We were amazed and delighted to be back at the Hayes conference centre which coped so well and made us feel welcome. Sanitizers for hands were either side of the door, foot-operated. With numbers down from the high of about 400 in one or two previous years to 200 the rooms were spacious and it was easier to sit one seat away from anybody else when you chose to do so.
Masks
The Hayes had a supply of disposable blue masks. However, most people had masks of fabric. One of two people had special matching masks. I admired the orange satin mask matching the orange outfit. The sequined mask matching the sequined tote bag. The red tartan mask matching the red tartan shirt (from Amazon).
Gloves
Some of the catering and cleaning staff were wearing masks. Others were not.
The bedroom doors were sealed with a sign saying they had been sanitized.
I like the sign on the bedroom desk: Hello and Welcome. It's great to see you.
Downstairs in the crossroad corridor by the bar was a wonderful huge sign saying Hello we've missed you. What great marketing.
At morning and afternoon tea instead of the home made cakes we had wrapped cakes and biscuits. I was partial to the local bakewell tart. Mrs Crimble's Bakewell slice. Other choices were muffins with blueberry or chocolate chip.
At lunch and dinner time we had a buffet on some days for both lunch and dinner. At other times we had a choice of sandwiches, wraps, baguettes, and plain salads. I saw a friend who was on a gluten free diet had a baked potato so I asked for the same and got it. I rejected the offered ham as being processed meat and was very happy to have grated cheese.
I can't speak to highly of the staff at the Hayes. They were so friendly and helpful. If you are arranging a conference, lovely place. Rooms of all sizes. Bedrooms. Meeting rooms. For quiet, choose the main house. For conviviality, or overlooking your car, Maybe Lakeside. But I understood from our AGM held on the last afternoon that we have the writers conference booked up to five years in advance, with a deposit paid and have to take and pay for the number of rooms the organizers book. This year, because of the uncertainty, anxiety and restrictions on travel from overseas, the numbers attending our conference were down from about 400 to about 200. A delicate guessing game and calculation.
In previous years, I am going back twenty years now to the earliest days, the place was like a school. The motto seemed to be, find out what people are doing and stop them. If you took a piece of fruit and hadn't ordered a vegetarian meal, there were announcements about how annoyed other guests were at non vegetarians who had unfairly taken fruit.
However, nowadays there were copious supplies of fruit. If you were early you might get a banana. If you got to the fruit bowl late you might get an apple or orange instead. If you were late you might get a chocolatine instead of a croissant. But if you asked for something they would immediately go and look. Once I saw that a vegan had asked for a baked potato instead of the lunchtime ham and cheese sandwiches. So I asked for a baked potato. I got baked potatoes twice. The third time they were very apologetic that there were no potatoes because of the village wide power cut. But they apologized to me, instead of making me feel I had been unreasonable. So I felt good all week.
Sweet Surprises
My last discovery in the dining room was on the last day. No croissants. Staff immediately run to find me a croissant.
They had cleared away breakfast. I looked at two plastic bottles which I had previously ignored. One was honey. Just the thing to go on toast.And they made brown bread toast for me. No shrug that they'd cleared away, too late, all gone. Later, another of my friends said she had put honey in her tea.
The second bottle was maple syrup, which we used to have at home on our porridge. So if I get back to the Hayes and they still have the maple syrup, next time I shall take the porridge and add maple syrup.
There is always something unhealthy, or over healthy, which you don't want. But there's always so much that you are bound to get something you like if you are willing to ask and look on the bright side.
Cash or Card?
At the end of the week at the Writers' Holiday, a collection is made of or the staff. Remember to take some cash. In case the bar or the shop are taking cash for small sums. This year the bar was taking cards and the shop was supposedly taking cash. In the writers holiday area, the main book area was taking cards. They wanted your bank transfer number if you wanted to be paid for sold books by bank transfer. But the second hand book table had a box for cash donations. I bought notebooks in both the Hayes shop and the Writers' Conference shop. If you make sure you have cash left over for the staff tips, or a charity collection, depending on your type of conference, then you can be as generous as you like, then you won't risk feeling, I wish I had given a little more.
Subtle socially distanced seating.
Useful Websites
https://www.cct.org.uk/the-hayes/the-hayes-conference-centre
https://www.visitpeakdistrict.com/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Biscuits-Mrs-Crimbles-Crackers
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