'cause there's no-one here to say we can't have cake for breakfast'

So here we are in the danger zone... Weekly posts have fallen away.  There's not much to write about when the house is quiet. We did something really different over Winter Deco A number of weeks ago three guys rung the door bell.   Can we talk to you about a private event on your roof terrace? We can talk The proposal was to have a House Party on the roof terrace. DJ's spinning decks and pumping out really loud (aweful) music to a bunch of like minded folk. This would usually be a hard No from me. But they were nice guys, pitched well, we're not busy. Why not...   We talked about how it would work, Risks. Issues. Cost. Back-up weather plan... The result was epic! We jumped in boots and all and planned for Winter Deco Saturday. 3pm - 9pm. We'll do food. The weather was rubbish so we ended up setting up in the front room. Which, for the first shot at this, was probably a better option. In summer, we'll aim for the roof terrace.   This is one of the very ...

How old is this building? It is our most frequently asked question. Quickly followed by: What was this building originally? Quick history lesson. Gleeson's Empire , corner Shakespeare and Brewster st..circa 1893 Note the back part of the building in brick, which still stands today - the front was lost in a fire.  By 1901 The New Empire Hotel was built and is the home of Toad Hall today. (We're the tall building just beyond that crazy power pole). In the 1931 earthquake , the building was damaged.  This was classed a 'fix' not a 'rebuild'. We have no idea if the following story is true or not...but who am I to let the truth get in the way of a good story! The earthquake struck at 10.47am on 3rd February 1931 (that bit's true). We don't know how many people were in the building at that time, however, legend has it that The New Empire Hotel was the first pub to be serving beer after the quake. We like to think the Barman picked himself up, dusted himself of...

For the first time in history,  Napier hosted a One New Zealand Warriors rugby league game against Brisbane Broncos . I hope this doesn't happen again. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/warriors/132168068/mclean-park-pitch-invaders-may-stop-warriors-coming-back-to-napier Not a fan of Warriors fans. Being in the accommodation industry, I am usually in full support of events being hosted in Hawkes Bay, particularly in Napier, that attract visitors to our city. We sold every bed.  We've hosted for big events in the past. We actively try to have everyone in the house for the same reason as this generally means they have a common rhythm and are tolerant and respectful of each other.  We had over 40 people in the house with tickets to that game...some of them would not even have made it in the gate. If, and it is an if. the Warriors play in Napier again, I will be reluctant to host their fans. The damage inflicted on our property, the disrespect for other guests and staff ju...

Catering is coming to Toadies In another life I worked in the Business Improvement team for New Zealand Post Group. I was an administrator and training coordinator in those days, supporting Project Managers in data gathering and process mapping. Our job was to find inefficiencies and make improvement recommendations. Later I worked in the Change Management team. This involved supporting Change Project Managers as they implemented change into a process. These two area's of work have helped me in my own business. I do constantly look for ways to improve our processes. The key factor is, one problem should not be 'fixed' which creates a greater problem down the line. Which is why the whole end to end process must be mapped. One of the processes we have been looking to improve for our guests is catering. Cooking can be a challenge for our larger groups. They are busy - often not getting back to the house until evening. Helpful parent support is not what it used to be. Time and ...

  Confession time.. I thought writing the blog post after my birthday would be easy. A whole bunch of fabulous photos of my beautiful friends. A few words about how much fun it was and Bobs' ya Uncle! Well..I failed!.  The business brain in me had a justified plan. Shut down the building, have only our friends staying to play, loud and long, without the risk of disturbing paying guests.  In my head, I would gain pics of my beautiful friends - they are all beautiful - showcasing the spaces while they had a great time. These could be used to promote Toad Hall for private functions. A whole stay and play campaign.  Complete fail! I have a civilized group photo of the earlier arriving guests...never got a pic of everyone. Had planned to have pre dinner drinks on the roof terrace but never made it past the courtyard. Took a few pics in the front room...terrible ones that can't be used for advertising. - No-one wants to see me pretending to drain a tequila bottle while my ...

 Did you miss me?  Last Tuesday was Anzac Day. We do dawn service.  In fact 28 folk from Toadies went up to Marine Parade for dawn service. Kings College were here. The wine makers - all being internationals - came up to see what happens. We had a busy breakfast service when we all got back. We hosted King's College U17 boys football team for two nights. They were a flurry of activity in a very quiet fortnight.  The pool table got used a lot.  Jacob called it - 'They won't eat much, they're footballers.'  How is that a thing?  But he was right. 100 Anzac cookies was enough. I have had discussions with two suppliers about rate increases.  Seriously, where is the customer service when they gave me a bit of paper to  sign stating they wouldn't put the rates up and then I have to prove that!! Twice! 100 years ago when I was super green in business - I'm more olive coloured now - we requested some work to be done. (I'm going to stay vague about th...