Our wonderful holiday is almost over so we made the most of it by going to the beach after breakfast….
During breakfast we were agreeably surprised to see the person we have presumed to be the breakfast floor manager actually smile at a guest and we saw him take coffee cups to tables and pour coffee…..for once he wasn’t scowling and barking orders at staff….perhaps it was because the lovely Executive chef was on the floor doing the rounds or perhaps it was because he realised he stood out like a soar thumb and was trying to fit in with the wonderful ethos of the rest of the staff at this hotel….with this one exception every member of staff has been helpful, obliging, friendly, smiling and always goes the extra mile to make certain the attention to detail is perfect.
The beach seemed fuller than usual, perhaps because it’s a weekend. We found a couple of loungers near the fruit bat tree…..
We went for a swim straight away….it was once again as still as a sheet of glass, warm enough for bath water and extremely pleasant…
On getting out I spied the “Looky-Looky” man who had promised to make me 2 more elasticated shell ankle bracelets, the day before…alas he had failed to provide….
We lounged on the sun-beds for a couple of hours. Eventually I stirred myself into writing the day before blog. I spied another “Looky-Looky” man and realised he was the original man I had brought ankle bracelets from….so I gave him a shout and nearly scared John to death-he was snoozing….Yes!!! My man had 2 more anklelets and I also brought a necklace from him…the deal was struck ….
Another dip in the sea saw us late into the afternoon.
We wandered back up to our room, packed a suitcase and had a rest. We both walked out and took some sunset shots…..as the sun disappeared behind some cloud….
On our way out for supper we stopped to ask if we could pay for late departure from our room, but alas our room was booked the next day so we would need to be out by 12.00, midday.
Our lovely friendly buggy driver, Sanjeev, appeared from no where and drove us to Anno 1743 & Distillery
We had gone early so we could have a drink in the atmospheric Distillery.
Rhubesh, the manager, was there to greet us and escort us to the Distillery. He then went to a great deal of trouble to make us the most delightful mocktail…..
The flute tops were ringed with finely chopped flowers and pomegranate seeds, a sprig of thyme added fragrance and flavour to the lychee juice with grenadine and sprite……absolutely beautiful tastes which made your mouth explode with flavours…..
Needless to say it didn’t stay in the glass long.
After savouring our mocktails Rhubesh took us to a beautifully dressed table ….
We both had the stuffed pepper amuse-bouche.
John selected a goats cheese salad to start with..
…and we both had Smile mocktails
We had fillet steak for our main course and Rhubesh spoilt us, or perhaps it was Marday, the chef, because we had 2 king prawns on top of the steak….
It was absolutely delicious, I was embarrassed that I could only manage one piece of the fillet…it was again ginormous…Marday came to check it had been ok and I explained it was perfection on a plate but in England fillet steak is a treat and we are not used to 2 large pieces of fillet….he laughed and we learnt he had visited England and stayed with his cousin at Clapham Junction….
We ordered a dessert of ice cream…. The restaurant was fairly busy and both Rhubesh and Marday worked the floor, making certain everyone was happy with their meal, service, drinks etc…..
We paid our bill which was less than £25 more than our allowance and we bid Rhubesh a very fond farewell…..what a wonderful person he is…he made us feel like royalty. We wish him much success and happiness in the hospitality business he is so passionate about. He certainly enhanced our holiday, making it a very joyful experience.
We waited outside for our buggy ride, the moon was bright and the old mill once again looked very atmospheric ..
A great end to our holiday…..tomorrow homeward bound,,
