Booking direct V booking via another hotel booking website

There are so many hotel booking websites and comparison sites now that instead of helping guests find an easy route to reserving a hotel room, many are simply comparing comparison sites!

The internet has paved the way for lots of new 'hotel booking agents' to spring up, so how does it work?

1) Some agents buy hotel stock
Some agents agree an allocation of rooms each night with the hotel. That means that when you book, your room is guaranteed - but they can't allocate you a specific room e.g. if you love room 20 for its views or because it has wheelchair access, agents can't automatically allocate you this. It has to be done within the hotel's system.

2) Some agents simply agree a price but no allocation
Some agents will agree a price but when you book they will send the request to the hotel - this way you can't guarantee a room and run the risk of being booked out, or later finding out your 'booking' is not actually a booking at all if there are no rooms available! You may not receive a confirmation. Indeed the hotel may not receive your booking request at all from the agent leaving everyone fuming!

3) Best Available Rate
Some agents use the hotel's Best Available Rate, this is a rate that fluctuates daily, set by the hotel. The agent simply pulls the data through to their website, making it the same as booking direct. The hotel pays the agent for the privilege of promoting the room. The customer assumes the booking has been made there and then but there are lots of things going on in the background to ensure the booking is in the hotel's system. The confirmation comes from the booking agent. Special requests are noted but can't be guaranteed or discussed through an online agent - you'd need to ring the hotel direct.

4) Best Available Rate +
Some agents take the hotel's daily rate (through another 3rd party) and add their own cut on top, meaning the customer loses out by paying more. You might not have heard of the booking website, know where they are based (they may be outside the UK) or who indeed you've paid money to. They might say things like 'best price' or 'last room' when in fact both of these statements could be untrue. The problem is the lack of regulation of such websites.

5) Wholesale Prices
Some travel agents buy room stock on a group booking basis for specific dates and a lot of rooms at a reduced rate. They then charge the customer what they like for these rooms. They usually package them up e.g. theatre breaks, coach tours.

6) Wholesale Prices +
Some agents take wholesale prices and add their own mark up - charging whatever they want. Many of these are based outside of the UK and don't list the correct hotel information. Rates are often converted from alternative currencies and so fluctuate. They sometimes don't include breakfast... Are you really sure what you're buying?

In Summary
If you want a hotel room - cut through the confusion and book direct. Here's the benefit of booking direct with Holdsworth House:

• Avoid any confusion over who has the best rate - we always have the best rate direct
• Ensure your booking is in the hotel's system
• Receive a confirmation from the hotel
• Have more flexible booking and cancellation terms
• Have a full cooked breakfast, parking, wifi and VAT included in the room price
• Know who you have paid and who has got your money!
• Ensure any special requests or add ons e.g. specific rooms, Champagne and chocolates in the room etc are dealt with.

This isn't just a ploy by hotels to get more bookings - the simple fact is that the more people and companies are involved in the one booking transaction, the more can go wrong and each party wants a slice of the what the customer ends up paying!

Last Tango in Halifax - The Wedding

So the secret is out, Alan and Celia are getting married and the gorgeous hotel chosen just happens to be... ahem... Holdsworth House in Halifax.

Hooray for writer Sally Wainwright for insisting as many scenes as possible were filmed in her native Halifax and hooray for Red Production Company for finding the right spots across Calderdale to do justice to Sally's brilliant imagination.

As the top independent hotel in Halifax, something like Last Tango certainly helps to put us on the global map. We've already welcomed guests from Scandinavia , where Last Tango is really popular. We've even had people enquiring about where to buy the fabric on our dining chairs (featured in episode 5).

A Romantic Weekend and A Wedding Venue

Episode 4 of Last Tango in Halifax showed Caroline and Kate escaping for a romantic weekend (also based on and filmed at Holdsworth House). The drama certainly unfolded and the weekend turned into a disaster for the less than romantic couple. At least Caroline thought Holdsworth House would be 'a good place for a wedding' in episode 5. Alan and Celia thought so too and booked the venue for Christmas Eve - so romantic.

The hotel's Last Tango in Halifax debut came when we saw Caroline and Kate arrive for their break and make their way down towards the manor's 380 year old entrance.

The next day's breakfast was filmed in our Mullioned Room (pictured left) where breakfast is really served to our hotel guests. It's a popular room for afternoon tea and dinner in Halifax too as it looks out over the landscaped gardens.

Pray Silence for the Filming

The filming took place in September 2013 and our team at the hotel remembers the week well. Throughout filming office phones had to be silenced, chairs on wheels were banned and office banter was stalled to ensure that no sounds were picked up on the microphones and no creaky floors creaked at the wrong moment in the offices above where filming took place.  We're quite used to this - we host many marriage ceremonies in the historic Hall so the team is well-rehearsed in being silent as important marriage vows are being made.

Kit and Caboodle

Holdsworth House has beautiful leaded mullion windows, historic beamed ceilings and large stone fireplaces giving it warm and cosy atmosphere. So not only did the film crew bring along their super high tech camera kit, we saw a temporary new cream carpet laid in the restaurant to help reflect the light upwards. Hey - whatever helps!!

We were pleased that the location team wanted to use Holdsworth House's restaurant food on screen. Plus we were delighted to have our actual wedding folders used by the wedding coordinator character.

Many people have asked if the wedding coordinator and the waiters were members of our team - no, they were all bona fide actors, although we're sure our team could have pulled off the roles perfectly too!

The Final Episode

What will the last episode bring? Well as Alan and Celia tie the knot on Christmas Eve we look forward to a few more key scenes from Holdsworth House being shown. We don't want to give anything away yet. But by 'eck, its a belter!

Huge thanks go to the production company and producer Karen Lewis for believing our team would handle the filming week professionally and without hitch. Of course we thank the brilliant Sally Wainwright, on behalf of the UK, for giving us all such a wonderful glued-to-the-set series of laughter and (a touch of) sadness. But most of all for showing the real Yorkshire, its glorious scenery and for highlighting the funny quirks that give us Yorkshire folk our uniqueness. Yes we suppose many of us really do speak like that and drink that much tea!!

Recommended by the Mail on Sunday

Following the success of BAFTA-winning Last Tango in Halifax, the Mail on Sunday sent journalist Bridget McGrouther to Holdsworth House in Halifax - where several scenes for series two were filmed - to see what all the fuss was about.

Here's what she said: "My husband Simon and I jumped at the chance of a romantic rendezvous at the award-winning hotel with its cosy bedrooms - ours even had a luxurious four-poster bed.

Elegant: Bridget at Holdsworth House, which was home to the
Last Tango cast and crew in September

Dinner in a secluded corner by the stone-mullioned windows of the atmospheric restaurant with two AA Rosettes was sensational - seared king scallops with tangy sea herbs, the most tender, locally sourced steak and tasty venison as well as decadent desserts.

We enjoyed after-dinner coffees in the 'old hall', sitting by the inviting inglenook fireplace just like I imagine Alan and Celia did. In such idyllic surroundings, no wonder the romance of Last Tango's mature couple - former teenage sweethearts - was rekindled."

Read the full article online here >>

Yorkshire Top of the Polls

As members of the British Hospitality Association we attended their Destination Marketing conference in October at fellow member venue The Devonshire Arms.

We were delighted to learn from Visit England that Yorkshire is well above the national average for providing complete customers satisfaction.

Visit England regularly polls the public to find out their travel plans, where they've holidayed and what influences their decision on where to go.

The recent 2013 poll showed that Yorkshire beat the national average in the following criteria:

Welcoming and friendly

Value for money

Level of customer service

Quality of accommodation

Quality of food, drink and dining

Accesibility: Places don't take long to get to

The only area people said we could improve on was offering more sporting or cultural events. So GOOD NEWS... soon you can enjoy world class events with all the above included! All eyes will be on Yorkshire for the 2013 Rugby World Cup in two weeks and the 2014 Tour De France Grand Depart. So if you're looking for hotels in Yorkshire, book now at Holdsworth House.

Recommended in The Guardian

Winter sunshine on Calderdale. Photograph: Alamy

Holdsworth House made the national press on Saturday 28th September 2013.

"The Calderdale Way, West Yorkshire

The Calderdale Way is a 50-mile circular walking route around West Yorkshire, offering every type of view: windswept Brontë moorland, meandering canal towpaths and autumnal woodland, plus some of Yorkshire's best little towns, with great names like Lumbutts and Mankinholes. It's champion. Enjoy a good Yorkshire cream tea en route, such as the one at Holdsworth House) in Halifax."  

Full article

Last Tango in Halifax - filming of series 2

Photographs by Kyte Photography
Courtesy of Red Production Company

Holdsworth House has seen its share of celebrity guests over 50 years. Now the Jacobean manor is crowning its Jubilee year by gracing the small screen in the second series of the BAFTA-winning Last Tango in Halifax.

Holdsworth House features in the final three episodes of Last Tango in Halifax, see more here, where Caroline and Kate head off for a romantic break in Halifax at Holdsworth House.

LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX - THE STORY

Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid once again lead the cast in the second romantic drama series made by Red Production Company for BBC One. Written by Halifax born Sally Wainwright the first series won Best Drama Series at the 2013 BAFTAs.

"Alan Buttershaw (Jacobi) and Celia Dawson (Reid) are both widowed and in their 70s. When their grandsons put them on Facebook, they rediscover feelings for one another that are just as intense and beautiful now as they were 60 years ago when they were teenagers. The story of their relationship is a celebration of the uplifting power of love at any age. But this is also a story about family, and it’s just as dark as it is comic. Both Alan and Celia’s family come with baggage." (Red Production)

FILMING

In September 2013 Holdsworth House welcomed headline cast members to its historic halls, including Sarah Lancashire who plays Celia’s arrogant and ultra-respectable daughter Caroline, Nina Sosanya (who plays Kate), Nicola Walker (Gillian) and the wonderful Anne Reid (Celia). The hotel was written into the script by Sally Wainwright following location visits from the series’ along with the series producer Karen Lewis.

In addition to hosting the actors, crew and set designers Holdsworth House had four weddings to direct. 

General manager Richard Christie said, “We were delighted to welcome the cast and crew of Last Tango during one of our busiest periods. As a popular wedding venue it is essential that every event runs smoothly so there was a lot of careful planning on our part to ensure our film crew and special brides and grooms were well looked after.”

Gail Moss co-owner of Holdsworth House said, “I am so thrilled that our former family home has made it into the script of such a brilliant TV drama series. I am very proud to have a small connection to such a popular and successful show and I can’t wait to see it on screen.”

Since the first series aired in 2012 Holdsworth House has been helping to give tourists a real taste of Yorkshire with their Last Tango Break. To mirror content from the show’s first series, the hotel’s break includes a frappuccino with homemade scone on arrival, a three-course evening dinner and overnight in a large House double room.

As Yorkshire recently won Europe’s Leading Destination 2013 award at the World Travel Awards, the team at Holdsworth House sees its role as ambassadors for the county as ever more important. “Scooping the Last Tango in Halifax filming will help give a boost to our role in driving tourism to Yorkshire”, said Holdsworth House marketing manager Liz Howe. The team is also targeting the American market for tourism trade since the airing of series one last week resulted in great reviews from the New York Times.

Holdsworth House’s Last Tango Break is from £185 per couple and bookable online at holdsworthhouse.co.uk

Yorkshire Wins Europe's Leading Destination Award

Yorkshire has beaten Berlin, London and Madrid to win the title of Europe's Leading Destination in 2013. The prize was awarded at the World Travel Awards in Antalya, Turkey, which are described by organisers as the "Oscars of the travel industry". Yorkshire is the first location other than a major city or country to have won the Leading Destination title in the 17-year history of the awards.

Being one of the most popular hotels in Yorkshire of course the world is our oyster!

Read the full BBC article here 

In the 2013 Michelin Guide

Halifax’s top hotel has made it into the prestigious 2013 Michelin Guide, which lists the top 1700 hotels and restaurants in the UK. Independently assessed by Michelin inspectors, appearance in the guide is by invitation only following recommendations to Michelin by previous guests. Of course we're thrilled here at Holdsworth House!

Jamie Oliver Cooks Up A Storm

Halifax hotel Holdsworth House was thrilled when TV superchef Jamie Oliver visited to film for his book and Channel 4 series ‘Jamie’s Great Britain’.  Culinary king Jamie and his 22 strong crew spent five nights at West Yorkshire’s leading hotel in 2011 and happily the sun shone all week long, showing Yorkshire at its beautiful best.

Watch the show here

John and Ringo Slept in My Bed...in 1964

It may be half a century since the Fab Four checked in at Holdsworth House but the event remains just as memorable today as back then.

Between 1963 and 1965, The Beatles undertook six amazing UK tours and among the fans was Gail Moss, co-owner of Holdsworth House. The day The Beatles came to stay is an occasion that Gail will never forget. The beautiful old Yorkshire manor house hotel was owned by Gail’s late parents Freddie and Rita Pearson and was formerly known as The Cavalier Country Club. The Pearsons’ good family friend just happened to be Stanley Corbett, the Beatles’ road manager.

“They had been playing at the Gaumont Theatre in Bradford and they needed a place to stay,” recalls Gail, who was 14 at the time. “My father told me a couple of days before they arrived that they were coming and I think it was probably the hardest secret I have ever had to keep,” she laughs.

The night in question was Friday, October 9, 1964 – John Lennon’s 24th birthday – and Gail recalls how it was around 11pm when the four Liverpool lads arrived after a bit of a diversion and the help of a police escort to keep their destination a secret – a plan that worked.

The original restaurant bill reveals that they tucked into prawn cocktail, melon, smoked trout and turtle soup, followed by steaks and duckling. Including the chauffeur’s dinner, the entire bill came to £17 6s (£17.30) – more than a week’s wages at the time.  The bar bill, including whiskies, stouts and pints of Whitbread, came to £2 15s (£2.75) but it was only Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr who unwound in the bar until 1am – John Lennon had a toothache and went to bed early.

Because the business was just a country club and not a hotel, the Pearsons had to find beds for their visitors. “They actually ended up using ours.” says Gail. “John and Ringo slept in what was mine and my sister’s room and Paul and George slept in my parents’ bedroom. I remember we had set up for them to have breakfast the following morning and they didn’t come down. I was walking up and down the corridor waiting. Eventually my mother grabbed me by the hand, knocked on the bedroom door where Paul and George were sleeping and pushed me inside saying ‘My daughter has been waiting all morning to see you’ she said and left me there. I don’t know how she dared.”

Gail adds that George offered her a cigarette “which I refused” and asked if the old house was haunted. We’d been to Ibiza on holiday and I was chatting to Paul about that.

Kim Pearson, Gail’s sister was just eight at the time and admits the visit was “a little over my head”. “I was very shy and remember not wanting to meet them so I hid in the ladies’ cloakroom under a dressing table. All of a sudden this hand came through the curtains, a hand with rings on practically every finger. It was Ringo and he just said ‘come out and meet the lads’.”

Because it had been Lennon’s birthday the girls gave him a Cavalier Country Club tie. “I don’t know if he ever wore it but he did remember the visit because he sent us a copy of his book In His Own Write.

Once news of the visit became public, the Pearson family was inundated with requests for souvenirs. “We still have the brass bedsteads which were on the beds they slept in and at one time the little gold knobs on the top used to disappear from time to time,” says Gail. 

Written by Virginia Mason for The Halifax Courier.

Nothing So British As Afternoon Tea

"If your are cold, tea will warm you;
If you are too heated, it will cool you;
If you are depressed, it will cheer you;
If you are exhausted,it will calm you."

Here's a man who liked his tea. We're sure 19th Century Prime Minister William Gladstone, who quoted the above, would have given his approval of the afternoon tea served at Holdsworth House. For 50 years the historic hotel in Halifax has been serving up traditional afternoon tea on a collection of silver tiered cake stands. 

Afternoon tea is one of those things that never really goes out of fashion, but more recently the platters are an increasingly regular sighting and have even made it onto the wedding menus of many Yorkshire brides.

Not to be confused with cream tea, afternoon tea is a filling selection of sandwiches, elegantly cut into slender fingers, homemade cakes, pastries and fancies and the best homemade scones, jam and clotted cream that you can muster up.

Introduced in Britain in the 1840s afternoon tea was the meal that bridged the gap between lunch and dinner, which might not be eaten until 8pm onwards. It became popular amongst society ladies especially, as a way of gathering socially and entertaining guests.

Since 1963 Holdsworth House has been rocking the afternoon world with its stunning version, using an eclectic collection of vintage crockery to add a wonderful charm and elegance to this grand affair. Everything is home baked and created with precision and attention to detail - just as the Victorians would have wanted.

Today you don't need to don a dinner jacket or gloves. Smart casual is the attire of choice.

We have a choice of two afternoon teas - the traditional afternoon tea and the new 3 Kings Christmas Afternoon Tea with some delicious seasonal spices and fruits hitting all the right notes.

If you're wondering about what to buy friends and relations for Christmas, then afternoon tea really is the classy gift to give this year. At Holdsworth House tea for two is from £25.50.

You can buy the afternoon tea for two experience as a gift voucher. Valid for 1 year from the date of purchase.

Under the Duvet, the sequel to Between the Sheets

Who needs Fifty Shades of Grey to give you a good night's sleep when our guests are having the most peaceful slumber in our beds?  If you read our previous blog Between the Sheets - and many of you did - you'll know that so many of our guests comment on what was the best night's sleep of their life.


Well, the praise continues to stream in from guests, including this lady who is putting her order in direct from the manufacturers...

Hello,
We held our daughters wedding at Holdsworth House in April 2012 and, along with many of our guests, stayed overnight. I have been meaning to contact you ever since about how comfortable the beds were. A lot of our guests said the same and I noticed that you had very thick mattress toppers on the beds. Can you tell us which brand they are and what type they are? I would like to buy one for myself. We were in room 8 if that helps. Thank you.

Regards,
Name and address supplied.

So for everyone wanting to know where we get our super mattress toppers from, here's the info. We buy in bulk of course from Mitre Linen, but if you contact them they may tell you where to buy one direct.

"Very comfortable mattress topper with a polyester filling and a polyester cotton cover. Attaches to the mattress via elastic straps at each corner. Weight 800gsm."