Tag Archive for: winter

Winter is most definitely on its way, but if you are a hotelier the show must go on. So how can you prepare your hotel for winter? 

According to Eurostat: Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy and Austria were the most popular EU destinations for EU tourists travelling outside their own country in the 2018-2019 winter season. 

So if you haven’t already, it’s time to prepare your hotel for the winter months to ensure your business is running smoothly during this season.

Extra Exterior/ Interior Effort

Cold weather generally keeps travellers indoors for longer periods of the time, so make sure your business is a visual delight for the festive season. Play around with wreaths, dry scented fruit and even pine cones. You can even explore outside of seasonal foliage on hand by garnishing your rooms with artificial plants

No watering …no problem!

Yes,  it may be cold, but there are plenty of ways to bring the cosy to your outdoor space.  Consider adding external heating, you can even explore a cosy fire pit. Couple this with super warm blankets, ambient lighting and voile!  A perfect space to drink your mulled wine underneath the stars.

Stockpile 

Floresy prepare hotel for winter toiletries

Bad weather can ultimately lead to issues on the road. And that can lead to delayed or cancelled deliveries to your hotel. You don’t want to be caught out, so it’s time to put your forward-thinking, preparational hat on. 

Over the weeks start to stockpile:

  • Toiletries 
  • Linens 
  • Stationary
  • Food 
  • Shovels 
  • Rock salt 

And in case of a power outage:

  • Torches 
  • Batteries

Keeping a stash of inexpensive umbrellas for the guests can also be a nice touch. 

Safety First

Flooring should be one of your top considerations for many reasons. The carpeting inside public spaces are a heavy expense and need to be maintained as customers trudge snow and mud inside and out.  A non-carpeted or tiled floor can be a slippering accident waiting to happen. Lay down heavy-duty rubber mats with large grooves in them at the entrance to catch the moisture and salt before it’s brought into the hotel. In addition, place longer walk-off mats at some of the entrances to ensure guests can wipe off slush, snow and salt.

Utility Check 

Floresy prepare hotel for winter - utility check

If your utility providers have not contacted you to carry out their checks – then it’s time to contact them. Especially in terms of heating facilities like boilers and thermostats. It’s especially great to take advantage of these visits if your utility contract includes a free maintenance check and if it doesn’t, it may be time to revisit your utility contract. 

On top of this, consider the preventative measures you can take to ensure guests have a delightful mid-winter stay free from disruption. For example gutter cleaning, checking for drafty windows. As the for the exterior, do your lightbulbs need replacing and it might be time for car parking and pavement repairs. 

Change to the Food and Beverage Menu 

It’s the moment you have all been waiting for… Your team have been busy developing an exciting menu with tastes and colours to comfort and brighten the darker days of winter.  Time to release your new hearty winter menu!

Winter can be magical as long as you are prepared. 

It is imperative that you are operationally running during this season as it’s a competitive market out there. So make sure you don’t lose your customers to another hotel around the corner because you weren’t prepared.

Planning now will help ensure that you and your guests experience a great cold-weather travel season without a hitch.

Christmas 2018 is nearly upon us, again, despite it only being a year since the last one. Let’s look at the artificial Christmas trees and plants that Floresy has to offer:

Poinsettia

Artificial Poinsettia Red White

Artificial Christmas Poinsettia Plants

The Poinsettia is a popular Christmas ‘flower’ prized for its deep green leaves and bright red bracts. The bracts aren’t true flowers but instead leaves that turn red (or orange, pink or white depending on the variety).

The plant is originally from Mexico where it also began its association with Christmas. Legend has it that a young girl too poor to buy a gift for Jesus’s birthday picked plants from the roadside instead. The bright red blossoms sprouted from the weeds when displayed on the Church’s alter and – bingo – Poinsettias were created.

In the US, 12th December is National Poinsettia Day.

Floresy’s artificial poinsettias come in either white or red colours.

 

Advent Crown

Conifers Artificial Advent Wreath

Conifers Advent Wreath Artificial Plant

The Advent Wreath or Advent Crown is a Christian tradition that represents the four weeks of Advent.

A circular wreath made from evergreen plants symbolises the Christian god’s love and eternity. One of the candles is lit on each Sunday of the four weeks of advent. Different Christian sects may use different colours of candles to match the vestments of their priests such as blue, red, violet or rose.

Sometimes, people will add a fifth candle to the advent wreath and light it on Christmas Day.

The advent wreath was made famous on the British children’s TV program, Blue Peter. The presenters made a wreath using wire coat hangers and tinsel.

Floresy’s artificial advent wreath uses conifer branches.

Artificial Christmas Wreath

Artificial Christmas Wreath Arrangement

Christmas Wreath Artificial

People have been using assortments of flowers, leaves, twigs and fruits to form rings for centuries. Wreaths are often used as decoration but people may also wear them on their heads or around their necks.

Politicians of the ancient Greco-roman world would wear laurel wreaths on their heads to represent their rank or occupation, such as a politician. Farming communities would make harvest wreaths from the leftover straw from their grain bounty.

The Christmas wreath is made using evergreen foliage and is decorated with twigs, berries or pine cones associated with winter. It has its roots in Pagan religions but has become a popular decorative addition at Christmas time too.

The artificial Christmas wreath from Floresy includes pine cones and a mixture of evergreen conifer and spruce fronds.

Potted Spruce

artificial spruce Christmas tree

Artificial spruce tree in a pot

It’s the classic Christmas tree we all know and love.

Spruce trees are members of the same family as firs and pine trees. They come from northern temperate regions of the planet. They are evergreen trees that have needles instead of leaves. Conifers, the family of trees that spruces belong to, have been growing on earth since the early Carboniferous period, which is about 300 million years ago.

The oldest living tree is believed to be a Norway spruce that is thought to be 9550 years old!

Spruce trees sometimes grow up to 60m in height. So you’ll be glad to know that Floresy’s artificial spruce trees are available in more manageable 145cm, 160cm and 180cm sizes.

Silver Winter Tree

artificial silver tree with no leaves

Artificial silver tree

If you’re looking for an alternative look for your Christmas display, why not consider this silver artificial tree? Resembling a deciduous tree in deep winter, these trees have no leaves and their bare branches are silver in colour. 

Their shimmer is a perfect addition to a winter wonderland scene but likewise, those barren branches would make for a dramatic festive look.

In the 1950s, silver Christmas trees made from aluminium gained popularity. It’s dramatically artificial look matched the era of innovation, atomic power and the dawning of the space-age. But they came to represent the over-commercialisation of Christmas and had lost their appeal by 1965.

Now, these retro trees are collector’s items and museum exhibits. Despite their bad-taste design, they are cultural icons of the hopeful and positive spirit of the 1950s.

Snow Tree

snow tree xmas

snow tree, green and snow

Floresy’s snow tree is a ready-to-display artificial Christmas tree that comes complete with lights. The thick branches covered with glossy green needles are decorated to simulate the snow-covered fronds of a forest in winter.

The tradition of bringing an evergreen branch indoors for a winter festival goes back for thousands of years. Most pagan or pre-Christian rituals would use branches or fronds of evergreen foliage fashioned into wreaths. Christianity popularised the tree tradition, most likely alongside the already accepted the pagan customs.

Prince Albert introduced the Christmas Tree tradition to the UK during Queen Victoria’s reign. Decorating trees at Christmas time had grown in fashion among the European nobles during the early 19th century. 

Before plastic tinsel and baubles, people would decorate their trees using fruits and paper flowers.

Check out Florey’s complete range of artificial Christmas trees and plants.