The team from Maintenance and Housekeeping have been busy all morning preparing our traditional Nativity Scene! Can you believe they did all this in just one morning……well done guys!
The word for Nativity Scene in Spanish is “Belén”. This traditional Christmas decoration is a must in most Spanish homes over the Christmas period!
I took a video of it so that you can see the details; it’s even got moving parts and running water!
The Irish Travel Agents Association celebrated their annual conference last week in Málaga (19 & 20th November). As part of their social programme for the event, many of the delegates flew in early and spent two nights here at Sunset Beach Club.
On Wednesday afternoon, 16 delegates managed to squeeze in an enjoyable round of golf at Torrequebrada Golf, one of our partner courses.
The group met for a warm buffet breakfast on Thursday morning, before boarding a coach which took them to our sister resort at La Cala. Our spies tell us that it was a challenging day of golf, with the America course proving difficult under very tricky conditions!
The Golf was followed by a prize giving dinner in our banquet hall on the 7th floor of the hotel. Our new Head Chef, Paul Tugwell, and his team prepared a fantastic meal which received great praise; a prize giving and live music with Ricky Lavazza rounded off a very enjoyable evening.
Debbie with Colleagues from La Cala Resort
Valencia is the hub of the Golf Travel industry this week with the International Golf Travel Market being held in the city (15-18 November 2010).
Over 600 golf tourism suppliers and 350 pre-qualified buyers and tour operators from over 65 countries have flocked to this Mediterranean city for this four day event dedicated to the world of golf travel.
Pre-scheduled appointments, networking opportunities and industry updates all make this one of the most important events in the Golf Travel calendar.
Our Commercial Director, Debbie Wallace, has just returned from IGTM after two busy days of meetings. Sharing a stand with our sister Resort of La Cala, Debbie was able to make contact with many new tour operators and touch base with long time partners. All in all, a fantastic networking event which will hopefully reap its rewards with more Golf business for our hotel!
As mentioned last week, Sunset Beach Club attended a charity lunch last Sunday and took part in a contest to see who made the best “pincho and tapa”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be this time but it was a great experience for the team and feedback from guests who attended the event was very positive!
The most important thing is that the event managed to raise much needed funds for the charity! Well done to all the team that took part!
Our New Head Chef - Paul Tugwell
We’re excited to announce the appointment of a New Head Chef at Sunset Beach Club, Paul Tugwell. Originally from Cardiff, Paul has been involved in the hotel and catering business for many years and will undoubtedly bring a wealth of experience to the team here at Sunset.
I had a chance to catch up with Paul earlier on in the week to find out a little bit more about him and what his plans are for Sunset’s kitchens; here’s a summary of what I found out:
Paul started his career by studying at the Barry Island Hotel School. After two years of intense training he headed off to London where he began work as a Commis Chef at the famous Savoy Hotel; it didn’t take long for Paul to establish himself as an integral part of the team, allowing him to work his way up to the position of Sous Chef in the 5 years he spent at the Savoy.
After an intense 5 years in London, it was time to move on and Paul spent the next 9 years in Bath; first at the Royal Crescent hotel and later at Combe Grove Manor. His time in Bath allowed Paul to learn, explore and apply new cooking techniques (this was at a time when Nouvelle Cuisine was revolutionising the industry).
In the mid 1980’s, family commitments – Paul’s wife is Spanish – meant it was time to move to Spain. The Costa del Sol was his chosen destination and has been his home ever since.
Since arriving on the Coast Paul has worked as Head Chef in several well known restaurants; however, one of his most challenging positions was when he was asked to become Head Chef and Lecturer at the Les Roches Hotel School in Marbella. For over 5 years he was responsible for training future hotel managers and chefs at this highly respected hotel school (I’ll tell you a secret……. he even trained our Operations Director, Miguel Marcos!).
For the past 5 years, Paul has been Head Chef at the boutique hotel, La Posada del Torcal, located in the mountains behind Málaga.
Now it’s time for a new challenge here at Sunset Beach Club! Wasting no time at all, Paul is already busy with several projects: The daily menus for half board guests are just about ready (I’ll be sure to post about them as soon as they are!) and the team are busy preparing two special dishes for a charity event and cooking contest next weekend; I’ve seen the dessert they have prepared at it looks fantastic!
The next objective is a completely new dessert menu…..ñuuuummm! I’ll definitely have to report back to you about those,; pictures and all!
Something to look forward to next summer is the plan to include a BBQ buffet in the evenings by the main pools. This will be a welcomed addition to the hotels dining facilities and will no doubt prove to be a hit.
Welcome to the team Paul! I look forward to tasting some one of those new desserts!
Any of you who were at Sunset Beach Club during the summer will have had the opportunity to win a fantastic weeks holiday next summer.
We had an box in reception where you could leave your details and enter into the prize draw. As expected, we had a great response for the draw with hundreds of guests entering.
Well, we have just had the prize draw and I’m happy to announce that the lucky winner is:
Charmaine Robinson
Charmaine and her family stayed with us at the end of August and will no doubt be looking forward to their weeks holiday next year, courtesy of Sunset Beach Club! Well done!
Stay tuned for our next prize draw or competition! If you become a Fan of our Facebook Page you’ll get all the latest news about the hotel.
