[LEECE]

well said bravo *claps*

[Gemini4321]

Here is my two bobs worth.

We had to ask 3 times Fri eve for an ash tray in our room, it was brought while we where out and they left the room door open, luckily nothing was missing from our room when we returned around 12.30am

Bedspread was thread bare in places, not much room around bed, bathroom was bigger.
Draft through the windows were terrible Sat eve.

Caught my heal on a metal runner during the ball, luckily I managed to keep my balance but it took the rubber clean off the heal. It took the staff nearly an hour to put some tape on it, but they run out of tape so the runner wasn't covered properly. Had the incident put in the accident book and I will be sending them the bill when I get my shoes re healed. Had to walk round bare foot all night good job most of it was carpetted.

Saturday morning when we went down for breakfast there was hardly any hot food left, we had to wait a while for them to bring more out. There was lots of people waiting to be seated so they should make sure there is enough food.

It was a long drive up nearly 4 hours. Hotel and bar was very pricey. Hotel looked lovely from the outside but needed an over haul, and a bit out of the way.

This was out first ball we both had a lovely time, nice to meet lots of new people. Brill curry on Friday eve. Thanks Lorraine for organising that. Shame there wasn't many taxi's around had to wait ages.

Gemini

[randap]

For me (and the +1), the venue was much better than last year, even tho' it was a bit more expensive and the rooms small etc (as said before) - the spa really made it - if you didn't use it then I guess the hotel is expensive. I guess the only dissapointment was with the auction.......last year folk were bidding over £50 just for cufflinks, but this year, even with better products, IMHO bidding was low - I can only summise that the cost of the booze meant more folk were sober, and kept their sensible heads on. Shame, as the point of the ball was to raise money (I spent a fortune on raffle tickets, but still didn't win.....).

However, the whole event was flawlessly organised, and great fun. IMHO, it really is worth spending the Friday night at the venue - this means you meet folk before the ball, get to have an entertaining curry, and can take part in the run. This makes the ball all the more enjoyable and worth the money.

P.S. I guess the £90 per night charge is to subsidise the keeping of the grounds for the golfers..........

[Rakey]

not sure I can add more to what has been said really

Can't fault the organisation of such a major event, to achieve the night must have taken a hell of a lot of planning and comitment that we would never fully appreicate. Perhaps there is a new career for a few of you doing this for a living?

Ok, the bits that could be better, (but didn't spoil it for me) :

Hotel: lovely settings but that was about it, next time rooms should be checked for quality and distance from the facilities. Also secure parking should be a must so that everyone doesn't fear for their cars and is constantly looking for a spot at the front where it was safe.

Food: was not great, but I guess when there is so many to feed and the ticket price has to be kept down then we got what we paid for. But the service was slow and the fact that some didn't get what they ordered due to others changing their minds was something that could be addressed, as the staff could see on the name tickets who had ordered what.

Dress: I liked it been Dinner Suit, its not often we get chance to dress up, and I like it, but can see the fun in maybe fancy dress next time but this could put more people off than attract them. So think we should stick to smart as its a good bit of encouragment for the ladies, as they always like to dress up in nice frocks and they look hot too

Location: I like the idea of it been in the North this time, but I did feel let down by those from the north that said they didn't come as it was down south, and then when the organisers moved it closer to them they still didn't make any effort I think next year it should be more towards the south again, as its only fair on the majority that make the effort to put it on their doorstep seeing as they made the effort this year

Auction: I liked the quality of items in the Auction, and so wanted to bid more on some of them, but due to the cost of the event and other things I have going on this month I couldn't buy the items I wanted I think the cost of the overall weekend for many decreased the bidding too, that and the fact that the bar was well over priced at £3.20 for a Guinness and £3 for a pint of Coke If people aren't drunk or are watching the pennies then they won't get carried away like we want them to.

THE BIG POINT: Bar prices, I mentioned it above, and I know it didn't stop a few of us really hammering it, but the prices were crazy, yet when we were in the Club house earlier in the day, prices were cheaper on beer and food, so it shows that they sting those that are not golfers to keep the place going

All I would like to say again is well done to those involved arranging this, as I had a top time, its not the best time of year for such an event for me with MtM also in this month and so close to Christmas and a summer Ball might be nice for a change, but I cant' wait to do it again if you guys decide to arrange it

[Mini E]

Hi Everyone
First of all I would just like to say what a wonderful evening we had. It was our (mine, Mini Me GB and Jayne Park Lane) first Mini2 Charity ball and we would definately go again.

At first we weren't sure whether to go due to the price of the hotel. Certainly the prices of the sandwiches and drinks matched the price of the hotel!! Plus the fact that the rooms were no better than a holiday inn. However I don't believe that the organisers could have really known this, the brouchure/website certainly made it look better than it was. And it's not always easy to tell these things from one visit.

Distance doesn't really matter to us. As long as you have it at a weekend then what's the point of having a MINI unless you get to drive it!!! Scotland could be a nice setting and a nice long drive for all of us!

Food - was acceptable but not as posh as it sounded. However again there was no way the organisers could have known this - you could sample a first class meal in the restaurant but i bet it was a different chef cooking for us!!

My grandfather plays bowls and they regularly have dances etc where the food served is fish and chips. They have a good local fish and chip van arrive at the venue and the organisers bring it to your table - that way there are only two options as well - fish and chips or veggie burger and chips! I bet it saves on cost too!! I have heard of fish and chip balls!

Dress - someone said it should be reduced from black tie to smart. i kinda agree with this as it means us girlies still get to dress up but the men do not have to go out and buy/rent a suit. i mean smart could still include ties, shirts and no jeans!!

Price - if the venue could possibly go down then the tickets could definately go up - we thought they were very cheap for a charity ball.

Maybe it sounds like i'm moaning a lot - i'm really not. the only thing that disappointed us was the venue and their food. However we had a lovely time - enjoyed seeing the mini's indoors, meeting lots of different people and putting faces to names. We enjoyed the dinner - or laughing about it with our fellow table guests! It was edible that's all that mattered, we had fun with the little bits and pieces left on our table - only 1/7 of us were able to blow those balloons up lol! we pocketed the mints and took a little yellow mini home for Captain who was unable to attend because of work! We enjoyed the auction (esp when i won the Russ Swift Ride) but felt things should have gone for more - not sure what can be done about that though!! and the raffle. The cheesy music was great although more dance space needed. The place looked beautiful - the balloons and flowers... although mum upset a lady the next day, saw her with some flowers just like ours but without the lemons and said to her 'yes i was considering taking our table flowers too' the lady replied 'this is the bridesmaids bouquet' - opps!!

We went to bed happy and smiling, talking about a great night ever since - thank you everyone who worked so hard!

[dietcokeplease]

Even though I wasn't there I'd like to put my big oar in.

I've arranged a couple of conferences and meetings at various hotels and:

- One visit to the hotel isn't good enough. You really need to pop in unannounced at busy periods to see how they coped say on a Friday or Saturday night - difficult when the hotel is far away. When organisers visit they should ask to have an actual sample of the meal to test. Most decent hotels won't have a problem with that.

- Never forget to negotiate a discount on food and drink prices. Rack rates on food and drinks are for corporate guests, not MINI2ers out on the razz. If you got a discount for rooms you can get one on food and drink. Just to make you feel better I bought 2 drinks at a hotel in Central London and got £2.30 change from £35.

[KPKalle]

Quote: Originally Posted by dietcokeplease

Rack rates on food and drinks are for corporate guests, not MINI2ers out on the razz.

We also paid a corporate rate for the taxis to the Indian restaurant But that was our fault for paying, not the hotel's

[Speedd]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mini E

The place looked beautiful - the balloons and flowers... although mum upset a lady the next day, saw her with some flowers just like ours but without the lemons and said to her 'yes i was considering taking our table flowers too' the lady replied 'this is the bridesmaids bouquet' - opps!!!

Quality... That picture would have been worth paying for

Agree with your write up and hope we all try to make that extra effort for 2007

Roll on the next one