[esselle]

Papillion
Ah, Stakisfaction. Depends on your vintage, but a good colleague of mine was parachuted in as CEO, and ended up merging the chain with Hilton, where he then became head boy. I visited him in his swanky offices in Glasgow in, guessing a bit,1992 or 93. He went on to be far more successful than me, but I used to beat him at tennis.

[Shearer]

Sounds like a certain Sir David Michels…

[esselle]

That would be him.

[Shearer]

I worked in a travel agency in the North of Scotland back then, loved Stakis Hotels. They did agents rates which you could pay for with Stakis Agent Vouchers if you had enough!

In the agency I booked the hotel deal of a lifetime – we booked a lot for our customers.

Stakis Earl Grey Dundee charged £26 per night, B&B, based on 2 sharing.
Stakis also issued rail tickets for a supplement. British Rail grouped the entire Highlands of Scotland and Tayside as “Zone A”. The supplement for Zone A was £0.

So, for two people sharing a room, you got two nights at a brand new hotel with an amazing pool, full Scottish breakfast each morning and a return ticket from Wick to Dundee on the train. For £52.00. NOT the agent rate, the public rate!

The standard rail ticket from Wick to Dundee at the time was about £40!

[Binman62]

Stakis Hotels….did he and his hotels not have a reputation for burning down? Generally on a Friday night!f

The current Grosvenor hotel on Great Western Road was one such hotel burning to the ground during the fire service strike in the late 1970s

It is remarkable as the rebuilding was restricted to ensure that the facade look like the rest of the near mile long Victorian facade of which it was a part. Unless you knew the history you would never know that the building was just 40 years old.

The Pond hotel similarly burned down and this was just about a 2 miles further along the road.

[seanyjmuclhr]

Guys, can we stay on topic please, or has all that can said on the new F lounge and its “enhanced” catering been indeed said?

[Papillion53]

Esselle, I’m afraid my vintage does somewhat take me pre-Sir David! I had moved on and out by then. I would imagine you know many of the people I would have known or have worked with in the business.

Binman62 – they weren’t called the “Glasgow Mafia” for nothing! 😉 I used to navigate my way around Glasgow by the hotels!

NIRScot – those rail tickets were also used for staff travel – not supposed to be of course, and we had to try and dodge the rail inspectors! And we always had the first class vouchers no less! LOL!

I wonder if you also remember the Royal Darroch Hotel, Aberdeen. It was destroyed by a gas explosion in 1983 and sadly several people died, I knew some of them.

You’ve certainly brought back some memories today.

Seanymuclhr – I think it probably has gone as far as it can until more of BT readers go through and report on their findings. Sometimes things just drift and what harm has it done – it has certainly given me food for thought today – tenuous link I know 🙂 and you did mention “Walkers”, so that reminded me of my visit there, so we could blame you a little bit for me getting off topic initially, couldn’t we? 😉 :-)))))

I think the use of tongs for buffets and for removing the new biscuits from their barrels at T5 is not really the answer. Germs can be transmitted onto them in the exact same way as when people touch food directly. And I absolutely hate when people put tongs down on top of food at buffet counters. Do they not stop and think that they have just handled said implement and are now putting their germs on food! Avoid food tongs at all cost! In fact, I don’t really care much for buffets either, but as my late mother used to tell me “you eat a ton of germs before you die”! I always use a serviette over tong handles if and when I have to use them. And it has always puzzled me how does that solitary mushroom always manage to be floating around in the baked beans pot? LOL!

That’s another reason I am quite happy to have my sandwiches served still wrapped on board as well – the less people who touch my food, the better!

Have a great weekend everyone :-)).

[esselle]

Papillion

Stakis was one of the great names in the industry. Whilst DMCM saved it from extinction for a while, it went into the pot and got lost. When I was young, Reo Stakis was a bit of a god.

Because hospitality was my business, I get really sad when I see the modern day version of it, BA or not, getting compromised by the procurement department.

Happy weekend, and happy travels.

[Binman62]

…,I was young, Reo Stakis was a bit of a god.,…,,,

Bit of a godfather perhaps?:)

[Papillion53]

Esselle – yes it was and I am glad I started my hotel career with them. I remember all the back offices at Stakis hotels had a framed photo of Reo Stakis hanging on the wall. He was “God” as far as everyone who worked for him was concerned. He was quite charming, well he always was to me, but I’m equally sure Binman, he didn’t suffer fools gladly!

I really enjoyed my time with Stakis, I was given so many opportunities to progress.

[TominScotland]

Back in the BA First Lounge, having enjoyed a really tasty breakfast, served by smiling staff. The display looks great, is kept well stocked and tables seem to be cleared fast and efficiently. I really don’t see the problems some of you seem to have with the changes – I used to do a lot of change management training for operational/ administrative staff in organisations and some of the reactions here reminded me of the “we’ve always done it this way” syndrome that they would express.

Also had a reviving shower after a night flight – only downside here is having to share the facility (not the actual shower, thank goodness) with the plebs from the Galleries Lounge……

[MartynSinclair]

Had a lovely dinner in T3 lounge before my evening BKK flight. The salmon was extremely well cooked and tasty.

HOWEVER – the cereal bar on the wall along with the yoghurt has now dissappeared, that means no more lounge Special K. Letter to chairman. email to BAEC and request to Becky Boop, please arrange for the reinstatement of the all day cereal bar…. I know you have sway in that department… 🙂

[openfly]

Passed through Gatwick First this week. There is now very little difference with the Galleries Lounge. The BA lounge manager was around and said that they are very aware at the degradation of the First lounge offerings. They are talking to the new caterers to reinstate the poached eggs at breakfast, the cold collation, the fruit compotes and reverting to individual jams/marmalade at breakfast time. She was very much aware that their offering has not been to the standards set at LHR in the past. The changes have brought lots of comments in the visitors book which she agrees are less than complementary. She and her management read the book every day and steps are being taken with a certain amount of urgency to go back to the previous standards.

[Shearer]

I wonder if the contract was changed on price only?
In that case why would anyone be surprised that things have been dropped?

[openfly]

@NIRscot…..in a nutshell, you are absolutely correct. That makes me wonder if Premium passengers matter to BA.

[Author]

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