On the 1^st March we split the Health Club Member’s Reception Desk away from the Hotel Reception Desk to better serve our customers and members. As the hotel becomes increasingly more successful for both accommodating hotel guests and accommodating conferences, social events and weddings it seemed clear to us that trying to deliver good customer service to both our members and hotel guests was increasingly challenging.

What seemed to make sense to us that both our members and our hotel guests deserved their own dedicated reception facility in order to meet the individual and specialist needs to both the health club members and the hotel clients?

These arrangements have now been in place for approximately one month and we believe are working well however the real test is whether our customers and members feel that real progress has been made in providing a first class reception service delivery and we would welcome your comments on how you feel this is working and what else we may do to improve our performance.

I am sure that you are aware that Lucia due to her knowledge and experience of the membership has taken up the role as Head Receptionist in the newly created Health Club & Spa Reception Desk. Kirsty Miller has taken on the role Reception Manager to manage the hotel clients and guests.

We look forward to receiving your feedback

Rachel Baldock

Rooms Division Manager

Dear Readers,

This is day 1 and my first attempt at writing a blog. Over the next few weeks, months and who know years I will endeavour to try and inform, amuse and even entertain but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

But before we proceed I am forgetting the formalities and therefore I would like to introduce myself, my name is Grant Wilkins I am CEO of Bicester Hotel, Golf and Spa and started the role in April this year. I live in the northern Cotswolds and prior to commencing at BCC worked for 18 months in the city as CEO for a small property wealth management company and in my previous life was MD of a major UK hotel brand.

I love many things about this new role firstly, instead of commuting and living in London I now ‘amble’ to work, I amble through the Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire countryside which for any sane person is always a great start and end to the day. Bicester Hotel, Golf and Spa has a fantastic location, equidistance between London and Birmingham and on the edge of the Cotswolds it is surrounded by an 18 hole golf course and whilst I personally don’t play golf meandering down the drive alongside the first fairway with the sun shining on the greens at 8 o’clock in the morning brings a smile to my face and is a considerably better than getting stuck on the central line between Oxford Circus and Bank.

The difference I have found in the people I meet both staff, our members and our guests is that generally there is a much more positive disposition than the glum faces I have observed which no doubt included mine whilst commuting through the capital for 30 years. However there is a varied and distinct bustle of activity as the more laid back golfers mingle with the more determined looking health club members whilst our residents whether they are attending meetings in-house, working nearby or just passing through look on with interest.

So, having done the formal introduction and hopefully providing some sense of what my blog is about I will continue on a regular basis as I have said to definitely inform, possibly amuse and occasionally entertain.

I look forward to the next time

Grant