The Olympic Torch passes the St Kilda Hotel

The Olympic Torch passes the St Kilda Hotel 29th May 2012, guests and staff wait patiently outside the hotel to see this once in a lifetime experience.

Beautiful weather brought  the crowds out early to enjoy the sunshine, and the Llandudno Town Band played in the background whilst we waited for the procession to pass by.

A helicopter buzzed above us and then the first of the cars arrived with a police escort, the sponsor buses were next building up the atmosphere with their music and dancers and advertising boards telling us the torch was 6 minutes away.


All cameras were poised as the torch got nearer and nearer and then everyone cheered as it passed by on it's way  to the next stop in Colwyn Bay and then on to Chester.

Two of our Chefs sulking because they wanted to carry the torch!! (please don't tell them I said that) :)

Glorious Llandudno

How gorgeous is this weather?

 

Llandudno is basking in sunshine with temperatures hitting the 20 degrees at the weekend and today a lovely 17 degrees, I really would like to be out there enjoying it, wouldn't you!!

The weather has certainly brought the guests flooding in and we have had to turn away many of you phoning up for last minute bookings, for which we are sorry!

You never know what the British weather holds in store for us over the coming months and I am not going to risk putting a curse on our summer, so I will say no more.

I can see Easter and the forthcoming Bank Holidays are going to be busy again but we do have some vacancies at the moment so you might just want to get in there quick!!

Come back and check our Last Minute deals page for any latest deals that might appeal to you, is that a rhyme??

Baby News!!

We would like to share some fantastic news with you all!!

On the 22nd December a baby girl was born to my Son Bob and Daughter in Law Caroline. Amy Sophia weighed in at 7lbs. The baby was 14 days late and had kept us waiting so long we thought we wouldn't see them over the Christmas holiday.They all arrived on the 28th to enjoy the festivities with us and it was a most wonderful Christmas present I have ever had.

On the 19th January Lina  and Vigis became the proud parents of a little boy, weighing in at 7lbs 7ounces. Both Mum and baby are doing well and expected to be home very soon. I am sure Limonous will be thrilled to have his new brother home and apparently he was allowed to chose his name -Lucas.

On the 20th January in the early hours of the morning Mr & Mrs Jones became the proud grandparents to another little girl. Their son Lawrence and wife Gail had a beautiful daughter Coco, she weighed 9lb and 2 ounces. I am told Tegan and Poppy where very excited to welcome their baby sister home later in the day.

Congratulations to you all from the staff at the St Kilda

We are not finished yet!! there is one more baby due in February.

Front Garden under construction!

The Front Garden is now under construction and getting a fabulous new look and make over!

Piotr and his father have been working very hard for the last 2 weeks,in all weathers, drilling and lifting old slabs, removing walls and building new flower beds.

Just behind them our Brian has been doing the gardening, lifting out the old compost, cutting back shrubs, splitting plants and planting bulbs in the new beds and revamping the existing ones.

It is going to look great when it is finished, which I am told on good authority it will be another 2 weeks.

Watch out for some photos coming soon.

Festivities all over!

Well we can safely say that the festivities are now well and truly over,

but what a great time we all had!

Christmas was a big hit this year I don't think we have ever received so many lovely letters and thank you cards. The new Christmas Menus where the biggest talking point and everyone commented on the superb food that the Chefs had work so hard to produce.

New Year was really exciting and was like a real family event, the entertainers pulled out all the

stops to put on a fabulous show,

a big Thank You to all.

There was another Celebration held on the 18th December

our very own Suzanne got married to Richard and became Mrs Bartley -

 Congratulations to you both!

I have never seen a bride so laid back in my life, nothing seemed to phase her and everything was done last minute! none of this booking flowers and cakes etc well in advance. It was a wonder she managed to get her wedding dress in time, but it all went very smoothly and they had a fantastic day.

We are still waiting for the photos so if I can get one for you to see I will post it later.

On the 2nd January the hotel closed down for a 2 week break, most of the staff went off

for their annual leave taking time out to visit the Sun! or meet up with family & friends.

During the shutdown a few of us continued to work and the spring cleaning took place,

everywhere is now spic and span and we reopened our doors on the 16th for our first guests of 2012.

Last Minute Christmas Shopping!

Are you ready for the Big Day?

Presents bought,wrapped and safely under the Christmas tree?

If not don't forget we have Gift Vouchers available to purchase if you are stuck for ideas.

They are the perfect gift to give a loved one who appreciates the good things in life. Our Gift Vouchers can be tailored to suit your needs and can be bought in any denomination or simply choose the amount you want to give.

They can be used as full or part payment towards a holiday or short break. Or why not use to buy a lunch, put money behind the bar or an afternoon tea.

A special message can be added to the voucher, just let us know the details. Payment can simply be made by debit card and we will then send you the voucher to give to the recipient or alternatively we can send it direct for you.

There is no time limit on our vouchers and they can be used at any time of year making them such a perfect gift.

Work in Progress

The Christmas Cake you will be glad to know is now well under way, despite the sleepless nights I have had worrying over it!! Unfortunately I cant tell you what the design is, as that is now

TOP SECRET

The chefs work extremely hard this time of year especially with our Holly & Mistletoe breaks running from November through December, they have to cook Christmas Dinner twice a week and the smell of the Turkey cooking is sublime. The aromas of the turkey, mince pies and puddings etc waft up into the office and make our mouths water on a daily basis but unfortunately we never get to sample them

 I popped down to the kitchen the other day and Simon one of our chefs was just bringing out a batch of delicious homemade shortbread. so I cheekily asked him for the recipe. With a lot of arm twisting he finally gave it to me so I thought you might like to try it and have a go of baking it yourself!

I made a batch over the weekend and they disappeared so fast I will now have to make some more.

Simon's Shortbread ( makes approx 16 biscuits)

            8 oz Butter

            4 oz Castor Ssugar

           12 oz Flour

• Preheat the oven to 325°F/170°C/Gas Mark 3.
• In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. until light and fluffy and pale in colour. This can take at least 10 minutes. Alternatively use a food mixer.
• Sieve the flour into the bowl of butter and sugar. Mix quickly and thoroughly to bring all the ingredients together but do not over mix.
• Tip the mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and  knead lightly and quickly to form a loose dough. then either:
• Roll out the dough, prick the surface all over with a fork. Cut into desired shape or rounds using cookie cutters. Place the Scottish shortbread's on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 25 mins or until pale brown and crisp. Sprinkle the warm Scottish shortbread's with fine sugar and leave to cool on a wire cooling rack.
• Alternatively grease a Swiss roll tin 9" x 13"/23 x 33cm with butter. Press the dough into the tin and press with your fingers to level the surface, prick all over with a fork. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. With the shortbread still in the tin, cut into squares or fingers, leave to cool for 15 minutes then carefully remove to a wire cooling rack.
• Store in an airtight tin or box.