It's not all doom and gloom at The Abbey...

The media is all a buzz with stories of doom and gloom, but the outlook for the Abbey is still encouraging considering the country’s economic climate.

Following our commitment to improving the hotel facilities, we have completed the refurbishment of our lounge bar, conference suites and bedrooms, which has been met with positive reviews, enabling the team to focus on delivering excellent standards.

With the busy Christmas period soon to be upon us, we are now working hard to ensure that everything is ready. We will be purchasing well over 3000 crackers and the chef is expected to order in excess of 800 kg of turkey and hundreds of mince pies. Christmas preparation begins very early in the year, for hotels, as it is a key time. At the Abbey we endeavour to make it the best one yet.

Next year will present many challenges to the hotel, as will be the case for most businesses, but we are prepared and have many new initiatives to drive the hotel forward. We are already looking forward to Valentine’s Day, weddings celebrations and hopefully a wonderful summer; as where else can you experience a typically English summer stroll over the Malvern hills, with a cool glass of spring water, or something a little stronger, at the end.

I am sure that the Malvern Theatre will have an exciting programme for 2009, and I hope to be able to see a couple of performances myself next year (early New Year’s resolution). We have, in the past, been host to a number of the actors who have performed on the stage, and it is always great to hear who stayed last night and the reactions of our other guests, at breakfast.

My team and I are really looking forward to the time ahead. The office is very busy at the moment, supporting the hotel’s operational departments.

We hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and if you decide to spend your festivities with us, we have some excellent packages on our website: www.sarova.com

Written by Kathryn Mayglothling, Financial Controller at The Abbey Hotel