Boss of Sittingbourne's Coniston Hotel says lessons have been learnt after Christmas party complaints
by Hayley
Robinson
We're working hard to rectify our mistakes, that’s the message
from Paul Noble, the manager of The Coniston Hotel.
The London Road venue had come under fire from Christmas party
goers on Facebook.
Postings mentioned up to an hour’s wait for food between each of
the three courses, a 40-minute wait to be served at the bar, a lack
of staff, poor food, not enough drinks dispensers and over-priced
beer and wine.
People who had expected to dine with other groups in the large
function room also commented on how they were put in a private
dining area to eat before going through to the party room for the
disco later in the evening.
Mr Noble admitted there had been problem issues and said: “Since
[the new year] we’ve had more beer pumps and coke dispensers
installed at both bars.
"We’ve employed a service operations manager, a front office
manager and a guest relations manager plus we plan to open both
bars whenever we hold a function.
“We ended up having 2,600 people in for Christmas not bad when
you think we opened only a few weeks earlier.
“I think you always experience a few hiccups along the way
and I believe any new business has initial teething problems.”
Plans to make sure the problems aren’t repeated this party
season are already under discussion.
He said: “We plan to have two function rooms running for this
year’s Christmas parties.
The private dining area will be turned into a dance floor and
the DJ will be in there and the restaurant area will be filled with
tables and chairs for people to sit and eat.
The main function room will also have a disco plus tables and
chairs for people to sit and eat at.
“Our New Year’s Eve party was a sell out but the restaurant
wasn’t used so this year we plan to provide a gala dinner in the
main room for adults but the restaurant area will be for families
with a disco and a buffet.”
15/02/13
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