At Daish’s we understand that Group Organiser’s like a chance to try a hotel and location before taking their group somewhere, so we will be hosting another of our Group Organiser Exclusive Weekends at the Barrowfield Hotel, Newquay from Friday 23rd March 2012 for 3 nights at a cost of £75pp.

After making your own way to the hotel, which is within easy reach of bus and train stations as well as Newquay airport, there will be a Cornish Cream Tea served between 3-4pm to welcome you to the hotel, before a chance to relax beforwe dinner and your live entertainment.

On Saturday following breakfast you will have a choice of trips, either to Trebah Gardens and Penzance or Truro, Falmouth and a boat trip, you will then be able to relax over dinner and your entertainment.

On Sunday you will have the chance to visit Heartlands, a brand new tourist attraction which is great for groups and focuses around the local mining heritage, before returning to the hotel for afternoon tea and a presentation by Daish’s Travel team. This will be followed by a Bucks Fizz reception before Dinner and entertainment. Departure is after breakfast on Monday.

Any group organiser who books a group for 20 or more people in the month following the weekend will have the cost of the weekend credited against the booking as well as our usual free places.

To make a reservation or for more details please call Julia on 0844 846 4684 or email Julia@daishs.com 

Now the festive season is over and a new year has begun, so has the exhibition season.

Julia will be exhibiting at the Alexandra Palace in London on Saturday 28th January 2012 with Chris, Daish’s Marketing Manager from 10am - 4pm.

The show is operated by Tourism South East and the Group Travel Organiser Magazine.

This will be about the 8th year that Daish’s have had a stand at the show and consider it as one of the highlights of the year.

Admission for Group Organisers is free of charge, for more information please visit:

www.excursions.org.uk/

We look forward to seeing you on stand GT39!

Las Vegas Weekend at the Barrowfield

One of our regular Group Organisers John Kempson from Stoke on Trent took his group to our Barrowfield Hotel in Newquay last week, for their combined Las Vegas Weekend and Tinsel and Turkey break.

As well as our ever popular Tinsel & Turkey Break John’s group wanted their break to coincide with our Las Vegas Entertainment Weekend, hosted by our regular Devonshire entertainer Lee Randall of Maximoo Productions. Friday evening our guests enjoyed Diamond Nights the UK’s number 1 Neil Diamond Tribute act and on Saturday it was the turn of Barry Paul as Elvis.

We caught up with John this week and he said “We all really enjoyed our visit to Newquay last weekend. Chris our Driver was really good fun, the staff at the Barrowfield took good care of us as usual. We thought the brass band during dinner and the visit from Santa really were the icing on the cake. We booked this date for the Las Vegas theme and we weren’t disappointed we all enjoyed it especially Neil Diamond. Now we are all looking forward to our Torquay trip in January for our Great British and Irish Holiday”

If your group would be interested in any of the breaks mentioned please contact us on 0844 846 4684 or email Julia@daishs.com

Group Leisure Show and Awards 2011

Julia and Chris recently exhibited at the Group Leisure Show at the NEC Birmingham. It was the first time they have exhibited for four years.

It was a great show, and a fantastic opportunity to meet new contacts as well as some familiar faces.

Daish’s had a competition on their stand to win a 5 day holiday for 2 people, so congratulations should go to the lucky winner Mrs James of a U3A group in Leicestershire.

Although Daish’s weren’t nominated for an award this year (don’t forget to vote for us next year!) Chris and Julia were invited to attend as guests of the Group Leisure Magazine. They sat with Melissa and Angela of Group Leisure, Mike from the GTOA and some of the finalists of the Group Travel Organiser of the Year Award, Andy Booth (the winner), Jackie Ring, who recently attended one of the Daish’s GTO Weekends and our own Daish’s regular Jackie Hough.

Congratulations to all this years winners especially to Richard Wooliss of Encore Tickets who was this years winner of the Excellence Award. (Julia was last years winner)

We will be on the road again next year at a number of show, details to follow soon!

daishs:

October Quiz Mania at Daish’s Holidays - lots of great prizes to be won!!

Almost everyone loves a good quiz, so we are holding our first Big Quiz Month in all four hotels in October, for all those who like a nightly brain teaser. 

Throughout October we will not only be be featuring our regular nightly quizzes – but taking this a step further by offering variations on some of the most popular quiz formats by featuring treasure hunts, word searches and puzzles throughout the month. 

There are cash and holiday voucher prizes to be won, with a £1,000 holiday voucher up for grabs for the overall best score during the month.  Entrants can be individuals, couples or groups, as long as they are happy to share the prizes!

GTO Magazine Awards, London Friday June 10^th – close but no cigar!

We were again delighted to be finalists in the 2011 GTO Magazine awards, held at London’s Park Riverside Hotel. Our category, “Most Friendly Hotel Group” is an extremely competitive one, and we found ourselves against the likes of Hilton, Best Western and eventual winners, Britannia Hotels – all huge companies compared to wee Daish’s. But, I guess you don’t have to be big to be friendly!

It was a fun evening, and I was joined by our Managing Director and founder Jeanne Wilson, husband Grant, and Chris, our Marketing Manager. Sharing a table with fellow finalists from Potters Leisure Resort and Epsom Coaches was fun too – even though none of us made it to the podium. But we enjoyed the entertainment and came home determined to be even friendlier, so that we can win the top award. One day!

Thanks so much for everyone who nominated/voted for us.

Julia P.

Higham Ferrers Bowls Tour to Torquay, June 4^th-12^th.

Our Devonshire Hotel has just hosted its first Bowls group of the summer – a nine day tour from Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire.  The itinerary included exciting and close matches against some of our friendly local clubs, including Babbacombe, Newton Abbot, Paignton Bowling club and the Kings Club on Torquay seafront (see photos) which was where the Bowls epic “Blackball” was largely filmed.

Some of them went on the Round Robin trip which takes you by bus, by Steam Train from Paignton to   Dartmouth and a river cruise from Dartmouth to Totnes,  past Greenway, former home of Agatha Christie.

Their stay was rounded off with a Daish’s 50’s and 60’s entertainment special. The weekend opened with multi-talented and Hank Marvin lookalike, Ian Lockyer, followed by the Temple Brothers tribute to the Everly Brothers.  The Saturday headline was 60’s superstar Brian Poole. His band, the Electrix, opened the evening, with a perfect 60’s sound - based on the skills of their amazing drummer, who is now well into his 80s, bringing everyone up onto the dance floor.  

Daish’s organises holidays for Bowls groups to all four of its south coast hotels, arranging return travel, half board accommodation, Bowls matches and return transfers.

Daish’s GTO Weekend in Bournemouth April 8^th-11^th 2011,

Our latest GTO weekend was yet again blessed with stunning, sunny weather, as over 100 GTOs spent three days getting to know the Sands Hotel, the resort and the surrounding area. Most arrived early, taking advantage of the sunshine to stroll along the beach into town, before the weekend programme started with a sherry reception, welcome from Julia and Mark Smith, Director of Bournemouth Tourism, dinner, and an evening’s entertainment provided by Sand’s regulars Laura and Pau Shiner.

On Saturday, there were two full day excursion options, with the majority opting for the Blue-Badge guide led West Dorset tour. This began with a short trip across the Sandbanks Ferry, a drive through Studland, Swanage, Corfe village and Wareham, before a visit to the Bovington Tank Museum. The museum’s director and curator took guests on a fascinating and informative tour through the exhibits, including the newly opened Afghanistan section. This visit was followed by a short stop at T.E.Lawrence’s nearby house at Cloud’s Hill (National Trust volunteers kept the group spellbound with details from his amazing life). After some free time in Dorchester, the final stop of the day was at the Martyr’s Museum at Tolpuddle, before the 30 minute drive back to the hotel. The second option went to Marwell Zoo and Wildlife Park, followed by a trip to Portsmouth including a tour of the Historic Dockyard, and time in the waterfront retail park at Gunwharf Quay. 

On Sunday there were two half-day options; two coaches went to the magnificent Exbury Gardens, where the rhododendrons were in full bloom; a trip on the garden’s steam railway was followed by a short visit to Buckler’s Hard.

As usual, the weekend included an afternoon presentation by Daish’s managers and key partners, including Bournemouth Tourism and Towergate Insurers.

The restaurant laid on a gala dinner, after which the weekend was rounded off by some great entertainment, featuring Mark Summers as a young (and gorgeous?) Elvis Presley.

And the sun was still shining on Monday morning as everyone left.

“This was my first experience of the Daish’s product and it was clear from this visit and comments from other group organisers who knew the other hotels that this is a company that really understands the needs of the group organiser. We all learnt a lot about the area and picked up lots of tips for different types of group. Everything was well organised, the staff friendly, relaxed and helpful, the entertainment excellent, and the food, like the weather, hot throughout!”

Bournemouth Sands – 12^th March 2011

Henry Godber who has been a Walk Leader for the Isle of Wight Ramblers took 43 of his rambling friends to the Bournemouth Sands Hotel to help him celebrate his 90^th birthday.  Henry received many cards and kisses at breakfast time and gathered all his “chicks” together on stage to pose for a birthday photo wearing his birthday cake hat and rosette.  A coach trip to Salisbury had been arranged so he could meet up with some of his friends for a surprise celebration lunch.  The rest of the group had a walk up to the Old Sarum and back via the pretty hamlet of Stratford-sub-Castle where the 13^th century Church of St Lawrence with its one handed clock provided a perfect setting for our picnic lunch.

Back at the Hotel, the restaurant was decorated with Henry’s many cards and balloons, his wife Ruth had placed a yellow rose at each table setting.  A separate table was needed for his birthday cake and a set piece containing 90 candles which were lit and blown out by Henry in seconds before the cake was cut.  We toasted Henry’s good health with his own parsnip and rice wine which he had made in 1976!  A party evening of fun and dancing followed.

The next morning Henry was up and ready to walk the Chines with us.  We all had a wonderful time and excellent weather but a huge thankyou goes to the staff for making it so and especially Sylvia and her restaurant staff who helped light the candles and stayed late to clear away after the celebrations.

“Your wholehearted comradeship gives me inner contentment. EUPHORIC TIME.  Thank you all”  Quote from Henry in Ramblers Newsletter

January 2011 saw the launch of our new themed break “The Great British and Irish Holiday”.

These breaks are proving very popular with groups and individuals, visiting a different country, England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales every day (without leaving the comfort of your hotel), with menu’s, quizzes and staff in costume to reflect the country. As you can see from the photo above, even our guests have got into the swing of things, pictured is Gladys Daly, who came to Torquay with Eileen Funnell’s Groups on 19th January.

We now have dates on sale for 2012 Great British Holiday breaks which are selling very quickly, starting from 5 days half-board with return coach travel and live nightly entertainment from just £89pp. Not forgetting our usual free places for the organisers and tailored pick-up points.

Ring the Groups Department on 0844 846 4684 for more details or e-mail Julia@daishs.com