon and from 5p.m. till 11p.m. More on http://www.vinarte-bled.com/.

Something Japanese

2008-06-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to add a little Japanese feature to the terrace: a small Japanese garden to break down the traditional arrangement of the terrace. I am not sure what the feed-back will be, because something like this in Bled can be considered too bold. I can always say it’s just some rocks and stones, but you never know if it will be pleasing. Most of our regular guests will come in July and they will be sure to tell me whether or not they like it.

Being a director of the best hotel in what is considered the prime tourist location in the country can have its up-s and down-s. One of the down-s is certainly the fact that everything I do is under a tight scrutiny of the local public with its own perception of what is wrong and what is right. The unorthodox is usually considered as wrong and standard-classical as right. Not that is ever stopped me from doing what I really wanted to do. I am a bit stubborn. Only a bit. A little bit.

UEFA EURO 2008

2008-06-10T03:16:00.000-07:00

You are probably wondering what is the connection between Grand Hotel Toplice and European Football Championship 2008. Well the fact is that one of the towns that host the matches of EURO 2008 is Klagenfurt in Austria, only a few kilometers away from Bled. Some of the fans have made reservations in our hotel during the match Germany - Poland on June 8th. You can imagine that German fans were extremely happy after winning 2:0, whereas Polish fans still have hope to win the next match with Austria on the 12th June. This is a polite way of saying that they were not happy at all. We have placed a large 108cm LCD TV in the presidential lounge where our guests can enjoy watching matches in a company of other football fans. Bar is of course placed conveniently close to the Presidential lounge. I myself am looking forward to some interesting performances. My favorites for the victory? Due to political reasons and the fact that we have guests from all over Europe in the hotel, I can not say. Sorry!

Banquet dinner

2008-06-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Grand Hotel Toplice is famous also for one more thing and that is organizing of high quality banquet dinners for large groups, wedding receptions, and other events.

Yesterday for example we organized a dinner for 380 people and here is their menu:

Salmon tris (Mousse, mignon, praline)

Cream shrimps soup with herbs and scampi tails

Beef fillet with goose liver and truffles

Baked white “Polenta” with parmesan

Glazed new vegetables

Mango Cake with Coconut Mousse, Pina Colada Espuma

On one of the photos is service staff that managed this event brilliantly and on the other the set-up of the restaurant Grand just before the event. The satisfaction of the event organizers was huge and I am proud of my staff for doing it so well. I must not forget the kitchen staff, that performed a small miracle producing such a large amount of food while maintaining quality and presentation at the highest standard.

Before and after

2008-05-31T00:31:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love the before and after photos, especially when you are happy with the "after" look. Well here is a photo of our terrace before the make-over and one after. Quite a difference, I must say.

Since the temperatures outside are around 25°C and the temperature of the lake is 19°C and rising every day, we decided to officially open our lido today. Swimming, sunbathing, rowing,…..summer time is here!

Fleet

2008-05-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

Do 10 boats make a fleet? Yes, of course they do. How many hotels in the world can boast to have their own fleet of boats? Well, not in Slovenia for sure. Our new addition, a lovely boat number 10 arrived today and was launched properly with my presence. There was a bottle of sparkling wine present, but I would rather not explain what happened to it. If you look carefully at one of the photos, you will see two features of Bled that are really important: St. Martin's church and medieval castle on a cliff high above the lake. I will dedicate a special blog to the castle since it is rather special.

Jula Molnar

2008-05-21T04:26:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to a very special lady. If it wasn't for her, Grand Hotel Toplice would never have been built. Mrs. Jula Molnar was born as Julija Vovk in 1891 in Bled. In 1919 she bought the old, wooden hotel Luisenbad build in 1854. She did some renovations, she built a new lido and then she finally decided to do something very brave. She managed to get a lot of money, torn down most of the old hotel and build a completely new one according to the drawings by Austrian architect Franz Baumgartner.

Mrs. Molnar personally managed the hotel from 1919 until 1945. She was known as a very smart, competent manager, but also very much liked by her employees for being fair and kind.

Interestingly, Mrs. Molnar and myself are the only two women to have ever held the position of the manager of Grand Hotel Toplice since for more then 60 years after 1945, all managers were men.

Decisions

2008-05-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

A part of my job is making decisions regarding different things, no matter how strange they may sound. I have decided to write down a few decisions I had to make recently:

1. What type and colour of flowers shall we plant in flower pots on the terrace?
2. How long will the new skirts for service staff be?
3. How many new lounge chairs for the lido do we buy this year?

If you read the above my jobs suddenly seems quite trivial and easy to do, but this kind of decisions are actually just a part of a big picture called managing a hotel.

In case you were wondering how I decided, here it goes:
Ad 1: I chose blue, pink and white for this summer, I hope it will work out!
Ad 2: I decided for 70cm which is quite long and covers 3/4 of legs. Not that I am being puritanical, I just believe that longer skirts are more elegant.
Ad 3: I decided on 10 new ones in addition to 32 that we bought last year. See photo!

PARTHENOCISSUS (VITIS) QUINQUEFOLIA

2008-05-15T05:15:00.000-07:00

It is a bit strange to name a blog post after a plant, but this not just any plant. Vitis Quinquefolia is a Latin name for Virginia Creeper, a plant that is a very import feature for the image of the hotel. It covers a very large part of the wall and gives to the Grand Hotel Toplice a rather unique look. It changes colours according to the season. Most of it was planted in the 1930-s, and there were some additional plants added some 30 years ago. Stefan, who is head of maintenance in the hotel and has been working for this hotel for 37 years actually remembers buying the additional plants.

Mateja

2008-05-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

Mateja is back! She just spent two days in Zagreb, Croatia, promoting Sava Hotels & Resorts. Mateja is our happy angel. Well not literally, but close. She is the one that you talk to when you want to organize an event, wedding, reception, seminar etc.. She is 100% efficient and always does it with a smile. The fact is that she gets a lot of thank you letters from satisfied guests, more then anyone else in the hotel.

Well, Mateja is back home and I am happy!

Construction

2008-05-13T02:37:00.000-07:00

One of the unavoidable things in the hotel business is renovation, construction, building etc.. We have a wonderful terrace overlooking the lake that was screaming for a make-over. We have chosen to cover the concrete floor of the terrace with tiles. We decided on the tiles, found the company to do the work and then we waited for the warm and sunny weather to begin the work. Like any work that has to be done outside of the hotel, no matter how important, it is annoying to the guests. The work is progressing quite nicely and it should be finished within a few days. But, and there is always a but, the workers today have decided to start early since they wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and do as much work as possible. Since they started at 7.00 a.m. (very early I must admit), and they caused quite a lot of noise, some guests complained. I talked to them and they promised to start at 9.00 a.m. tomorrow and not a minute earlier, but nevertheless the damage has been done. Anze and I have some apologizing to do!

My apologies to all the guests that feel annoyed by this construction work going on, I do believe that in the end this will be another positive addition to the beauty of the hotel.

More about the hotel and people

2008-05-12T04:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we had a film crew in the hotel, filming for a promotional video. Luckily the weather was really beautiful and they were able to do some great work. Anze loved the actress hired to play the role of the guest. He said that she was absolutely gorgeous. (He even got her phone number!) Now I absolutely have to explain who Anze is. Anze Cerne is Rooms Division Manager which means that he is responsible for 3 departments: front office, housekeeping and wellness. He is my second right hand in the hotel, very young but very capable. My first right hand is Asmir. Asmir Jusufagic is Food & Beverage Manager and he is responsible for the kitchen, 3 restaurants and 2 bars. Asmir is one of the most knowledgeable people in the F&B field in Slovenia and I am really happy that he works here.

We have a new boat in the boat house. I know it doesn't sound like much, but these boats are actually built to last for 30-40 years, and it takes ages before they can be replaced with new ones. We had a lot of fun deciding how to name the boat. Romana, head of wellness center, wanted me to name it after one of our regular guests, but I couldn't decide which one, since I like them all very much and it wouldn't be fair to choose only one of them. So now we have a boat with no name, we will just give it a number.

The begining

2008-05-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Introduction:

To start writing this blog I must first do some introduction of both the hotel and myself. Since the name of the blog is Manager's Blog - Grand Hotel Toplice, this naturally suggests that I am the manager of a hotel. Not just any hotel, but a rather special place. Grand Hotel Toplice, a five star hotel, built in 1931 is located on a shore of Lake Bled. Lake Bled looks like from a fairy tale and so does our Hotel. Or should I say, my Hotel? I am very much emotionally attached to this beautiful place. Back to the hotel: 1931 was a good year to build it since the architecture of that time seems to last forever and never looses its charm. There were several renovations made since, and the last one took place in 2002. Hotel has 87 rooms, 3 restaurants, a bar, wellness center and its own boat house and lido. Luckily my Hotel is more than just its wonderful walls. Grand Hotel Toplice are also fantastic employees, who speak several languages, are dedicated to their work and are proud to say: I work at Grand Hotel Toplice.

And myself? My name is Petra Vengust, currently 36 years old and have graduated in economics and I have a post graduate certificate from hotel management at Les Roches in Switzerland. I have been managing this hotel since January 2007.

Enough for the first time. Bye!