SEASONS NEWSLETTER MAY 2009
£25 WINNING LETTER
'FANTASTIC' FOREST HILLS
Two of the early visitors to the 'new look' Seasons Forest Hills resort on the western Costa del Sol, Steve and Sheila Duckworth from Saundersfoot certainly enjoyed every minute of their stay, judging by their email!
'We just wanted to let everyone know what a superb time we had at the recently refurbished Forest Hills resort in Estepona. A fairytale hilltop castle? In the words of John Barrowman, 'Fantastic, Fantastic, Fantastic'. That goes for the resort and the wall to wall sunshine.
From the moment we arrived at the welcoming reception desk, with such a friendly greeting from Nat, Charlie, Bev and resort manager Debs, nothing was too much trouble. We were lucky enough to have an apartment which certainly had the best view we have ever seen. From our huge balcony, we had views of the surrounding hills, looking down to the coast at Estepona and along to Gibraltar and the North African coast. The apartment was truly finished to the highest standard. It had a leather suite, very well equipped kitchen area, a double bedroom and a fully tiled shower room. The furniture was solid and everything had been provided including a very comfortable bed and a flat screen TV with a DVD player.
Yes, there are quite a few steps, but that just helps your fitness and builds up your appetite for the superb food on offer at the fantastic pool bar and charming restaurant!
The pool area is decked all around and furnished with quality tables, chairs and sunbeds. The glazed surround makes sure everyone enjoys the superb views in all directions. The pool bar is run by the effervescent partnership of Sam and Kat, who not only provide good value, quality food and refreshments all day, but they make sure that everyone is enjoying themselves and will do anything that is needed to achieve this. We had breakfast delivered to our top floor apartment, with cups of tea, some 120 steps later! And they were still smiling.
The restaurant run by Richard and Carla and ably assisted by Tom, offered a balanced menu of freshly prepared dishes, all again to the highest standard and in very comfortable surroundings. Most nights there was entertainment as well as speciality nights, such as the buffet night, fish night and grill night. Whatever your needs they would try to satisfy them.
We cannot say enough about how helpful and cheerful the entire team of staff were throughout our stay, making sure we had all we needed and if we didn't they would sort it. Even the sales team, Chris (thanks for all you did), Craig, Bev and Andrew were always chatty and friendly.
There was a quiet area with luxury sunbeds and hot tub, a small shop, well equipped gym, games room and steam room. All adding to the superb on-site facilities.
The entire resort is well laid out, and designed to capitalise on the breathtaking views, but we do recommend that visitors hire a car. Estepona town is well worth a visit, for a walk along the promenade to the marina. There are great beaches and some quaint Spanish squares to eat in. Thanks again to the team at Forest Hills for making sure we had the relaxing holiday that we needed. We will certainly be back again soon.'
So if that all sounds wonderful and you fancy sampling the warm welcome and fantastic facilities and accommodation, there is still space available in July and August. Simply call Reservations on 01994 426000 and it could soon be you who is writing in to Seasons newsletter to tell us what a great time you had!
WIN A FREE BREAK OR BONUS WEEK!
Here's some great news for all Seasons members! You will recall that in last month's newsletter, we told you that paper response sheets at each resort will become a thing of the past. Instead, as from the end of May, when you return home, you will receive an autoemail from Seasons, giving you the chance to rate every aspect of your holiday – so we can ensure that standards simply get better at every Seasons resort. And to thank you for taking the time and making the effort, we want to give something back:
But first, we want you to upload your pictures and stories of your Seasons holiday, together with any recommendations you have which might have improved your resort experience, to the new MySeasonsHolidays.com website, designed to help Seasons members make the most of their holiday, whichever resort they visit.
Before you go, you can check the website for other members' reviews, pictures and comments of their holiday experiences and the local area. Then when you return, you can upload your own holiday tips, adding to a valuable source of 'real life' recommendations for others to benefit from.
Your stories, pictures and videos sent to www.myseasonsholidays.com will appear on Seasons website and the member whose entry is judged to be the best each month will win a free short break at any of Seasons UK resorts. And from those monthly winners, the entry judged to be best of the whole year will win a bonus week for six!
Apart from members' material, the site is regularly updated by Seasons Resort Managers and staff, adding news and forthcoming events to provide members with an infinite resource of information to help plan their holidays. The site includes an overview for each individual resort, plus a list of local attractions, restaurants, bars, shops, events and days out. 'Seasons TV' shows videos of each resort and members' videos of their holiday experiences at each one.
CREDIT CRUNCHING AT CLUB TAHITI
What a happy story we received from John and Margaret Jacob of Preston, who had something very special to celebrate – and yet again, Seasons were able to help them do it in style!
'John and I retired in April, after working 21 years at the Land Registry. So to mark the occasion, we decided to have a week at Club Tahiti in Lanzarote. What a fanatastic start to our retirement – Sun, Sea and Sangria. We had a really good start to the holiday at the welcome meeting with Chris and the guest relations team and had a really good laugh helped along with complementary Sangria or orange juice. When we were there, we were made aware of the special meal deals to meet the CREDIT CRUNCH. Nichola and Wayne who run the bar have met this with great deals of three and six night deals. This means that when two adults eat in the restaurant, the children of the family eat free. John and I paid 200 euros for six nights and ate things like fillet steak as well as a dozen alternatives, paella night (or an alternative if you want it) and a fantastic barbeque and we got a complementary bottle of red house wine with the meal as well as entertainment for both children and adults.
We had a daily quiz by the pool and a new game to me called 'killer darts'. I have never thrown a dart in my life but was good fun. We had a couple of trips out to the north of the island and up the volcanic mountains but had a great time just lazing by the pool and having a snack at the bar. Here is a photo of John and I with Nichola and Wayne with our complementary sangria. If this is retirement, bring it on!'
SPECIAL REQUESTS
Please note that Seasons confirmations have been redesigned to show a 'Special Request' box. This means that if a Member requests anything out of the ordinary, such as no steps, a cot or a disabled lodge, it is entered onto the reservation and then printed on the confirmation.
Therefore, in order to ensure that everyone gets what they need, will all Members please check their booking confirmations, and, if their special request doesn't appear, they need to contact Membership Services on 01994 426000 and ask for a REVISED confirmation showing their requests. Many thanks.
HELPFUL STAFF IN LANZAROTE
When you read the first couple of sentences of the story sent to us by Vanessa and Tony Ballard, from Folkstone in Kent, you would never think that their holiday could turn out to have such a happy ending. Well done to all the Seasons staff in Lanzarote who contributed to its success!
'We would like to thank the staff at Club Tahiti. On arrival, my husband Tony had been in a lot of pain in his left arm. We were thinking at the time he was having a heart attack, because he could not lift his left arm at all. This had been going on throughout the flight from Gatwick to Lanzarote. Ken Yates, Chris and Elaine took him down to the local hospital, where they checked him out from top to toe. Thankfully he was later discharged and was able to continue his stay.
Thank you to all the resort staff for all their help. It was a great holiday all round in the end. We would also like to mention Shaun Barker our representative for our stay.
What great customer skills he showed all through our stay, he looked after us both and we award him 10 out of 10. We look forward to seeing the staff of Seasons again very soon.'
NEW ALGARVE RESORT
Mar Da Luz is Seasons Holidays fabulous NEW destination on Portugal's magical Algarve
This new Seasons Select resort, opening 5th July 2009, has 43 stunning apartments built to the highest specification. Each apartment is fully equipped with everything from crockery to DVD players.
All of the spacious, light and airy apartments have satellite television, VCR/DVD player, hairdryer, iron and ironing board, air conditioning, under floor heating and well equipped kitchens, including fridge/freezer, washing machine, dishwasher, oven and electric hob.
Facilities on the resort include adult and separate children's outdoor pebble pools, indoor heated pool, pool terrace, fully landscaped Mediterranean gardens and garden lighting throughout the resort, gymnasium, sauna, Turkish bath, spa treatment room and Jacuzzi area.
Praia da Luz has everything you need - a lovely beach with many restaurants, bars and cafés along the promenade, which runs behind the beach. There are also a variety of market stalls and artists displaying their work; a bank, shops for everything you are likely to need and all in a very attractive setting.
The local area is second to none for shopping, in Lagos you will find a diverse array of local shops selling ceramics and home ware through to fashionable boutiques and an abundance of restaurants and bars offering both local and international cuisine.
Holidays are subject to availability within the next two years, please refer to rules relating to your membership band.
Previous experience shows that demand for new destinations is usually very high; holidays will be confirmed on a first come, first served basis.
To avoid disappointment call Membership Services today on 01994 426000. For more information about Mar da Luz please click here
WHITBARROW VILLAGE UPDATE
Many members will be happy to receive the latest news bulletin on various aspects of the ever-popular Whitbarrow Village, in the Lake District, from General Manager, Vaughan Kennedy:
'The first quarter of the year has been extremely busy for Whitbarrow. Starting in January, we saw the first part of a major facelift for the resort, when the main driveway was re-surfaced. Since its completion on 28th January 2009, many members have expressed their delight at being able to travel to reception unhindered by pot-holes and loose shingle.
In addition, many of our members have received the re-decoration programme at Whitbarrow with great enthusiasm. Starting in February, all but three of the Troutbecks have been internally redecorated, with the fixtures and fitting also coming under close scrutiny.
As the resort began to get busier and the weather better, our decorators have moved from inside the lodges to outside on the resort. All external 'Dirty White' walls have now been repainted and the aesthetic value of this repaint is plain to see. It is providing our members with a sound peace of mind and reassurance that Seasons Holidays constantly re-invest in their product in the pursuit of customer excellence. We estimate that the outsides will be done inside the month and they have certainly contributed to raising the 'beauty' standard at Whitbarrow.
Finally, and for now, our frustrated long-standing members can smile, for the new Jacuzzi has been installed and is up and running.
It brings closure to a long list of justified complaints on our guest questionnaires, which have left many members disappointed at the long absence period of the facility.
In the next short bulletin, we will be able to update members on the main car park refurbishment and also with the new plans for the forestry and woodland surrounding Whitbarrow.
'WONDERFUL BREAK' AT COUNTY HOTEL
Emails continue to arrive praising Seasons first 'City Break' hotel and as you will read, Richard and Colleen Gray from Swansea really enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to more Seasons hotels in the future.
'Thank you Season's for a wonderful mid-week break at The County Hotel, Bath.
We had heard about the opening of the hotel whilst enjoying a weekend break at Clowance in November last year, but knowing it was going to be a popular destination and, according to the information circulating at the time, it didn't look as though we would ever get a look-in.
What we like most about being owners is the ability to use the various sites to motor around and explore different areas, so the appeal of being able to spend three to five days in a city like Bath was very tempting indeed. Even though the wife was recovering from a knee operation, we decided to go ahead with the booking. Reservations kindly arranged for us to be given a first floor room, as the County Hotel doesn't have a lift.
There were further disadvantages, such as the rooms being a bit cramped (especially the shower) and there were no evening meals or any food available, apart from breakfast (which was a bit of a disadvantage with Colleen's temporary incapacity); however the cheerfulness and helpfulness of all the staff more than compensated for it. Plus of course the fact that the hotel is ideally situated in a very pleasant location and even the shops were easily accessible on foot. In fact Colleen managed to do a fair bit of walking, albeit at a snail's pace, which did help to strengthen her leg muscles. We even managed to get around to visiting the American Museum, which is about eight miles away, and also the Tithe Barn at Bradford-on-Avon, where the farm buildings, including a very large Tithe Barn, have been completely restored by a preservation society and is very worth while visiting. I'm sure there are lots more interesting places in the vicinity waiting for us to visit at some future date.
It has always been our opinion that the idea of using hotels, located in cities and large towns as 'holiday accommodation' is a very good idea. It allows elderly members, such as ourselves – who perhaps no longer wish to travel long distances by car – to visit different areas of the country and use local transport to explore them, so that they will still have all the facilities of the city or town at their disposal.
So, we are very pleased that Seasons have taken the plunge with opening The County Hotel and hope that it shan't be long before we have 'Holiday Hotel Sites' around the country in cities and towns such as Chester, York and Norwich. Our thanks to all the staff at The County Hotel, Bath for their cheerful welcome and helpfulness. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.'
IMPORTANT INTERNAL BANKING CHANGES
In order to cut down on the number of calls to Membership Services – thus freeing up staff to answer members' queries - the procedure for Internal Banking has changed as follows:
Seasons Full Charter Members no longer have to phone Membership Services to Internally bank their week. However, their week must be used by the end of the following year. This means that a week banked in 2008 must be used by the end of December 2009.
EGYPT HOLIDAY IDEAL FOR ALL AGES
As so often happens, Seasons newsletter readers are reminded of their own holiday when they read one of our articles. So we were very interested to hear how well Susan and Stephen Smith of Basingstoke, Hampshire got on when they took a party of six very different ages on an exchange holiday.
'I've just read the article on the Seasons website about Domina Coral Bay in Egypt, so I have to write and tell you about our experience when we booked into the resort for Christmas week 2007. My husband and I travelled to Egypt with my son and his fiancée and my mother in law and her friend, both in their 80's and stayed in Aquamarine.
On arrival at the resort, we were greeted by the staff with a drink while we booked in and were taken to our apartments. At first glance, we thought we were a little bit out on a limb, as we were probably in the farthest part of the resort, but we found the rooms to be well furnished and we overlooked the swimming pool, with a further view of the sea and the hills beyond. The accommodation was spacious and very clean and nothing was a trouble to the cleaning staff; if you wanted something, you only had to ask. The area we were staying in was quiet and it was just what we were wanting for our holiday.
The resort was quite hilly and at first I was a little worried that our elderly relatives would find this too much. Not at all! We very soon got into the way of the 'Tuk Tuks' (three-wheeler auto rickshaws) that go around the resort and were able to explore the resort and try out the different restaurants available to us. We tried most of them once but our preference was to have our meals served rather than self-service (self-service in one restaurant was a bit of a trial as there were so many Italians and Russians elbowing you out of the way) and I have to say that the meals we had were really good and the staff couldn't have been more helpful. The self-service restaurant, I found out later, was where package deal tourists had to eat on their 'all-inclusive' package.
We snorkelled off the pontoon, which was brilliant, whilst our two 'seniors' relaxed on sunbeds. We took a boat trip along the coast and the members of staff were so helpful in making sure that my mother in law and her friend got on and off the boat via the pontoon. We experienced lazy days, enjoying coffee at one of the numerous restaurants within the resort and enjoyed walking around the resort and finding the many hidden nooks and crannies available to us. Domina's entertainment wasn't to our tastes but that was personal to us and it didn't stop the enjoyment of the whole holiday. We did go into the old town a couple of times and, apart from a hair-raising bus ride on one occasion, enjoyed both trips. We have all agreed that we would love to go back to Domina Coral Bay. The resort is well kept, spotlessly clean and the staff are lovely. I would also like to add my thanks to Shirley at Seasons for organising this trip for us.'
BAR/RESTAURANT COMMENT SHEET DRAW WINNERS
Below are the names of the April Seasons monthly draw winners for those who fill in the Bar and Restaurant Comment Sheets. There is one winner for each of the following seven Seasons resorts – so be sure to fill in a sheet on your next visit for the chance to win a £20 meal voucher for use in any of these Seasons Resorts!
Burn Park - D. Richards - Port Talbot
Laugharne Park - Mrs Thompson - Norton
Whitbarrow Village - Mr D. Bird - Colchester
Clowance - Mr Hugh Roberts - Surrey
Forest Hills - Mr & Mrs Lewis - South Wales
Brunston Castle - Mr D Cockburn - London
May's winners will be published in next month's newsletter and the free draw will continue each month until further notice.
UPDATE YOUR EMAIL DETAILS
You can now update your address details simply by clicking on the words 'click here to change your email address' at the bottom of this email. Please do not contact the insight email address for this purpose. This will only update your enews subscription, please contact Membership Services directly to update your details, please call 01994 426000 or email memservices@seasonsholidays.com
Many thanks - The Editor.
UNSUBSCRIBE
If you wish to unsubscribe, please note that there is a link at the bottom of the page, click on the link and it will display a new page that displays your email address. You have to confirm it is correct by clicking the 'Unsubscribe' button. Please do not contact the insight email address for this purpose. Many thanks - The Editor.
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 unrivalled service and advice on getting to and from your holiday destination, including low cost carriers, charters, scheduled flights, car hire, ferries, please email travelclub@seasonsholidays.com or call 01253 299044. All tickets are fully protected through our association with Vacation Travel Seasons Travel Club.
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.
If any members wish to contact Seasons Owners Consultative Committee email mail@socc.org.uk.
BACK ISSUES OF eNEWS
Members wishing to read previous issues of Seasons eNews Update should visit www.seasonsholidays.com, go to the Members page and click on 'Members News'.
