A very big THANK YOU to the NH Lord Charles for hosting a Celebration House Network Evening at their large, well-appointed hotel in Somerset West.
Somehow, to those living in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, Somerset West seems to be far away, and yet on a busy weekday afternoon we were pleasantly surprised at how little time it took us to get there. We had decided to take advantage of the special accommodation offer that the Lord Charles had kindly made available to Celebration House service providers, and so arrived in good time to unwind a little before the meeting.
The hotel had laid on a generous supply of canapés, ranging from delicious smoked salmon, smoked chicken and sweet chilli to mushroom and sun-dried tomato, and these were thoroughly enjoyed by those attending. Other equally tasty fare on offer included smoked salmon and avocado maki rolls, deep-fried salmon and avo and goats milk cheese rolls.
The focus of the Network Meeting was the many changes the wedding industry had seen in the last few months, and ideas for the way forward. At the end of the meeting, Jaco du Plooy, Sales Executive at NH Lord Charles, supplied interesting information about all the facilities that the hotel offers and then gave us all a guided tour of the hotel and its many function rooms. The ballroom was in the process of a revamp and the painters were still hard at work when we arrived! It is certainly an impressive room, and capable of holding 350 guests. Interesting facts gleaned on our tour were that interleading function rooms can be adjusted to accommodate up to 700 guests, and that Halaal and Kosher menus can be catered for. The suites we were shown (one boasting an impressive four-poster bed), led onto the garden and had beautiful, sweeping views right to the sea. After dinner in the La Vigna restaurant with its most attractive modern layout, we retired to our rooms, where the mini-bar and its choice of chocolates proved to be too much of a temptation for some!
Breakfast was served in the attractive, bright and airy Garden Terrace restaurant, which had recently been revamped. Jaco had told us that when the hotel was full, this room could be extended to accommodate all their guests. The breakfast choice was impressively wide, and some members of our party made good inroads into the delicious pastries and fresh fruit and berries on offer, while others favoured the cooked breakfast alternative. As it was a weekday and work beckoned, we were unable to linger as long as we would have liked to, and all too soon had to bid farewell to Somerset West and head back to Celebration House in Claremont. Although our stay at the Lord Charles was short, we all returned to our desks feeling invigorated and ready to face the day!
More photos can be found on our facebook page.
