Latest News at the Canasta Hotel |
| Tuesday 20th March 2007 |
I'm frequently asked what's the weather like in Blackpool today. Well..you can check yourself now and get hourly reports...automatically...
Click here for Blackpool weather
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| Friday 16th March 2007 |
 We have a few rooms left (at time of writing this) for Easter. We thought we'd try something a bit different this year so on the Saturday we have a Magic and Illusion act booked at 11pm. karaoke is always popular on the Friday and we got Tim Mills booked for Easter Sunday night.
Check Easter Availability here
- 3 night minimum requirement
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| Wednesday 14th March 2007 |
Another one
coming soon www.AutoTraders.co.uk Yep - I'm now a car dealer - no Arthur Daly jokes please. We're busy working on the back end at the moment but should be ready by the end of the week. Search for a car dealer near you, buy insurance, get finance - great logo. Thanks Pinky!!
www.autotraders.co.uk
Click here for a list of sites I'm working on in my spare time
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| Tuesday 13th March 2007 |
Well it's been a typically quiet early March so I've been tinkering with a few web projects recently. Here's one I put together because I keep losing my telephone book (or rather Swampy takes it and never puts it back !!). "Urm....typical bloke never admitting you lose things!!" Now all I need do is click the link on my desktop and....VOILA...all my contact details are a click away. I wouldn't advise storing anything confidential in there....but feel free to create your own account and make use of it if you think it could be handy. The great thing about it is you can access it anywhere on the planet as long as you got an internet connection.
I'll be fine tuning it over the next week.....if you want to give me some feedback or suggestions for additional features please email me here
New domain: www.WheresThatNumber.com
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| Monday 12th March 2007 |
Another domain I've been sat on and not done anything with...and you know I like gadgets so enjoyed putting this together.
Get your gadgets at www.gadgetshops.com
Good logo eh!! Thanks to my little helper in Russia for that!
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| Thursday 8th March 2007 |
 Ain't the internet great!! I was sat twiddling my thumbs with a great domain - bunch.co.uk and decided to join forces with bunches.co.uk and became a florist overnight!! Hmm...not sure I'd like to be called a florist...so Swamps can have this one.
Anyway...if you want to order some flowers to impress your loved one for your forthcoming stay with us - be sure to use www.BUNCH.co.uk
...or you could always BOOKMARK IT for later on!
Swampy: "You really have got too much time on your hands....here...get hold of this paint brush!" |
| Friday 2nd March 2007 | Jazz Song Cafe
Just had a visit from a rep for a new venture that's opening in Blackpool - The Jazz Song Cafe.
"Enjoy an Hour of Live Vocal Jazz with Every Meal"
Hmm...sounds right up my street....tell me more!!
"What better way to relax than enjoying a gourmet meal and selection of fine wines in our tastefully decorated dining area, sit side by side and enjoy the soothing tones of a vocal jazz set between courses."
Sounds just what Blackpool needs right now...we'll go and sample their delights on the preview nights and let you know what it's like!!
More info here:-
www.jazzsongcafe.com
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| Thursday 1st March 2007 | Chairman of the Board
Accountant suggested I make all three business' limited companies....so I am now a director of
Canasta Hotel Ltd
Best Hotel Ltd
and YNH Ltd
....whoo hoo
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| Wednesday 21st February 2007 | Tim Mills - Blackpool's King of Swing
It's a little quiet so I'm helping Tim out and building him a website. Tim appeared for us at New Year and Valentines week. He's a GREAT singer and I'm REALLY enjoying building the web-site. I passed the overall design stage on to my staff at www.bestdesigns.co.uk (well they are particularly good) and I'm still doing the video and music section.
It'll be evolving over time.
Watch it grow here:- Blackpool Singer www.TimMills.org
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| Sunday 18th February 2007 | YABADABADOO !!!!!!
Cheers for that Ses !!!!
The kid is back !!!
I'm off to the docs now to get my own.....
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| Friday 26th Jan 2007 | Special Dates This Year
Well...it's always quiet in January (and too be honest we like it like that...easing back into things nice and gently) so it gets me thinking about putting bums on beds for later in the year.
Coming Up we have:-
Valentines Breaks - this year Valentines Day falls on the Wednesday so we'll probably be full both weekends either side of it. We got Blackpool's Mr Rat Pack - Tim Mills booked and will be doing karaoke also. Also we'll run a Happy Hour at the bar (half prices) for an hour. More info here
Easter Weekend - For the weekend we have a requirement of a minimum of 3 night stay, arriving on Friday April 6th. It's usually a GREAT WEEKEND. All the theatres are usually open and, of course, the Pleasure Beach is a great family attraction. At night we'll be running the KARAOKE on the Friday night from 8:30pm to Midnight. On Saturday again we'll run the KARAOKE from 8:30pm to 11pm and then we'll have an artiste on (to be announced). On Easter Sunday Blackpool's Mr Rat Pack - Tim Mills appears at 11pm for an hour (so that gives you chance to see a show and come back early if you want to).
More info about Easter Weekend here
Book Early !!
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| Saturday 26th Jan | Hotel Reception Desk Software
Viewers can ignore this insert - it's just to assist SEO for a program I am involved in authoring for Hotel Reception Software. [The link here helps it get higher ranking in search engines]
Of course, if you're a rival hotelier....download the free demo - you'll wonder how you managed without it !!!!
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| Saturday 19th Jan | Vilamoura 2007
Just back from our Annual Golfing Trip to Vilamoura in Portugal where we play for the PIG and Canasta Cups
For those half interested here is the link for the new site
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| Monday 1st January 2007 | New Years Party 2006
Oh What a Night!!!
Thanks to everybody for making it a special two day party. We all enjoyed ourselves so much and judging by the comments so did you!!! Thanks to Terry and Leslie for all their hard work, Kay for coming in real early to clear up, Dan, Anna and Martha for keeping things going, Big John and Little John for their excellent cooking.
[Pictures Here] [Movies Here]
Special thanks and mentions must be made to Gail and Andy for helping us get through Xmas, Ses for "Running Bare", Colin for taking us out of 2006 and bringing us into 2007 with such style, Nicky for singing my favourite songs, Trish, Ian and the Snowys for singing some great songs, the Wigan crew for being a great laugh and everybody else for just being such good fun to be with. Oh....last and by no means least Swampy for being so gorgeous in that Fancy Dress. Thanks everybody - and have a GREAT NEW YEAR - see you next time!
[Pictures Here] [Movies Here]
PS - here's a direct link to the funniest video!! |
| Tuesday 12th December | Our Caribbean Cruise 2006
Phew.....did loads and had a REALLY great time. Starting from Barbados we visited such exotic places as Aruba, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Coracao, Ocho Rios, Isla Margharita and Trinidad. We also had three extra nights in Barbados at Turtle Beach Resort at the end just in case we wern't chilled out enough!!!
It was a great time and we got some great pictures.
I'm sure there are many of our friends who want to see the piccies so...
The pictures can be viewed here....
...and the MOVIES can be viewed here
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| Saturday 28th October | Swampy's Halloween Bash
 Phew...what a night!!!
This year's end of season party was a great night - BIG THANKS to everybody who made it so good!!!!
We combined it with Swampy's Birthday and made it a spooky spooky doo.
Click Here for the Piccies!!!!
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| NEW YEAR PARTY | Just had 3 cancellations for New Year!!!
We now have three vacancies for our New Year Party. This is only open to guests who have stayed with us before at some time throughout the year (it makes for a better atmosphere if you already understand how we work).
I also...lost the waiting list ...
[Mandy: "Sheesh!"]
So if you're interested in having a good old shindig this New Year........
Click here for more info
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| Monday 23rd October 2006 | For Your Entertainment
Jessie Garon is coming to Blackpool with his Elvis Tribute Show. He's Live at the Canasta at 11pm!! GET YOUR SEATS EARLY!!
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| Monday 2nd October 2006 | Tickets have arrived!!
The tickets have arrived for our cruise in November. Never been cruising before and we're sooooo looking forward to it.
The pics and videos will go here....
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| Tuesday 26th September | Blackpool Electrician
Not Hotel Related - just useful for Search Engine Optimisation work
Just did a small site redesign and optimisation for my mate Dave at Blackpool Electricians. As we got a great PR4 with Google by us linking to him should greatly improve his rankings in Google and other search engines.
So...here is the link for Blackpool Electricians
This link will useful to see what Page Rank Google gives it in a week or two
[Not bad - straight in at number two !!!] |
| Saturday 23rd September 11pm | ♪ Live at the Canasta ♪
Billy Shears [singer/comic] just returned from 5 years in Mallorca. Get Your Seats Early!!
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| November Chill Out Weekend | ♪ November Cabaret Weekends ♪
We're open for the weekend of :-
10th & 11th November
Click here for more info....
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| Friday 1st Sep 2006 | A Bit of a Quandry !!!!
Sent Dan to the bank today to get some change for the bar. He handed over £200 for a hundred in fivers and a hundred pound coins. They gave him £500 in fivers and a hundred pound coins!! He didn't realise until he got back to the hotel (he had a heavy night last night!!)
Now then...what would you have done?The banks are quick to send him letters telling him that "because you have exceeded your overdraft limit by £4 you need to pay funds in immediately....and furthermore because we sent you this letter we are going to charge you £36" Hmm.....what shall we do?
Of course we phoned the bank up and told them immediately and explained we were too busy to go back there but can easily drop it back on Monday.
"Nope...we need it now", was their reply.
They sent the same girl who had handled the transaction to collect it.
So...she arrived and we handed her the £400 overpayment asking her to count it. Once she agreed the amount was correct I jokingly stated that we hope she didn't get into too much trouble. "No," she replied, quite curtly, "...but in my defence he should have checked it immediately and handed it back then!"....and promptly stormed out.
No thanks....no nothing..... Sheesh....Sometimes it's just easier if you keep your mouth shut, eh? (...but of course we'll continue being honest even if we don't get thanked for it!)
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| Friday 1st Sep 2006 | Peter Kay Switches on the Lights Tonight !!!!
Peter Kay switches on the Illuminations tonight.
Click here for some of Peter's Theories
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| Sunday 28th August 2006 | Monty !!!!
Whacky Monty performed for us last night and brought the house down. He forgot his microphone stand so needed some help from the audience!!
Click here for the video [8mb streaming]
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| Monday 21st August 2006 | S.A.T. Trophy !!!!
 ...and so a new trophy was born. The Shuggie Andy and Terry Trophy was played for on Sunday and Monday and Andy whooped our hides good and proper on the last day. Terry made good progress on the first day and was leading by two points but the wheels came off and he couldn't repeat his blistering performance. Andy was steady and straight (ish) and did enough to win. Shuggie.....wishes he had quit when he was at the top.
Click here for the pictures and video highlights
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| Friday 18th August 2006 | Andy's 40th Birthday !!!!
Big Yin's 40th Birthday today. Gail and Andy came down from Burntisland to celebrate it with us. Had a great weekend !! Thanks for coming Andy and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Pictures here.....
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| Monday 14th August 2006 | A Nicer Place to Park Your Arse !!!!
The dining chairs were getting a bit passed their sell by date so we just took delivery of 50 hand crafted spoon back chairs from Italy. They're really comfy and we're quite chuffed with them. Mind you costing £84 per chair they need to be nice!!!
Bigger Picture here
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| Thursday 12th August 2006 | I Won the Canasta Cup !!!!
Just back from a trip to Ayr in Scotland where we played the fantastic Belleisle and Seafield golf courses. I won a major!!! After years of a lacklustre golfing career I managed to hold off the pack and came out on top winning the coveted Canasta I.O.M. Invitational Trophy - which is now getting re-named to The Canasta Tour Trophy.
Pictures will follow as soon as my hangover subsides....
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| Thursday 3rd August 2006 | FIRE!!! - 200 EVACUATED!!! 
The building directly behind the Canasta erupted into a massive blaze today and 200 residents in the nearby area were evacuated. Luckily nobody was inside the building. Our thoughts are with Joe who had refurbished the properties and was ready to do some more renovation work on them - back to square one for him but thankfuly none of his family or workforce were injured. Four firefighters were injured, unfortunately, though we understand, not seriously.
Unfortunately it had a massive impact on the hotel. There was insufficient pressure in the mains supply for the firefighters to tackle the blaze with so they drew the water directly from the sea. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of sea water were pumped onto the inferno. Directly underneath the north east corner of the building lies an electricity substation which feeds part of the Canasta Hotel. This got completely flooded and we had virtually no electricity on one side of the hotel for 3 days. We managed to relocate most of the guests that were booked in to our neighbours, The Baron Hotel so thanks to Marion & Graham for helping out. Amazingly some of the guests that were affected decided to stay and take a chance on the engineers fixing the problem. One minute the "juice" was back on - next it was off....so it was a bit of a hectic weekend which I'm glad is over!!!
For those guests that were disrupted we thank you for your understanding!!!
Some pictures and video of the blaze here
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| Monday 31st July 2006 | Postcode Anywhere
We just added an address lookup feature on the booking and enquiry pages. We like to make things easier for you....and again...I do like web gadgets :o)
We'll also be adding this feature to Hotel Reception Desk (which just keeps getting better and better!!) and have become a reseller of Postcode Anywhere services.
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| Wednesday 19th July 2006 | Scorchio !!!
It's hot.....the boys needed to cool off so we filled a baby bath up and let them have a paddle in the back yard.
Boys in the Bath - 5mb streaming
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| Monday 17th July 2006 | Joannes Off on her Jolly's !!!
WATCH OUT IBIZA !!!!....
Here are some pictures of the girls before they went....
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| Sunday 9th July 2006 | It could have been us !!!
We're all gutted that we got beaten by Portugal.
and of course the funny photos have started doing the rounds....
Here are some we can show....
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| Thursday 6th July 2006 | A Visit from the Bank !!!
Simon is moving on to another section within the RBS and paid us a visit to introduce Rob who will be taking over our account. Suitably impressed Rob will be handling all our affairs now
(...and maybe even think about reducing the cost of our mortgage eh Rob???)
Thanks for looking after us so well for the past 5 years Simon and good luck in your new post!!!
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| Sunday 2nd July 2006 | Correct Score Tombola
Thanks to everyone who entered for the England v Portugal Correct Score Tombola. We raised another £45 for the R.N.L.I. ! Well done to Alison who won the England shirt!!!
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| Saturday 1st July 2006 | Beat The Peak - Come Midweek !!
Following a great success of our early season special offers we decided to extend a special offer throughout the season. Internal double rooms are now £21 pppn (minimum two nights) for midweek stays.
That's nearly a THIRD off
- 33% DISCOUNT !!!
So you may want to consider coming midweek - Blackpool's a bit quieter midweek and you can generally get much better value for your money at the Pleasure Beach (no long queues) and even the show prices will be cheaper. Go on...take a few days off work and ...
COME TO BLACKPOOL!!!!!!
Offer applies to existing bookings also and if you already paid in advance we'll refund the difference when you get here (...because we're good like that!!).
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| Saturday 1st July 2006 | Come On England !!
Guests this weekend will have the chance to enter a Correct Score Tombola for the Portugal v England game. We've put 12 scores in a hat and you can select one for £3. The winning selection gets a Carlsberg England shirt, two World Cup cereal bowls and a couple of pints of their favourite lager !! All proceeds go to R. N. L. I.. Thanks to everyone who entered for the England v Paraguy game - we raised £45 for the RNLI who sent us a letter thanking you for your support!!
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| Tuesday 27th June 2006 | We listen to what you want !!
Just had Carling fitted so you now have a choice of draught beers:
Carling or Carlsberg Export
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| Tuesday 20th June 2006 | Lord and Lady Daniels of Strathdon just got a new addition to their family!!
Picture of the little cutie here
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| Monday 19th June 2006 | Gail and Andy paid us another visit - another Wacky Weekend !!! Those teeth are fake by the way....we havn't really got manky teeth!!
Pictures here
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| Wednesday 31st May 2006 | If you don't like the look of the Canasta you may want to try one of our neighbours.....
Hotel From Hell
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| Thursday 25th May 2006 | We forget just how nice the countryside is outside of Blackpool!!
We decided to shut this midweek and had a few days out here and there. On Thursday we went to Beacon Fell with our boys (Bomber and Mr Bojangles) and had a great day out. It's years since we visited our local countryside - it really is fantastic and we must do it more often. Tried to find one of our old haunts, Brock Bottom, but failed....so ended up hiking around Beacon Fell. It was awesome walking through the woods with the dogs - who had never even seen a tree before. They were so comical sniffing everything and tripping up over each other in their excitement. Had a pie and a pint at Guys Thatched by the canal and went for a stroll there...and Bomber, of course, decided to dive in and swim with some ducks!! [..ain't it funny how gundogs have that instinct]
Fantastic Day Out!!!
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| Monday 22nd May 2006 | Sinatra at the Palladium !!
Got a couple of tickets off my mates at Superbreaks and am off to see Sinatra at the Palladium on Monday.
Can't Wait!!!
Update - it was FANTASTIC!!!! |
| Saturday 13th May 2006 | Gail's Birthday !!
 It was Gail's Birthday at the weekend and she came down the road with Andy. A good time was had by all on the Friday & Saturday. Big Andy and Brian just scraped through and won the Anglo - Scottish (Egg Cup) Trophy 2006. We must try harder!!
All the Piccies are here
...and Andy sent me another batch here
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| Monday 8th May 2006 | Another Shameless Plug!!
If you're coming to Blackpool, obviously we hope you choose us....but if you're going elsewhere in the world you may be interested in the fact that our telephone call centre for Best Hotel and Inn Directory goes live today
The phone number is 0870 4 HOTELS and of course we got a dedicated website for it at www.0870-4-hotels.com
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| Tuesday 2nd May 2006 |  Bomber's now got a little brother!!
We love Bomber to bits and wanted to get him a playmate for when we're busy at front of house. Took one look at Mr Bojangles and couldn't resist
His life story will be here
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| Saturday 30th April 2006 | Lennon made a visit - he's growing
Lennon is our second grandson
...see his latest piccies here
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| Tuesday 18th April 2006 | Gary, Mandy's brother, visited us over Easter
He was a bit glum....but we soon fixed that!!!
Pictures here....
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| Friday 14th April 2006 | Andy sent us some pictures
Andy and Gail came back at easter
Pictures here....
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| Easter Entertainment from Friday 14th April 2006 | Good Friday 14th
Karaoke - 8:30pm to midnight
Easter Saturday 15th
Karaoke 8:30pm to 11pm
John D Scott - Singer/Guitarist 11pm to midnight
Easter Sunday
Karaoke - 8pm to 11pm
Delphine - Female Singer
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| Friday 31st March 2006 | Andy and Gail Invited us to Burntisland
Had a great time at their lovely home. Andy whooped me at golf and we saw St Andrews - FANTASTIC TIME!!!
Click here for the piccies
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| Saturday 25th March 2006 | Another New Webcam
Just installed another webcam - this one has sound!!!!
Go here and type in username "canasta" & password "canasta". To hear sound you'll need also to select Connection type as TCP and turn your speakers up!!!
BIG THANKS to Peter Fynney for helping configure it
You may have to install an Active X control
Link to BarCam here
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| Sunday 26th March 2006 | Canasta Time Zone
Guests should be aware that this weekend they are entering the Canasta Time Zone and clocks DO NOT get adjusted until mid-day. This, of course, means you do still get a lie in and you don't miss breakfast.
Look...it's official....Tony fixed it for us!!!
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| Saturday 25th March 2006 | Dean & Matt
Burnley singing suo Dean & Matt are appearing at the Canasta Hotel on Saturday 25th March 2006 at 11pm
For more details click here
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| Sunday 12th March 2006 | Blackpool Tide Times
Now that I get on the beach every day (regular readers you'll know about Bomber!!) I need to know when the tide is in or out so I can plan my day. This was a perfect excuse to tinker with a database and get it on line searchable (regular readers will know how much I like web gadgets). So...if you're coming to Blackpool and want to know when the tide is going to be in or out...
click here for the tide times.
"How sad is that !!!!" [Mandy]
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| Monday 20th February 2006 | Piccies from Big Andy
Andy and Gail sent us some piccies from their stay with us at New Year 2005 [and other stuff]
Aaarghhh...what a muppet - I deleted them by accident when I moved servers...gone forever - SORRY!!!
UPDATE - Andy emailed me them again - click here
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| Monday 20th Feb 2006 | FREE NEWSPAPERS
Following our decision to stop the free newspapers we got some constructive feedback...seems everybody loved this freebie. So...we've decided to stop being so stingy and re-instate the free newspapers every morning !!
Of course with a paper bill of £500 per month this means I won't be going on my golfing holiday now in November....so I hope you REALLY appreciate it !!
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| Monday 20th Feb 2006 | Grand Theatre Blackpool
Just received the program for the seasons shows at the Grand and got to say that it looks like being the BEST EVER !!!  This season marks the Silver Jubilee of the reopening of the Grand Theatre in 1981 and it looks like they pulled out the stops to put on some great productions. We've booked to go and see the Rat Pack on Wednesday 10th May (they're here all week) and can't wait for that!! Other productions include Titanic - The Musical, Verdi's Rigoletto (the masterpiece they tried to ban), The Jungle Book and Disney's Beauty and the Beast, plus lots more shows and other productions.
Click here for the Blackpool Grand Theatre website
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| Valentines Day
14th Feb 2006 | New Look Best-Hotel.com !!
David, my chief web designer, is putting the finishing touches to the new look Best Hotel and Inn Directory today. We now carry details of thousands of hotels in the UK, Europe and Worldwide. We think it features the fastest search facility yet!!! Try typing in London in the Quick Search field and see how quickly you get the results back. So if you're planning a trip to London, York, Manchester or fancy jetting off somewhere warmer we hope you'll book with us!!! Obviously if you're coming to Blackpool we hope you'll choose the Canasta !!
I'll also be tinkering about with one of my more obscure domains over next few weeks
- www-hotels.com
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| Sunday 4th Feb 2006 | Calling All Hoteliers!!
Just finished tweaking the availability scripts and now they're available for sale.
Click here for more info
[New Window]
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| Friday 3rd Feb 2006 | Spam !!
I am sooooo sick of getting spammed. I came across a useful tool that may help to stop it or slow it down....it involves creating a list of about 2,500 ficticious emails that spiders will run into and index...and should help clog up anybodies server if they try and send to all these - they'll ALL bounce back - snigger. So...all I have to do is link to it. Don't bother looking at it....it's just a boring list of emails but a spider or email harvester won't know that will it.
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| Friday 3rd Feb 2006 | Boiler Packed Up!!
Aarrgh! Thanks to all those folks who wern't to put out this weekend when we had to pass your booking onto our neighbour - The Baron Hotel. A boiler went kaputt - which meant half the hotel had no heating. Obviously no good and the plumber had problems installing a new boiler so we made contingency plans to accommodate those we couldn't provide warm rooms for. These things are sent to try us!! We're just glad it didn't happen in August when we'd have been full for the week and little chance of getting folk sorted elsewhere! All should be nice and cushty warm by tomorrow (Saturday)
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| Thursday 2nd Feb 2006 | Didn't make Portugal this year....
I missed our annual trip to Portugal for the Pig this year....bugger.
The lads asked me to post these pictures though
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| Thursday 26th January 2006 |  Canasta Information Pack
Not much doing in the depths of Winter so I decided to buld a Canasta Information Pack - which you can download and install onto your desktop. There's not a great deal in it at present but I'll be adding to it later in the year with details of shows and other stuff...maybe even some discount vouchers!!!
You can download it from here
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Sunday 1st January 2006
| 
Phew - what a weekend!!!
Thanks to all our guests for making it such a great party weekend!!!
Hope we got pictures of everybody
....check them out here
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| Saturday 17th December 2005 |
Winter Midweek Offers...
Well...the exciting news we were hoping to break after our hols didn't materialise ...but it does mean we're open for business as usual from 7th January, We got lots of beds to fill so have decided to make a REALLY good offer of £19 pppn for any midweek bookings to Blackpool in January, February and March. (Restrictions apply) So...if you're planning a business trip to Blackpool or just fancy a few days break in wintery Blackpool please consider staying with us.
More details of our special offers here
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| Thursday 15th December 2005 | 
Just back from our holidays
We had another great time in the Land of Smiles and what put the icing on the cake is that I beat Terry in the Canasta Cup (Asia) ...snigger
See the pictures here....
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| Friday 11th November 2005 |
Lennon finally decided to make an appearance!!
Carly and Daniel are pleased to announce the birth of their first child...LENNON. Weighing in at a bouncing 8lb 15oz. (We're calling him TURKEY!!)
See the pictures here....
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| Winter Warmer Weekends |
WARM UP THIS WINTER at the CANASTA
This winter on selected weekends we're offering a great package in our Winter Warmer Weekends. Included in the price will be Mandy's Delicious Lamb Hot Pot & Red Cabbage and Terry's Big Quiz (Bottle of Moet and Chandon for the winners) and Canasta Cabaret on the Saturday night. We've got some top rated acts lined up!!!BOOK EARLY!!!
More details here....
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| Friday 14th Oct 2005 |
Web Cam Warning....
A guest pointed out that we should have a sign informing guests that they are being watched on webcams. Hmmm...OK
I just made a sign...
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| Wednesday 5th Oct 2005 |
Yes, Mandy. I promise you I deleted that silly picture of you. No, I wouldn't dream of humiliating you by putting it on the internet for millions of people to see.
Snigger....
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| Tuesday 27th Sep 2005 | 
Blackpool Holiday Snaps
From time to time our guests send us back piccies of their trip to Blackpool. I thought we could share them. Have you stayed with us and got some good piccies you want to share? Email them to me!!!
Want to see some holiday snaps of Blackpool? Click here.
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| Sunday 18th Sep 2005 |  Aaron off the X-Factor was superb!!
We're sure he's going to do well on the X-Factor and will be tuning in to see how he gets on. Hopefully he'll be appearing back at the Canasta before he hits the Big Time
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| Saturday 17th Sep 2005 | The X-Factor comes to the Canasta!!
Appearing live at the Canasta - for one night only - straight from ITV's the X-Factor
...Aaron (he's the one who had rips in his jeans)
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| Monday 13th Sep 2005 | We just had a baby!!
Click here to see his pictures.....
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| Friday 26th August 2005 | Slap Aidan
Aidan was impressed with the Slap Chris Evans page. So I thought it would be a useful tool for anybody who wants to give him a good slap also!!
Slap Aidan here....
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| Tuesday 23rd August 2005 | Just had an email from Blackpool Tourism Dept:-
Chris Evans to Switch on 2005 Blackpool Illuminations
Media mogul and BBC Radio 2's star signing Chris Evans has today been announced as the celebrity who will flick the famous switch, lighting more than a million lamps, and launching the 2005 Blackpool Illuminations on Friday 2nd September.
BBC Radio 2 will broadcast the star-studded hour-long show live from the resort, hosted by Chris himself.
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| Date | Item |
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| Sunday 21st August 2005 |
Second Leg:- England 27 Scotland 36
He did it folks.....against all the odds Andy "The Big Hit" Slater romped home by a clear 6 points to win the Home Nations Egg Cup 2005.
Playing consistently well and with a score of 21 points on the back 9 the plucky Scot took the trophy with ease. Doug lost his form (again) and Terry came in with 38 points - so at least he's going down one point anyway...so we're all happy...apart from Terry.
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| Thursday 18th August 2005 |
First Leg:- England 33 Scotland 30
In the first leg of the Home Nations Cup England produced an emphatic win over Scotland. A late flurry by Andy "The Big Hit" Slater was too little too late for the brave Scot as, single handed, he tried to regain some face from what was to be a resounding victory for "the Sassanachs". The second leg is on Sunday and Andy needs to win by a clear 3 points to take the Cup back to Scotland. Terry "Up and down, over and out" Large played poorly and will need to get in some serious practice to be picked for the second leg. Doug "The Kid is Back" Smith played surprisingly well after a recent long spell in the doldrums. Large crowds are expected on Sunday (..or that may be large clouds) but organisers say they expect to cope with the demand.
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| Monday 1st August 2005 | It's that time of year again!!
 On the first tee, from Nuneaton, UK, Cliff Wright tees off the 2005 Canasta Isle of Man Invitational. Our annual golfing tournament in the Isle of Man begins today. As ever, controversy reigns with some last minute rule changes. No doubt there's going to be plenty of dummy spitting!!
For those remotely interested please click here
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Friday 29th July
| We've been developing some software!!
 The software we use for our reception desk has been OK but it's an old DOS based program and we needed to update it. There's nothing on the market that fits my needs exactly so..decided to commission my own. Working closely with Anton, a Russian programmer, we have developed Hotel Reception Desk, which will be going on sale very soon. I'm putting a cheeky link in here to help search engine placement - we get lots of traffic so adding the link there will help sales. If you're a hotelier you may be interested to learn that for next year we'll be tying in the Availability Grid system with HRD to make one package where you can update availability with one click of the mouse. I'm quite excited about it because there's nothing that comes close to the functionality of it and ease of use. FREE EVALUATION downloads available for hoteliers and other accommodation providers.
Click here for more information
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| Tuesday 12th July | We just made it a lot easier to check availability !!
 Ok well hopefully it will ALSO be a lot easier for me and reduce the mountain of enquiries we get every day. Now you can check availability yourself by using our availability grid or entering specific dates. The system contains information about all bookings for the rest of the year. So...if you want the honeymoon suite, for example, you can see when it is available by choosing the availability grid and then selecting the month and looking at the info for on ROOM 6.
If you have specific dates in mind then choose this page
Of course if you prefer the old way of just completing a form (maybe you have some specific requests or want more than one room) then click here for the Reservation Request Form
Choose one of four ways to check availability....
HOTELIERS - want to save time (...and money)? Use this system for £100 per year. Email me for further details
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| Sunday 10th July | Well that did the trick!!
No sooner do we start our Canasta Cocktails and the Sun comes out in all it's glory!!! |
| Friday 8th July 2005 | 
Canasta Cocktails !!
Well...it's been a lousy summer so far so we thought we'd try and brighten it up a little with our Canasta Cocktails
Canasta Colada :- 1 part Bacardi, 1 part Pina Colada and crushed ice
Dougie's Daiquiri Deck :- 1 part Bacardi, 1 part Strawberry Daiquiri and crushed ice
Bloody Mandy :- 1 part Vodka, 1 part Bloody Mary and crushed ice
From this Friday - All large COCKTAIL measures £3.00
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Friday 1st July 2005
To October |
Learn to Dance at Blackpool Tower !!
Just had this email from Blackpool Tower:-
"As part of our summer season, seven nights per week Ballroom programme, we are delighted to announce new 'learn to dance classes for absolute beginners' every Monday night until 10th October.
The programme starts at 7pm with friendly & respected dance instructors Jason & Shemaine Parkinson. If you've ever wanted to dance like the stars of BBC televisions "Strictly Come Dancing", this is your opportunity to learn the foxtrot, waltz, cha cha & many more. There are two dance sessions each Monday, Ballroom & Latin dance is 7pm to 7.45pm & beginners learn to salsa 8.15pm to 9pm.
This is a great opportunity for your guests this summer to try something new & have the opportunity to take home both fond memories of their Blackpool holiday, as well as some new skills."
Visit www.blackpooltower.co.uk for more info.
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| Thursday 30th June 2005 |
A Roman Holiday !!
Just took 4 days breakaway to Rome. Had a great time. It went too quickly !!!
Click here for the holiday snaps...
 Or click here for the streaming movie [30mb]
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| Tuesday 21st June 2005 |
First step...talk to the Bank!!
Ok..so yesterday we decided we wanted a swimming pool...next step talk to our friendly neighbourhood bank manager Sam Grundy. "Urm...Sam," in my best grovelling voice...
[Cut scene to suitcase being hastily packed, taxi door slamming, plane taking off, plane landing, taxi door slamming and Sam walking into reception at the Canasta - bit similar to Cousin "Avi" in Snatch]
"How much?" Sam asks.
"Urm...hundred grand...." I reply, expecting to be smacked with a wet kipper.
"Yes...we should be able to do that for you"....
Great stuff..so next step is to build the web page showing you all the swimming pool getting built
Update
Oh bugger...did quite a lot of research into this and it transpires it's not all that easy...Health & Safety would require we have a lifeguard employed at all times the pool is open - and I spoke to a neighbour who has a pool. He let me know realistic running costs...which were about 10 times what all the suppliers were quoting!!! Also he told us about damage to rooms above the pool that no amount of insulation could stop the chlorine pollution filtering through.
It just wouldn't be economical for us to do it...so that's one idea scuppered...oh well...it was worth thinking about I guess. I'm glad I spoke to him before we went ahead with this. Hey...we have got a great swimming area right in front of the hotel though - the Irish Sea!!
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| Tuesday 21st June 2005 |
Kyle Wins 6 Golds at Sports Day !!
Way to go Kyle !!
A chip off the old block - his dad used to win everything as well !!!
Click here for their piccies...
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| Event date 6th November 2005 | 
My Brother is running in the New York Marathon !!!
Blimey...that puts me a bit to shame..I couldn't run around the block !!! If you feel like you may want to sponsor him for a few quid please click here - I'm sure the boys will appreciate EVERY penny
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| Monday 20th June 2005 |
Future plans...
Just had a meeting of the directors (ok...that's me and Mandy) and for next year following the popularity of the honeymoon suite we're going to be building another. It will mean losing a bedroom...but because of the terrific demand for the new suite we've decided to build another. Also...and get this...we're thinking about adding a swimming pool!! We worked out how to add a 10metre by 4 metre pool...it'll mean booting Joanne out...but she's old enough now to be able to spread her wings. So...we'll keep you informed of developments!!
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| Monday 20th June 2005 |
Decorating bedrooms...
We're busy re-decorating 14 bedrooms that needed a face-lift
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| Saturday 28th May 2005 |
Mandy and Mandy in fine fettle
Click here to see them singing
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| Sunday 8th May 2005 |
Blackpool Fun Run May 2005
Click here to see all the runners streaming passed the Canasta
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| Wednesday 20th April 2005 |
Lawrence (waiter/barman) has had a heart attack !
I'm sure all our guests will wish him a speedy recovery. If anybody wants to send him a Get Well Soon card please just post it to us and we'll pass it on.
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| Tuesday 19th April 2005 |
The golfing season offically starts
I beat Terry (for a change) so it prompted me to start a weekly results page....if I keep winning I'll keep updating it (snigger)
Results are here
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| Sunday 17th April 2005 |
It was Elaine's 50th Birthday on Thursday HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELAINE!!!
Click here for the movie of the Saturday night party - [8mb]
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| Easter Sunday 27th March 2005 |
The Easter Bunny paid us another visit this year !!!
Click here for the piccies
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| Thursday 9th March 2005 |
We're open full time now !!!
We've had a lot of time off this winter - galavanting all over the place on various holidays and spent a lot on refurbishments.
Guess what...we're skint again and need to get "bums on beds" midweek also so...
Click here for some GREAT MIDWEEK SPECIAL OFFERS
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| Monday 7th March 2005 |
The Webcams Are Back Online!!!
...and they're better than ever !!!
Click here for the webcams
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| Monday 28th Feb 2005 |
Tomorrow it's our 25th Wedding Anniversary
How Lucky Can One Guy Be???
Want to see the flowers I got her........
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| Friday 11th February 2005 |  Billy Bear Needs Good Home !!!
Cuddly Billy Bear looking for good hime
Click here for more details
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| Thursday 10th February 2005 | Kyle in a lather....
Kyle...I'll be back in a minute now don't be putting any shampoo in the jacuzzi will you!!
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| Friday 4th February 2005 | SILVER AWARD - HOTEL OF THE YEAR !!!
This year we came second in the Hotel of the Year Awards for 2004. Although not the same as winning it we're still VERY PROUD with the award so BIG THANKS to all the staff!!!!!
Click here for the piccies
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| Thursday 13th January 2005 | Honeymoon Suite !!!
It's ready!!! Big thanks to Chris Green for doing all the hard graft. We've spent a lot on it so..need to charge a hefty tariff for it but we're sure you'll agree it's worth it!!
Click here for some pictures
..and click here for the movies
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| Thursday 6th January 2005 | Honeymoon Suite !!!
Well..we've talked about if a long time now but today we finally took the plunge and started converting Rooms 7 and 6 into one large Sea View suite. The room will have one large King Sized pine double bed in it (with some canopy curtains), all new pine furniture, a leather two seater settee, coffee table, TV (...and maybe a DVD player). 2 large windows will overlook the sea front. It's going to be popular even at £90 per night (per couple) ...so book early!!!
Some pictures of the progress can be seen here...hope it's finished in two weeks - we got bookings for it already!!
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| Sat 1st January 2005 | Oh my poorly head!!!
What a great night last night !!!!
BIG THANKS to all the guests ...it really was a great party this year wasn't it !!!
Click here for some of the piccies
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| Wed 29th December 2004 | Asian Earthquake and Flood Disaster
I'm sure all viewers of this page are horrified at the recent tragic events in Asia. Just in case anybody missed the links on where to go to make a donation please click here
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| Friday 24th December 2004 | Just got back from Canada
It was awesome!!
For those interested some piccies and videos can be found here
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| Monday 13th December 2004 | Hotel of the Year 2004/5
We've been shortlisted for the award again!!!!
This years award ceremony is at the Tower Ballroom on January 27th 2005.
Thanks to everybody who completed the nomination forms - FINGERS TIGHTLY CROSSED AGAIN!!!!!!
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| Monday 1st November 2004 |
Another season nearly over...
We're REALLY looking forward to a break at the end of October. This year we're going to the Lakes on 1st November for a few days. Then we open for 5th and 6th November after which we jet off to Paris for a few nights and then back to re-open for the 12th and 13th November. We close midweek for some refurbishment and then re-open for the 19th and 20th November..and then....we jet off to Thailand for a couple of weeks - which I'm REALLY looking forward to. AND THEN....we nip off to Vancouver for a Rocky Mountain train tour and a couple of nights in Banff Springs Hotel on the 15th December.
We'll probably need a break after all that lot to get over the jet lag!!!
For those interested our holiday pages can be found here
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| Sat 31st October 2004 | End of Season Party
Urm ...we let our hair down a bit...(a bit too much in my case - ahem).
Click here for the pictures
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| Thursday 14th October 2004 |
Another Canasta Golf Classic
Played a round with a couple of guests. Me and Terry from ENGLAND played against Andy and James from SCOTLAND - sadly no pictures were taken because the result was:-
ENGLAND 63
SCOTLAND ( the home of golf - snigger ) 34
Unlucky boys......Bwahahahahaha
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| Thursday 30th September 2004 |
Kyle's been dressing up
Click here to see the pictures
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| Saturday 25th September 2004 |
Aidey and Kerrie got married today!!!
Click here to see the pictures and movies
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| Friday 17th September 2004 |
Mandy wasn't too impressed with www.swampduck.com ..so..I got her another one rolling.. www. Big Fat Arse .co.uk
...but don't tell her :o) |
| Monday 6th September 2004 | 
Kathryn and Barry - our 10,000th Booking Arrived Today
We hope they have a great time...we're certainly pushing the boat out for them !!!
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| Wednesday 25th August 2004 |
Geri Halliwell to switch on the Lights
Just had a press release from Blackpool Council that Geri Halliwell will switch on the Illuminations on 3rd September. GUESS WHAT - we've been invited to attend the switch on - though I doubt we'll be on the top table with Geri somehow!!!!!!!!!!
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| Monday 23rd August 2004 |
New Look Best Hotel goes live today
Those of you who know me will know my other business
www.best-hotel.com.
David and the team at the office have been slaving away at it all year and we're finally ready to present the New Look Best Hotel and Inn Directory. We're all really chuffed with the results. It's so easy to book major hotels at virtually any city in the UK and worldwide....go on - just book it - you deserve it! |
| Friday 20th August 2004 |  My Little Swampduck gets her own little place on the web
Swampy's site goes live today
www.swampduck.com |
| Thursday 19th August 2004 |
Water, water everywhere...
Lawrence put a broom handle through the main drain from the sun roof!!
Aaarghhh!!!! |
| Monday 16th August 2004 |
Illuminations Switch On
Blackpool Tourism Department just sent us this press release |
| Saturday 14th August 2004 |
Kathryn and Barry from Belfast are our Lucky 10,000th booking!!!
Congratulations to Kathryn from Belfast who rang today and made the 10,000th booking at the Canasta Hotel since November 2001
Click here to find out what she and her partner will get
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| Tuesday 27th July 2004 |
Stag and Hen Party ? NOT AT THE CANASTA
We don't accept any stag or hen parties at the Canasta - Click here to understand why!!
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| Friday 16th July 2004 |
Canasta Isle of Man Invitational
It's that time of the year again - and with the Open on the telly I'm getting all excited..so the web site is up and running.
Click here for more info
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| Friday 2nd July 2004 |
Karaoke Nights !!
I'm kept busy on the karaoke on Friday nights - but sometimes I'll get the video out and take some clips.
Are you on here?
Click here for the videos
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| Thursday 1st July 2004 |
Two more Can Cams installed !!
Just added two more web cams to the interior - now you can sing Karaoke and ring your Mum and Dad and get them to look at you performing!!! Friday 10pm will be the best time to log on .
Click here for the "Can Cams"
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| Thursday 1st July 2004 |
Pillock.com !!
I've owned this domain for a few years but never really had much of an idea what to do with it....until now that is.
Click here for www.Pillock.com
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| Fri 26th June 2004 |
It's Raining Cats & Dog's!!
So Terry thought he'd cheer us all up !!!
Click here for the video!!
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| Fri 11th June 2004 |
Ali G's Nomination Form
Looking through this years completed nomination forms we just came across this little gem that somebody snuck in...click here
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| Wed 9th June 2004 |
Mandy's been "Window Boxing"
See some pics here....
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| Wed 2nd June 2004 |
Midweek Karaoke started tonight !!!
See some pics here....
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| Tuesday 1st June 2004 | 
Simon sings Elvis !!!
Simon "Always up for it" Grundy, our bank manager, sings Elvis - Tuesday morning at 11am
See the video here....
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| Saturday 29th May 2004 | 
The Red Arrows Hit the Town !!!
The Red Arrows and Utterly Butterly Wingwalkers thrilled the Bank Holiday crowds with some great displays
See the videos here....
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| Wednesday 25th May 2004 |  We just went SKYPE enabled. This means if you have a USB telephone or decent quality microphone attached to your PC you can ring us for FREE - anywhere in the world
Check here for more information
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| Tuesday 18th May 2004 | Simon Grundy, our bank manager, paid us another visit today.
Does he look pleased with how we're doing...
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| Thursday 6th May 2004 | My Ma died a few weeks ago - me and my brother just got back from Croom in Co. Limerick where we scattered her ashes.
A little more info here...
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| Friday 15th April 2004 |
Another good night on the Karaoke....
...tonight the kids joined in....Summer Nights will never be the same again!!
Some pics here
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| Wed 14th April 2004 |
We just changed our pricing structure for children, teenagers and young adults
Details here
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| Easter Sunday 11th April 2004 |
The Easter Bunny paid us a visit today!!!!
Pictures here
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| Monday 5th April 2004 |
My little girl just grew up - Joanne is 21 today!!!!
Pictures here
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| Friday 26th March 2004 |
We're going to hit the 10,000th Booking this year sometime...
Click here to find out what we're going to do when we hit it!!
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| Wednesday 10th March 2004 | 
Just had a few days breakaway to Scotland. It's such a BEAUTIFUL country...we've never explored it before.
If you want to see the pictures click here...
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| Friday 6th February 2004 |
We did it - WE WON THE HOTEL OF THE YEAR 2003
Read all about it here...
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| Wednesday 21st January 2004 |
Well...I'm back from Portugal in one piece (just). We had a great time - for those who are interested click here.
It seems Mandy had a great weekend also with the Pigeon Fanciers and started the karaoke up. While the cats away...
 It seems it went down really well...and after the HUGE success of our New Year's Eve party we've decided to do Canasta Caraoke on demand every weekend. We'll only get the equipment out if requested and if we're busy enough and only until midnight so if you're coming to stay and fancy giving us a song ....all you got to do is ask!!! Song List here
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| Wednesday 31st December 2003 |
New Years Eve - what a party!!!!!
Click here to see the pictures....
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| Tuesday 30th December 2003 |
New Years Eve - THE REHEARSAL - had a good party night first with the King of Swing Derek Williams and then some great karaoke singing from the guests
Here's Derek getting them going with New York New York
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| Monday 15th December 2003 |
We've been shortlisted!!!!
We are VERY proud to announce that we've been shortlisted for the Hotel of the Year Award. We REALLY want to win this prestigious award given by Blackpool Tourism Department - but won't know until February 6th 2004 if we've been successful. BIG THANKS to all our staff for helping us get this far - even if we don't win it's a real achievement being shortlisted!
Thanks also to all our guests who took the time to complete the nomination forms and vote for us - it's nice to know our hard work is appreciated!!
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| Friday 28th November 2003 |
I got Mandy some Blackpool Rock for her birthday
Click here to see it
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| Tuesday 25th November 2003 | 
Needed another break to get over Florida ...so we went to Tenerife with Lord and Lady Daniels of Strathdon
Click here to see some of our holiday snaps |
| Saturday 16th November 2003 | 
Just got back from Florida
Click here to see some of our holiday snaps |
| Wednesday 15th October 2003 | 
Another Glorious Sunset
Click here to see another glorious sunset opposite the Canasta Hotel |
| Monday 6th October 2003 | 
Pictures of Blackpool Illuminations
Click here for some pictures of the Illuminations by Charles Patey - a recent guest |
| Sunday 14th September 2003 | Hotel of the Year 2003 Nominee
We think we got what it takes to apply for this award and have collected 107 comments so far which we intend to pass on to Blackpool Tourism to consider us for the award.
Read the comments here...
Thanks to everybody for taking the time to complete the Nomination Forms.
To those of our previous guests who would like to complete a nomination form please email us your details and we'll pop one in the post to you |
| Sunday 14th September 2003 | 
The Breakfast Challenge just got beat !!!!!!!!
Congratulations to Jason Southern who is the first person to complete the Breakfast Challenge |
| Friday 12th September 2003 |
Just got another gadget!!
I do like gadgets :o)
Just got a camcorder....when I get used to it the results will be better...I hope.
If you want to do some tramspotting click here
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| Monday 1st September 2003 |
FOR THE LADIES....
We're very excited to announce that Elaine is opening a Health and Beauty Salon at the Canasta (from 12th September). Ladies pamper yourself with a relaxing aromatherapy massage after a hard days shopping (or the day after a hard nights drinking !)
Just another fantastic service provided at the Canasta Hotel !!!!! More info...
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| Thursday 28th August 2003 | 
Just decided to open for NEW YEAR's EVE !!!
Check this page out for more information
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| Thursday 7th August 2003 | 
Just back from the Castletown Golf Links in the Isle of Man where we played for the Canasta Isle of Man Annual Invitational Trophy. Click here to see how we faired
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| Thursday 31st July 2003 |
The Outside Webcams go live today. It's a bit complicated to connect to the server so I think most folk won't bother looking. Let me know if the instructions given are sufficient.
Click here to view them |
| Thursday 31st July 2003 | 
Blackpool Illuminations Switch On Ceremony
The full line up has now been announced for the Blackpool Illuminations Switch On Ceremony on 29 August.
BBC Radio 2 brings live coverage of the switching-on of the world famous Illuminations on Friday 29th August between 8.30 and 9.30pm. To celebrate the turning on of over a million lights, covering six miles of Blackpool Promenade, BBC Radio 2 host a night of live music from the Radio 2 Arena Blackpool.
This year Blue are turning on the lights following in the footsteps of Ronan Keating, Steps, Westlife, Kermit The Frog, The Bee Gees, Shirley Bassey and Radio 2’s very own Terry Wogan.
Special guests performing at the BBC Radio 2 Arena include Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, Robin Gibb, and Louise.
This is a free event held at the 15 000 capacity Radio 2 Arena, on a first come first served basis. The Radio 2 Arena is located to the rear of Coral Island on New Bonny Street.
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| Thursday 17th July 2003 | 
Just had a quick 2 night break to Dublin. Stayed at the Burlington Hotel which was ....OK
The waiters were very friendly which is unusual for such a large hotel. I asked one on Tuesday morning if I could take my cup of tea through to the lounge after my breakfast. He replied, "Sorry...you can take your tea but not the cup". I fell for it and was about to start arguing when he gave me a big wide Dublin grin... Mandy hasn't stopped reminding me since !!
We flew with Ryanair from Blackpool Airport - excellent value at about £99 RETURN!!!!
Got to say a BIG THANKS to Ryanair this year - they're bringing thousands of Irish in to Blackpool - great news for our tourism industry!!!
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| Thursday 3rd July 2003 |
Just had a visit by English Tourism Council who have awarded us with 4 Diamond Guest Accommodation status for another year!!!!!!!
Well done all the staff - we appreciate all your hard work !!!!! |
| Monday 16th June 2003 |
The Breakfast Challenge starts today!! Win a free nights accommodation if you can complete the Breakfast Challenge....more info |
| Thursday 22nd May 2003 |
We just became ticket agents for Blackpool Pleasure Beach - get your wristbands from us and save a quid! |
| Sunday 11th May 2003 | 
Blackpool Fun Run started 600 yards from the hotel. This annual event attracts thousands of runners. Here are some pictures |
| Friday 3rd May 2003 | 
Restaurant officially open - John, our chef, is getting some GREAT feedback - we're VERY pleased with the meals. Just to let you all know we let John use all the facilities of the kitchen - what he makes on the meals is his - what we take on the bar is ours. Seems like a good arrangement so far.
The Canasta Restaurant is open Friday and Saturday nights - 5pm to 9pm and selected midweek evenings throughout the year.
Bon Appetite!!!!!! |
| Monday April 19th |
PHEW!!!...that's Easter out of the way - it was VERY busy. John, our chef, started doing evening meals - they're absolutely delicious!!!!!
Bang goes my diet this year!!! |
| Monday April 6th | 
Just took a short trip to London and went to see the Rat Pack at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. It was GREAT!!
We liked it that much we gave our tickets away for Grease (the following night) and watched it again!!
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| Friday April 4th |
Happy Birthday to me!!
Mandy bought me a 1 hour trial lesson in a helicopter!!! It was a great experience BUT VERY HARD to fly.
It's a bit like rubbing your tummy whilst patting your head ...only about 1000 times harder!!! The co-ordination required is phenomenal. I guess after a few hours it could be mastered but I'll stick to fixed wing I think |
| From May 2003 |
GREAT NEWS for Blackpool!!!!!
RyanAir just announced it is to start direct flights from Dublin to Blackpool in May 2003!!!!
Come on all you Irish - get booking today!!!!!!!
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| Monday 24th February 2003 |
Just had our Bank Manager around - Simon Grundy from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Simon's the guy that made it all possible for us to buy the Canasta (and Lawnlea)
THANKS SIMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was very impressed with the new Canasta and said: "It's always nice to help new businesses expand"
I'm glad we moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland - another bank we were with insisted we use their telephone call centre 150 miles away to discuss any business dealings. Oh well..maybe they didn't want our business after all!!
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| From March 1st for 6 weeks |
 WOW! Weekends are Back!!!!!
Every Saturday & Sunday throughout March 1st/2nd, 8th/9th, 15th/16th, 22nd/23rd, 29th/30th and April 5th/6th all rides at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach -
ALL RIDES £1 !!!!!!!
(Certain restrictions apply)
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| Friday 7th February 2003 | 
Celebrity Special!
The Canasta Hotel is officially opened by Lord and Lady Daniels of Strathdon
No expense was spared - flying in especially from Tenerife and supplied with copious amounts of alcoholic beverage Lady Daniels performed exceptionally well - CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY |
| Wed 22nd January 2003 | 
Just got back from Vilamoura - 7 days glorious golfing
Click here for the results
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| Friday 11th January 2003 |
 We just got another award:- The Canasta Hotel has been awarded full membership of The Quality Guild having met all the standards as laid down in the Quality Guilds Terms and Conditions.
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| Wednesday 1st January 2003 | HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!!!!!
Still loads of dust everywhere - and lots of odd jobs inside need doing!!
We should be up and running by last week in January thgough and are now accepting bookings from February 1st 2003 onwards
Click here to see how we're getting on with the job
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| Saturday 23rd November 2002 | Will we EVER get straight???
Well...we started knocking walls down - dust is EVERYWHERE!!
Click here to see how we're getting on with the job
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| Friday 15th November 2002 | We just bought next door!!!!!!
We hate to lose business and have been turning so many guests away each week because of lack of space so...we just bought next door and so have doubled our capacity. It'll take a few weeks to knock through and bring it up to the same standard but we hope to be open again by 2nd January 2003.
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| Friday 30th August 2002 | Just added fans to all rooms - we listen to what you want - some of the rooms get a bit hot when the sun is shining - so for all you cool dudes out there ...you can now be cooler at the Canasta |
| Monday 12th August 2002 |  WE GOT IT!!!!!!!
4 DIAMOND GUEST ACCOMMODATION STATUS - one of only a handful of hotels in Blackpool that has achieved the 4 diamond status - we're very chuffed!!!!!!! |
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Monday 27th July 2002
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Blackpool is set for an action packed few weeks as the school summer
holidays shift into top gear!
The fun kicks off this weekend 3 & 4 August with the International Monster
Kite Show on Central Beach, and don't miss the Lions Blackpool Carnival
from 10.30am on Sunday as it makes its way along the promenade with a
spectacular parade from Blackpool Pleasure Beach to North Pier.
Then on Monday 5th August the CBBC roadshow rolls into town, broadcasting
live shows from Central Beach in the afternoon including Blue Peter and
Xchange. There's also appearances from top pop guests including chart
toppers Liberty X so make sure you're there early for what is sure to be a
fun filled afternoon.
Next weekend 9-11 August the RAF show rolls into town on the Promenade
near North Pier offering an insight into the fascinating world of the RAF,
with static facsimile aircraft including a Hawk, Hercules and Lightening
Cockpit. The highlight of the weekend is the Blackpool Skyshow on Sunday
11th which will feature displays from 2pm including the RAF Jaguar, Hawk,
Tucano and Tornado F3 plus special guests the Utterly Butterly
Barnstorming Wingwalkers. Rounding off the day at 5.30pm will be a beach
assault demonstration with Puma Helicopter by the RAF Regiment Display
Team on the beach just north of North Pier.
And if those magnificent flying machines aren't your cup of tea then why
not head down to the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet Roadshow on the
10-11 August on South Promenade opposite the Sandcastle Centre from 10am -
4pm. Learn about the awesome animals we share our planet with and
experience what it's like to be a TV presenter in this free event for all
the family.
On 17 & 18 August International Rescue touches down on Central Beach with
the Thunderbirds Beach Tour. Learn how to make your favourite Thunderbirds
craft out of sand and win Thunderbirds goodies in the sand sculpting
competition all taking place between 10am and 6pm.
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Tuesday 23rd July 2002
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Just had our mystery visit from the chap from the English Tourism Council. We'd applied to be considered for the 4 Diamond Guest Accommodation status. We won't find out officially for 2 weeks but it looks like we got it!!! (...but we're not allowed to advertise it until we get official confirmation so don't tell anybody!!)
Still lots of improvements to do to bring it up to the standards that we want, which will take a while, but it's nice to know that our efforts so far are in the right direction.
In November we're refurbishing ALL bathrooms with new showers, tiles and fittings.
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Thursday 10th July 2002
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Phew...hard work tuning 17 tellies in...and carting them all up to the 17 rooms!! They all got remote controls. Hairdriers added also. Just finished carpeting the last of the bedrooms - we now have nice new carpets throughout the hotel. Now we need to start decorating a couple of the rooms and then we'll be tip-top - just how we want it. May not bother getting irons and ironing boards for all rooms - guests can always borrow on of 3 we have downstairs - what do you think? Would you prefer to have an iron in the bedroom?
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Monday 7th July 2002
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Just ordered hair dryers for all bedrooms - should be here by Wednesday. I think the televisions could do with replacing so we'll be shopping around for a decent model at the right price - also getting quote for ironing centre for every room - watch this space!
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Friday 5th July 2002
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Just had a short break in the Isle of Man. Must be 20 years since we last went - it's a beautiful island...but....there's not a lot to do. It's a shame to see such decline in the tourism industry there.
I flew us there in the aircraft I'm having lessons in!! It was a great flight and, of course, very smooth landing (though Mandy was petrified!!)
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Friday 5th July 2002
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Just started replacing carpets in all bedrooms. We'll be doing it in stages but by September the whole hotel should be re-carpeted
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Monday May 13th 2002
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We're back - and open for business as usual!!
Had a GREAT TIME!!!
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Monday April 22nd 2002
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The Canasta Hotel closes today for three weeks whilst we take our annual golfing holiday in Florida.
As long as the 'gators don't get me we'll be back and open for business on 10th May 2002.
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Tuesday April 16th 2002
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I just started having flying lessons.
It's AWESOME!!
If any guests fancy the idea of touring Blackpool and the Fylde Coast at 2,000 feet we can arrange this for you. Prices start at about £60 per half hour but the hour is much better at £110. You'll have control for most of the flight and if conditions are very good you'll even take off and land!!
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Saturday April 6th 2002
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 Just went CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING with some guests. Terry Winfield and his chums stayed with us for the weekend and invited me to join them at their shoot. I never did that before.... it's HARDER than it looks!! I hit about 4 out of 40!! It was real good fun though and I have details of the club that runs the shoot locally if any future guests are interested. I'll definitely be back for more!
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Saturday March 29th 2002
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Another glorious day in Blackpool - our first Easter in the hotel - no different to any other weekend really - we're just as full - though the midweek is now nearly full also so I guess it's non stop now until April 25th when we jet off to Florida for a couple of weeks golfing. (FORE!!)
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Friday March 22nd 2002
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Mandy's just been hypnotised to give up smoking. Note to future guests...ask her if she wants a fag...it's the funniest thing! ...she'll say "No thanks, I don't smoke" ...and then look really, really confused as though she hasn't a clue why she said that.
Snigger...don't mention this page...she never looks at the site!! :o)
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Thursday March 7th 2002
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We just acquired a few stills and autographed pictures of a few Hollywood legends. Not every ones "cup of tea" but we like them. View the Hall of Fame here
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Friday 1st March 2002
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Its a GLORIOUS day!! At last there are signs of Spring pushing through. We've been beset by gale force winds for the last few weeks - I do love Spring in Blackpool....golf course here I come.
OUCH! Mandy just reminded me that it's our 22nd wedding anniversary today...better not
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Thursday 28th February 2002
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Just applied for a forthcoming Weakest Link "Seaside Special" - should be fun if I get on it - Just don't vote me off first!!!
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Tuesday 26th February 2002
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Just taken our last booking for the Easter weekend - we're officially "CHOC-A-BLOCK". Sorry but you got to book early |
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Thursday 21st February 2002
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The new carpet has been laid to the hall, stairs, landing, sun lounge and dining room - it's FANTASTIC!! At £40 per square yard it should be!!! You can take a little peek at it here.
The 4-poster bedrooms - Room 1 and Room 15 are all up and running. We decided to increase our prices slightly as the new carpets really do add to the warmth and character of our hotel. Any existing bookings will be honoured at the old rate.
Oh....our break in Barcelona was splendid - I do LOVE Spanish wine and Mandy likes the occasional tipple too. |
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Monday 18th February 2002
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Carpet fitters are in for 3 days so we're shut. New carpets going on dining room, sun lounge, hall, stairs and all landings. Can't wait - the existing one has been down 10 years....well passed its sell by date and really the only thing that lets us down. We're off to Barcelona (This is where we're staying) to let them get on with it. |
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Friday 15th February 2002
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The 4 - Poster beds have arrived!!!
Hand made solid pine 4 poster beds - they really are the business !!
Thanks to Martin at www.topgun.co.uk who made and installed them.
Mandy is busy making the drapes that go around them - I'll snap some piccies as soon as they're up and running. Hope she finishes by dinner time - we got guests using them tonight!!
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