Reservations and Membership Services holiday opening hours are included and Seasons Holidays takes this opportunity to wish all our members a joyful and restful holiday and we all look forward to helping you make the most of your holidays in 2008.

RED ARROWS BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
Everyone knows the famous Red Arrows aerial display team, but not everyone gets a special display for their birthday!  Imagine the excitement at Brunston Castle resort on 22nd November when they appeared out of the blue. Here’s how resort manager Norma Docherty described the event:
‘We had a display from the Red Arrows here for the 18th birthday of Daniel, the son of our Head Housekeeper, Isabel. His father Mark is a sergeant in the army and is part of the Red Arrows team.

For Daniel’s birthday, he had arranged for several of his show team to surprise his son at Brunston Castle resort.
It was fantastic!  They all jumped from 5,000 feet in a plane with no doors on it, so they were freezing even before they had jumped.  Fortunately, the weather turned out to be beautiful ­ a really bright and lovely clear, crisp day.

It was also Mark’s last jump, having done over 4,000. He is now going to be based in Germany, training the paratroopers, while two of his men will be based in Afghanistan after Christmas.’

HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME
We often receive letters describing some great holidays, but the following trip taken by Margaret and John Gardiner of Wolverhampton must be one of the most outstanding we have received for a long time.  As they say, it certainly shows what you can achieve with your Seasons weeks ­ given a sense of adventure and some research:
‘We have just been on a holiday of a lifetime! Although this holiday was not at a Seasons resort, it does show how valuable and flexible your Seasons weeks can be.

We are led to believe that we are the first Seasons members to do this particular holiday and it just shows what you can do with your Seasons membership.
It all started when we received a brochure from Interval International. They were explaining the benefits for Interval Gold members, where you can exchange your week towards a cruise etc.

A new option ‘Classic Rail Tours’ was shown, an example was given of a rail tour through the Rocky mountains in Canada. We contacted Interval for more information and were told to send for a brochure from ‘Titan Hi Tours’, which we did. When the brochure arrived it contained rail tours from all around the world.
The one that caught our attention was a rail tour all the way across Canada. Vancouver through the Rockies on the ‘Rocky Mountaineer’ train to Jasper. Then on ‘The Canadian’ train to Toronto.

As our friends were coming with us, we exchanged our Seasons two weeks in a two bed unit towards the cost of the trip.
The holiday was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. We were picked up at the front door and transported to Heathrow. No stress or hassle of driving or parking.

In Vancouver, we had a tour around the city, a trip up the ‘Lookout’ at 581 feet high.
A trip up Grouse mountain and seeing the bears was great and it snowed while we were there. This was followed by a walk across the swaying Capilano suspension bridge, 230 feet up.

On the fourth day, we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer and travelled all day into the Canadian Rockies to Kamloops and stayed in a hotel overnight. There was so much food on the train that we did not have an evening meal!
The following morning, we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer for breakfast and continued on through the Rockies to Jasper.
The views we saw were fantastic. Again too much food and no evening meal!
Two days were spent at Jasper with excursions to see the mountains, lakes and wildlife in the area.

We then boarded ‘The Canadian’ train for three days, two nights and over 2,000 miles to Toronto. Again fantastic views and plenty of food.

In Toronto,we again had a tour around the city and a trip up the CN tower at 1,815 feet high.
Continuing on, we stopped just outside of Niagara and had a helicopter ride over the American and Canadian (Horseshoe) falls, which it is difficult to find words to describe.

As we arrived at Niagara, the sun was shining and a number of rainbows could be seen in the mist from the Falls. We then returned to our hotel in Toronto.

The next day was the end of the tour. The rest of the party were flying home but we had booked an add on of an extra two nights in Niagara.
A limousine took us back to Niagara and stayed in the ‘Sheraton On The Falls’. On the 11th floor, we looked out of the window and WOW! we overlooked both of the falls.
When the falls are illuminated at night they are awesome. Whilst there we went up to the falls in ‘The Maid of the Mist’ boat and we also walked behind the falls.

The holiday was regretfully over and a limousine took us back to Toronto airport.
After arriving at Heathrow we were transported back to our front door.
All absolutely fantastic. We hope this is of interest to you and all Seasons members. We love our Seasons Membership.’

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICKY
Seasons ever-popular Director of Entertainment, Ricky Francis, recently celebrated his birthday at Brunston Castle ­ though there was no Red Arrows display for him!
However, on November 21st, Norma Docherty and her staff bought him a cake and card and sang happy birthday.
As the Editor of Seasons eNews, I am sure I speak for the entire Seasons Holidays organisation and all of our members when I wish Ricky a very happy belated birthday and many more to come. The tireless energy he puts into entertaining everyone is greatly appreciated and we are sure that his current tour of the resorts will be a resounding success!

£40 CHRISTMAS WINNING LETTER - ‘ANOTHER WONDERFUL YEAR’

It’s good to hear from long term members Ann, John and Lesley Brigham, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, reporting that they derived so much enjoyment from their Seasons membership during 2007.  We will do our very best to ensure that 2008 is just as good for the Brighams and all our other members!


’The Brigham Family have had yet another wonderful year of courtesy from Seasons. Yes, we do own quite a few weeks but love every minute, and life is so short, such a lot to cram in now we are retired! 
Starting in February, we had five days in Clowance. The resort is fantastic, the weather was excellent, the Seasons team with Charlotte and Neil were so helpful and gave us a warm welcome. 
There are lots of places to visit in the area, some closed for winter, but the views from Lands End were stunning.

March saw us in Tasmania in an affiliate resort in Hobart.  What an interesting place that was so relaxing and lots to see and do, so very different from England in the way it is so laid back.
The beaches are really beautiful and some lovely walks along the coast, not much rain for two years but the rainforests are still worth a visit.

We realised we had not booked for Whitbarrow and would not see the Lakes in Spring, so a quick phone call to Leela who looks after us so well and we paid for a short break and were able to see the end of Spring and the rhododendrons at their best. What a wonderful part of the country.

The resort is altering all the while, lots more units and of course more cars and people, but it is one of the quietest places on an evening. 
Where else do you get the ducks to welcome you outside the door every morning and how do they know when you are making breakfast?

In July, we went to Alpinus, we love it there too, the Seasons team are brilliant. 
We were looked after by John this time, lovely to see faces we knew from other resorts and nice that they remembered us.

It was two years since we were last there and yet, when Drew Murdoch walked in, he came up to us straight away - we thought that was really nice.
We took our grandson this time and went on lots of trips, taxis are cheap and reliable. We can recommend the jeep tour, that was a full day but good value, lots to see and do and the food midday was excellent.

But the highlight of this holiday is as always the entertainment.  Nice to see Pedro is still there, but Seasons own Ricky Francis is outstanding -- great fun to be with and when he is not there, Becky does a wonderful job.  Long may they continue.

August we went to Whitbarrow, where the weather was marvellous and we did a lot of walking and climbing.
The Crinkles walk was quite an achievement and I have never seen such brilliant views - superb.

September? Yes, you’ve guessed, we came back to the Lakes again, can't get enough of it. 

October we went to Whitbarrow again, to see the Lakes in its Autumn colours and we weren't disappointed. 
It was beautiful and we have some nice memories on film. As we are Elite members, we came for five days in November, again the weather perfect.

We are so lucky, and this time, a new Seasons team. We were made welcome from the minute we arrived by Niccy, who kept us up to date the whole time and we enjoyed a pleasant cheese and wine evening on the Tuesday.

So that is all for this year ­ who knows what next year will bring? Hopefully just as good as this last one -- we are pretty much booked up already.

 A "BIG THANK YOU" to you all, wishing you a Very Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing you next year.’

Have you got a story about your Seasons holiday or short break that you want to share with other Insight readers? 
If it is selected for publication in an edition of Insight, you could win £25. 

And remember that the Editor is far more likely to pick your story if it is accompanied by a picture! 
We look forward to hearing from you very soon.

FESTIVE SEASON OPENING HOURS
Will all our members please note that the following are the Seasons Reservation and Membership Services opening hours over Christmas and the New Year:
24 Dec, Christmas Eve:  9am - 1pm
Christmas Day:  closed
Boxing Day: - closed
27 Dec: 10am - 5pm
28 Dec: 10am - 5pm
31 Dec: 9am - 1pm
01 Jan: closed
02 Jan: back to normal (9am ­ 7pm).

‘AMAZING’ BREAK AT LAUGHARNE
Gemma Thomas, from Chelmsford, Essex wrote to tell us how much she and the family enjoyed their recent short break in Wales:

’I am writing to let you know about the amazing half term break that we had
at Laugharne in October. My husband Paul, myself and my two-year-old daughter, Jenny, visited Wales for the third time in 18 months - needless to say we love everything about it. The tranquility of the setting overlooking the estuary of the river Taf and the endless opportunities to explore.

We were made most welcome and particularly enjoyed the spooky Halloween party in the clubhouse. Jenny was the cutest little witch you have ever seen. Biased or not, she is a little knockout!

After the party fun, Jenny took her Dad back to the lodge to crash out and I went off to the wine and cheese in Guest Relations, where it was great to bump into our good friends Neil and Yvonne.
We are stalking you, Neil. He just seems to pop up everywhere we go!

Everyone at Laugharne has been so helpful and friendly and so much fun that we just want to keep coming back.
That's even before you include the visit to 'Folly Farm' (use Tesco clubcard deals vouchers and get in for a bargain) and Manorbier, which is probably the most stunningly beautiful place in the entire world. We are coming back at Easter for a whole week and we can't wait.

While I am in touch, I want to let you know that the admin team at Seasons are great too and Kara in particular has made all our arrangements straightforward and made us feel really looked after. Great job guys!’

ANOTHER HAPPY SEASONS MEMBER
We were very pleased to receive a note from William Keating of Morchard Bishop, Devon, reassuring us how pleased he is with his membership:
‘Please find enclosed my cheque for the outstanding portion of the management fee for 2008, following my previous cheque.

I look forward to another year of excellent quality holidays with Seasons and thoroughly approve of your drive to continue the improvements to your resorts.’

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.

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.