One local hotel is reporting a record breaking, recession busting month for April. The award winning Maynard hotel and restaurant has never been busier, welcoming many new customers through its doors and reporting a fully booked restaurant and accommodation, together with a growing list of weddings and enquiries for new weddings.
While the management of the hotel is delighted with the levels of interest being expressed in The Maynard, the debate is underway to identify what has led to this sudden, welcome increase in demand.
“Given the run of Bank Holidays, a Royal Wedding and a recession, we were braced for April being a quiet month, so to be so very busy is a wonderful surprise,” said Maynard director Jane Hitchman. “The fine weather helped a bit, but doesn’t really explain the upsurge in numbers, as the vast majority of hotel and restaurant guests booked in advance. It was nice to see lots of new customers too and we are all hoping this trend will continue into the summer and beyond.”
The record breaking figures were helped along by Easter Sunday and Mother’s day being fully booked up well in advance this year, to such an extent that the bad news had to be broken to some prospective customers that the hotel was fully booked weeks in advance.
The Maynard has always been regarded as one of the region’s favourite wedding venues, with a stunning location in Grindleford combined with real value; the number of wedding enquiries and receptions hosted continue to run at record levels, even when compared to 2010, which was the last record breaking year – already looking to be overtaken by 2011’s figures.
“I think our record breaking numbers reflect the recession, but perhaps not in the way we or others might have imagined,” explained Jane. “People are watching the pennies, but we have always had a reputation for delivering quality at an extremely competitive price, so when people want a special meal out, or a break away, people see The Maynard as a fantastic treat at a price that will not break the bank.
“The same is true of our wedding packages,” added Jane. “We recognised some time ago that many people would be unable to afford the GBP18,000 that the average UK wedding costs, but would still be looking to get married in a great location, without compromising on quality. We have a range of packages to suit every budget, including midweek weddings from just GBP4,000. This has proved a really popular approach to weddings and continues to receive a great deal of interest.”
The Royal Wedding weekend in particular saw an amazing number of wedding enquiries coming through to The Maynard, with a record breaking number of enquiries on the Friday alone – demonstrating that the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was good news for many in the weddings business.
As half term and the May Day bank holiday approaches, hopes are high that this great start to the summer for all aspects of the business will continue in the same vein. “My advice to people looking to try The Maynard, be it for lunch, a weekend stay or a wedding would be to give us a call early to avoid any disappointment. The signs are there that our record breaking run will continue into the summer and while people are always welcome to pop in unannounced, a call to secure your date makes sound advice at the moment,” concluded Jane.
