SEASONS
MEMBERS ENJOY CLOWANCE VISIT
Dave Rachel and his wife
Alison of Hereford were two of the first Seasons members
to visit Seasons latest resort and by the sound of it,
they had a most enjoyable trip:  ‘My
wife and I recently spent a week at the new Seasons Clowance
resort. We had a fabulous time! We took part in many
of the activities, including the archery – it was
excellent fun for all ages and incredible how we improved
after a couple of goes. It must be the Robin Hood factor.
Clowance also has an excellent tour guide who gave us
a great day touring around the south of Cornwall. Laurie’s
knowledge was extensive and we learnt a lot during the
one day. Some brave travellers were booked in for three
days. The entertainment on site was first class, especially
the Welsh singer/comedian on the Wednesday. One of the
best I’ve seen. The food was good in the restaurant,
the accommodation was first class, as were the leisure
facilities. In short, it’s an excellent addition
to the Seasons family!
LIMITED NUMBER OF CLOWANCE *FREE
SHORT BREAKS STILL AVAILABLE
 Although this has already proved to
be an incredibly popular offer, as a result of getting some
space back from our exchange company, a limited number of
*FREE 3 night weekend (check in Friday) and a larger number
of 4 night mid-week break (check in Monday) at Clowance Estate & Country
Club have now been made available between 1st December 2006
and 28th February 2007 (subject to confirmation), excluding
all school holiday periods.
All Seasons members are eligible
to apply for one of these exclusive offers, so ring Reservations
NOW on 0870 429 8844 to book your bargain break at Seasons
latest and most luxurious resort!
* A nominal booking fee of £25 will be required
per confirmed booking. Offer limited to one Clowance break
per
member. Breaks are non transferrable and non-refundable due
to cancellation.
FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED – SO
HURRY!
CLOWANCE OWNERS ENJOY SEASONS
 As
some of the first Clowance owners to take advantage
of the special offer breaks to Seasons resorts, Mr
and Mrs Eeley were very impressed with their Lake
District experience:
‘We absolutely loved Whitbarrow village. The standard
and the quality were second to none and the Seasons staff
were very friendly, helpful and courteous. We have also noticed
that, since Seasons took over Clowance, there has been a
complete change of atmosphere for the better and we are looking
forward to the years to come.
Meanwhile, Pete and Peggy Darlow, who have been Clowance
owners for two years, took advantage of the opportunity of
a spot of winter sunshine in Portugal:
 ‘ We decided to take a Seasons break which was on offer to
the Algarve and were very impressed with the friendly welcome
and atmosphere at Alpinus resort. We met several Seasons
members and discovered how pleased they are with the resort
and frequency of their visits proves that. We were impressed
with the cleanliness, comfort and general standards of accommodation
at Alpinus, which were also very good. We also enjoyed some
of the entertainment and found it very professional, with
our host Ricky Francis keeping the audience captivated for
the full duration of his three-hour show. The supporting
outside cabaret also played an excellent part. Thank you.’
LAUGHARNE ARTS FESTIVAL
From 8th – 22nd September 2007,
Laugharne Arts Festival will offer a programme that brings
together both local and international talents in the unique
setting that was both home and inspiration to Dylan Thomas.
 A captivating blend of poetry, art, drama, music, film, literature,
creative workshops and street theatre makes an unforgettable
experience for audiences and a memorable venue for visiting
performers. And although the details have not been finalised
for the 2007 Festival, it promises to be as popular and entertaining
as ever.
Commenting on previous years, organizer Jane Tremlett said: “Max
Boyce headlined our first Arts Festival in 2005 and in 2006,
the festival featured ‘Frank Sinatra’ (Stephen
Triffitt) from the ‘Rat Pack’ show in London's
West End, as well as eccentric award-winning comedian, Tim
FitzHigham, who flew down for one performance from the Edinburgh
Festival. Dylan Thomas's daughter Aeronwy (pictured above)
is our Patron and led the Creative Writing three-day workshop,
which was extremely popular and will be repeated in 2007,
along with other creative workshops, which we hope will be
an attraction to Seasons members.”
Contact 01994 427 444 or janetremlett@btconnect.com for further
details, and if you wish to book a break at Laugharne Park
for this period, phone Reservations on 0870 429 8844.
£25 WINNING LETTER
EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE AT ALPINUS
 As always, we are delighted to hear
about Seasons staff going out of their way to help any of
our members, as they did with Judith Kinson, of Willington,
Derbyshire. We were doubly pleased that she also enjoyed
a recent trip to Scotland and that we were able to help her
raise funds for her favourite charity:
“I
visited the Alpinus resort in Portugal at October half term
and loved it. As a single parent with my four year old son
Jack (pictured above), venturing abroad for the first time
on our own, I felt safe and was well looked after by the
staff there, even when some boys let a fire extinguisher
off one night when we returned to go to our room. We were
both very scared to find a thick white smog as the lift doors
opened. We immediately returned to reception and your man
was excellent in trying to reassure my son that it was not
a real fire, but our clothes were covered in a thick white
powder and we had been coughing.
Young Jack was too scared to go to bed and even after the
receptionist tried to tempt him up the stairway instead,
he would still not go. After coaxing for a further half hour,
he was still very reluctant, so the reception guy contacted
a maintenance man, who personally escorted outside the hotel
and in by another entrance, right back to our room. This
level of personal service was indeed impressive, yet about
10 minutes after our return, there was a further courtesy
call to check if Jack’s nerves had returned to normal
and again the following morning, to ensure he had slept well.
Now that's great service!
We also visited Brunston Castle in August with my 14 year
old niece, where we had a great time and found the bungalows
fantastically well presented and everything catered for.
We even found the table set, a balcony and an adventure play
area that I could not drag Jack away from. He loved it so
much he wanted to stay forever and cried because he didn't
want to go home. We went to Ayr and the beach at Girvan was
fantastic. We had a delightful walk along the village stream
to see the ruined castle and Brunston Mansion, which I recommend
to everyone.
Imagine my surprise on returning home to find Jack had contrived
a return visit by deliberately leaving his brand new and
favourite drinks bottle in the video/games room area, 'so
we absolutely MUST go back to Brunston Castle MUMMY, and
very soon!' It is clear that looking after the kids is a
major priority with Seasons and happy kids mean happy holidays.
Finally, you very kindly offered a free holiday as a fundraising
prize to help me raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation
and I have arranged several charity nights. I have already
had two write ups in the Burton Evening Mail and been live
on local radio and Seasons has been mentioned each time.”
Have YOU got a story about your Seasons holiday or short
break that you would like to share? Simply email it to insight@seasonsholidays.com
and you could win £25 if your entry is chosen as the
winning letter in a future edition of Seasons eNews Update!
And remember that attaching a photograph will give you a
much better chance of catching the Editor’s eye!’
BURN PARK HELPS YOUNG SEB
A
12-hour pool marathon and cabaret evening held at Burn Park,
raised over £1,000 for specialist treatment for Sebastian
Hyde, who is severely autistic.
 The event, held on September 10th – Seb’s 10th birthday – was
organised by Bude Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes and the presentation
evening took place at Burn park, during which a cheque for £1,250 was handed
over to Seb’s mother, Juliet Bannister, by resort manager Gill Kaye (pictured
above). During the evening, there was also a buffet and raffle. The buffet was
paid for by the RAOB and prepared by Burn Park catering staff. The prizes for
the raffle were donated by local businesses and Bude residents and raised a further £103
on the night.
One of the highlights of the evening was the auction of a week's holiday in Alpinus,
donated by Seasons, which also brought in over £200 for the cause.
Juliet wants to raise funds to pay for intensive therapy for her son through
the Son-Rise Programme, an American system that teaches a specific and comprehensive
system of treatment and education designed to help families enable their autistic
children to improve in all areas of learning, development, communication and
skill acquisition.
THANKS TO BRUNSTON CASTLE
Just for a change, here’s a
very appreciative letter to the staff at Brunston Castle
from
Interval International exchange guests, Sheila and John Holden:
 ‘I would like to thank you for the lovely four day break I had with you
in November. My mother, who is 87 and my brother, husband and I were really impressed
with the standard of the accommodation and the friendly staff. Nothing seemed
to be too much trouble for them and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. On returning
home, I had a phone call from a member of your staff, informing me that I had
left my phone charger behind. It was posted to me and I would like to thank your
receptionist Catriona, who did me this kindness. I look forward to staying with
you again.’
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
 The ever popular manager of Brunston
Castle, Norma Docherty, arranged a Halloween
party for more than 20 kids and some
40 adults. A great and spooky night was
had by all, including playing bobbing
for apples, passing the pumpkin, musical
skeletons and lots more games to keep
everybody laughing.
The Saddleback bar hosted a wonderful
Halloween night of entertainment for
everyone at Whitbarrow Village. In
fact, the brewery was so impressed
by the decoration that they sent additional
promotional material! The hosts for
the evening were Nicola and Wayne Robley
and the guest relations team would
like to thank them and all their staff
for arranging such a fantastic evening.
 NO SMOKING RULE POPULAR WITH MEMBERS
As expected, the ‘No Smoking’ ban
in bars and restaurants and polite notices in units at Seasons
resorts in the British Isles have proved overwhelmingly popular
with visitors.
We have had incredible support in favour of the no smoking
and literally a handful of complaints about the ban. Our
thanks go to all those members who have supported us and
to those smokers who graciously accepted the fact that most
Seasons members don’t want to breathe in other people’s
smoke!
ENJOY A ‘SUNSHINE BREAK’ ON
THE ALGARVE
We want to remind all Seasons members
that our Travel Club confirms that there are some fantastic
budget airfares to the Algarve between now and the end
of February 2007.
 The weather is usually good, with warmer temperatures
and far more sunshine during the course of a week than
you could expect in the UK at that time. The golf is great,
the walks along the spectacular coastline are fabulous
and you are perfectly placed to enjoy day trips to the
fascinating cities of Seville and Lisbon.
We even have good availability over the New Year, so why
not do something completely different this year and join
the party at Alpinus!
Not only do we still have availability at this ever-popular
resort, but to help you make the most of the amazingly
low airfares, we are prepared to allow all NEW bookings,
scheduled to arrive between the beginning of December 2006
and the end of Feburary 2007, to request ANY arrival day! So
if you have not yet used up any yellow or green week entitlement,
or if you would like to secure a Member’s
bonus week for just the cost of the management fee, call
0870 429 8844 right now!
SUNDAY OR THURSDAY CHECK-IN FROM NOW ON
In order to widen the choice of flights for members from
regional airports, Seasons has increased the number of
apartments with Thursday check-in available at the resort
in 2007, although the main check-in day for the Algarve
will still be Sunday.
BARGAIN FLIGHT EXAMPLES TO FARO
December 2006
London Gatwick - £110 per person
Bristol - £84 per person
Liverpool - £77 per person
January 2007
London Gatwick - £91 per person
Bristol - £94 per person
Liverpool - £78 per person
February 2007
London Gatwick - £91 per person
Bristol - £118 per person
Liverpool - £93 per person
All prices are quoted are ‘ from’ and are subject
to change at any time.
BARGAIN SHORT BREAKS
If you act quickly, there are still some fabulous four
night winter breaks available during December, January
and February at most of the Seasons UK resorts at the usual
unbelievable bargain prices.
For full details, call Reservations on 0870 429 8844.
WHITBARROW VILLAGE ‘NEW LOOK’ LEISURE
CENTRE
From January 8th 2007, the leisure centre
at Whitbarrow Village for will be closed for approximately
6 months for a complete refit, which will include the following
improvements:
• A new children’s splash pool (in addition
to the main pool and Jacuzzi)
• A new wet seating area
• A family changing village
• Relocation of the sauna and steam room
• A brand new gym area with state-of-the-art equipment
• A new reception area overlooking the pool
• A new, purpose-built, 200 seater restaurant and bar, with
open deck patio, overlooking spectacular views of the Pennines
 During the refurbishment period, in order to minimise any
inconvenience this may cause our guests, Seasons has made
alternative arrangements with the elegant Lodore Falls
Hotel at Borrowdale, some 14 miles away, where Seasons
members and guests can enjoy free use of this superb hotel’s
wide range of facilities.
These include landscaped gardens, all-weather tennis court,
squash court, children's play area and outdoor swimming
pool. Indoor facilities include the Lodore Leisure Suite,
with swimming pool, sauna, sunbed and well-equipped gym.
They even have a beauty salon, offering a varied selection
of treatments for both ladies and gentlemen. All you need
to take is a swimming towel.
HIGH TIDE AT BURN PARK!
 Nobody was more startled than resort manager Gill Kaye
when she was called over to the leisure centre a couple
of days ago:
"Hi all, thought you would be interested
to learn that we had an incredibly high tide at Bude
today. So much so that we found a FISH in the swimming
pool! Silver, about two inches long, thought to be mullet,
dead after doing backstoke in the chlorine, but a fish
none the less. Got to go now, looking for 'chips' in
the jacuzzi.’
Gill is also still looking for the comedian who put the
fish in the pool!
HAVING TROUBLE RECEIVING YOUR ENEWS?
If you or any other members you know are having trouble
receiving their eNews we would advise giving your email
address to Membership Services who will re-subscribe you.
SEASONS IMPORTANT EMAIL ADDRESSES
To make bookings at any of Seasons owned or
affiliated resorts, or to book value for money Seasons midweek
or weekend breaks, and for any general enquiries about your membership,
simply email reservations@seasonsholidays.com
For advice on every aspect of your holiday, with all tickets fully ATOL protected
through our association with Vacation Travel Seasons Travel Club email travelclub@seasonsholidays.com.
The Travel Club online enquiry/booking service is open 24 hours per day, 7 days
per week, 365 days per year.
For more details click here.
Generous offers are always available for friends and relations of members to
come and experience Seasons for themselves - plus incentives for members! For
the current special offers email referrals@seasonsholidays.com
If any members wish to contact Seasons Owners Consultative Committee email mail@socc.org.uk |
