Freedom comes to the West Midlands soon with the announcement of a lifting of lockdown restrictions starting next month. And working on a local plan for people in the area and visitors is Daniel Goodby the General Manager at Stratford Manor, who from tomorrow will be actioning an 80 day countdown to ‘Freeday’ May 17.

Boris Johnson’s announcement this week detailing the re-opening of golf courses from March 29, Spa and Leisure facilities from April 12th and a chance to leave home and stay in a hotel overnight from May 17 means that the hotel can finally put their plans in place.It is a task worthy of a major military operation:

To get ready for guests’ arrivals across the QHotels Group, housekeeping staff will be deployed to complete 88,170 minutes of cleaning bedrooms with 11,756 pillows to be fluffed.

The maintenance team will furiously busy themselves prepping leisure facilities with 58,422 yards of golf course lawn to mow and 298 meters of pool to clean until sparkling.

Meetings will be welcomed back with 250 meeting rooms to prep, and happy couples will be able to celebrate their postponed nuptials, with the group preparing for 212 summer wedding celebrations. There are 2,100 Moët & Chandon bottles waiting to be popped in celebration, and 45,800 new seasonal menus to be ordered for delicious afternoon teas and mealtimes.

QHotels Group are preparing right down to the last detail, with 21 check-in bells to polish – ready for the joyous arrival of the first overnight guests on 17 May.  “The demand is going to be huge,” said Daniel. “We are expecting the biggest number of guests, probably ever, as people breathe the sigh of relief after lockdown and plan a “going out”, pampering sessions, leisure breaks, overnights and weekends away like never before. So we need to be ready.”

The QHotels Group have been planning for this time for over six months so the scale of the re-opening operation doesn’t phase them. Even though hotels in the group have been open for essential stays for key workers throughout the pandemic, the task is still immense. “There are huge challenges in re-opening a hotel. Most don’t realise the enormity of the task, but thousands of staff across the group have been rehearsing for this moment for some time and we have already swung in to action,” he said.     

Already the phones are ringing at the 21 hotels that the group manage and bookings, especially in the West Midlands, are higher than anticipated and way above the normal for this time of year. “We have seen a huge surge in bookings already and a bigger take up than ever for that first week of “unlock,” said Daniel.  “Not only is this due to the freedom break but our special Great British Breakaway deals are also proving irresistible,” he said.

The QHotels Group promise also ensures that dates can be moved and refunds given in full if for some reason bookings can’t go ahead. So no reason not to take advantage of these “not to be repeated” early freedom offers.

Guests can be assured of their safety during their visit and stays as all hotels in the QHotels Group have been accredited by Shield Safety Group as part of the group’s Clean + Safe programme. This provides staff, customers and suppliers with the confidence that all hotels have been fully assessed for safety measures. The government have spoken and the Great British Public have absolutely responded – Freedom is here at last.