4NCL January weekend - Hinckley

Venues, fixtures, teams and related matters.
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LawrenceCooper
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4NCL January weekend - Hinckley

Post by LawrenceCooper » Sat Jan 10, 2015 8:42 am

I've heard via the 4NCL captain e-mail chain:

"that the Triumph Bar at Hinckley Island will be closed all weekend "for refurbishment. Only the coffee/wine bar will be open. There will be no TV available in the coffee bar area to watch football. Two tap lagers, bottled beers and wines. There do not seem to be any arrangements for extra seating in the coffee bar. We don't where lunchtime snacks will be served."

Mike Truran
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Re: 4NCL January weekend - Hinckley

Post by Mike Truran » Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:08 pm

We had no warning from the hotel beforehand - the first I knew about it was when Roger Emerson arrived on the Friday and emailed me.

I for one am looking forward to moving over to the good folk at Holiday Inn. Various members of the 4NCL management team did a tour of inspection recently and confirmed my view that it looks like a pretty decent venue. If they keep the promises they have made (and 'if' is always the operative word with hotels) we should be in good shape.

The 4NCL FIDE Rated Congress at the end of January/start of February should be a good dry run.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: 4NCL January weekend - Hinckley

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:31 pm

Not literally a *dry* run I hope! :mrgreen:

David Sedgwick
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Re: 4NCL January weekend - Hinckley

Post by David Sedgwick » Sun Jan 11, 2015 1:18 am

Mike Truran wrote:We had no warning from the hotel beforehand - the first I knew about it was when Roger Emerson arrived on the Friday and emailed me.

I for one am looking forward to moving over to the good folk at Holiday Inn. Various members of the 4NCL management team did a tour of inspection recently and confirmed my view that it looks like a pretty decent venue. If they keep the promises they have made (and 'if' is always the operative word with hotels) we should be in good shape.

The 4NCL FIDE Rated Congress at the end of January/start of February should be a good dry run.
Mike, you may be interested in the minutes of the recent meeting of the English Bridge Union Tournament Committee, posted at http://www.ebu.co.uk/documents/minutes- ... 09-dec.pdf. They also report favourably on the Holiday Inn Birmingham, to which they too have moved events, or intend to do so, following problems at other locations.

Mike Truran
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Re: 4NCL January weekend - Hinckley

Post by Mike Truran » Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:09 am

Indeed. As regards whether the EBU's "problems at other locations" arose at a venue not a million miles away from one we use, in the words of Francis Urquhart "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."

As well as Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport, we are also looking at Holiday Inn Peterborough as the possible location for future 4NCL individual events (if our first one at the end of January is successful and we don't clash with any future e2e4 events if that excellent tournament cycle is resurrected). As regards our following the path taken by the EBU, "Great minds ......" (or is it "...... fools seldom differ"?)

David Pardoe
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Re: 4NCL January weekend - Hinckley

Post by David Pardoe » Sun Jan 11, 2015 12:06 pm

Hi Mike,
Disappointing to hear about recent glitches in arrangements with PUMA...as was.
Maybe the new group has changed policies...and is looking to drive more income..?
I wonder if we need to negotiate some `chess meal` deals, to encourage more teams to eat in at these hotels..
I know many teams head off on Saturday night to find cheaper (more varied), dinning options after the matches.
And 8.30pm is also a tricky time for eating anyway...after the Saturday afternoon matches.
Maybe the hotels could offer a discount BB&E deal for players...with a special menu...lets say with a few standard meals and some (higher priced) `specials`...like say Tandory curry, steaks, etc...lets say a 2 course `standard` offer at around £13, including a Steak pie, roast, Chicken, fish courses, a hot pot, Lamb Shank, Lamb or Pork Chops, etc....with either a starter or pudding choice. And on Sunday, it might be worth running a lunch buffet for players with pie and chips and curry offerings etc...along with the usual coffee, tea, cold drinks... Players finishing matches at around 2pm onwards would probably welcome such a quick bar snack before heading home. Maybe it would be worth suggesting this for the 4NCL North group as a trial offering, to see if it encourages greater take up of food at the hotels..
Apart from that, I`d say these hotels have generally given us a very reasonable deal in the past...
BRING BACK THE BCF

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