What do your customers see when they look out of the window or step outside your premises? Are they greeted by picturesque countryside rolling away into the distance? Or is it a historic cityscape that captures their attention? Whatever it is, your view could win you £1,000 and the accolade "best hospitality outlook in Britain".
This year Caterer & Hotelkeeper, in association with withaview.com, sets out to find the best view in the UK as seen from a hotel, restaurant or hospitality establishment. It doesn't matter whether you own or work in a five-star hotel or a farmhouse bed and breakfast, a Michelin-starred restaurant or a village inn; the outlook your customers enjoy can be equally attractive or interesting.
And we want to share that customer experience. All we are asking is for readers to submit photographs of what their customers see when they look outside. You can send your entries by post to Caterer or you can submit images by e-mail to withaview.com (see entry panel).
Every month, we will publish the best of the entries received so far and at the end of the year a panel of celebrity judges will select a shortlist of entries, which will be published in Caterer. We will then ask readers to vote for their favourite vista.
You can send in as many entries as you like during the year, as views may change with the seasons or even at different times of the day. Why not start now with a crisp winter shot? Take a look outside, dust down your box brownie camera and get snapping. Just remember, we are not asking for a picture of your premises, just what is seen from it. We want to see what your customers see.
PRIZE
The overall winner will receive a cheque for £1,000 and a special trophy, which will be presented in London at the end of the year. An artist will also be commissioned to paint the winning view and the painting presented to the establishment in question. In addition, each of the shortlisted entries will receive a high-powered, tripod-based telescope to help customers enjoy the view. And each establishment submitting a view will be included on the withaview.com Web site.
RULES
- Each entry must include at least one colour photograph of the view seen from the competing establishment. This may be submitted in any format - print, transparency or digital. Different versions of the same view may be submitted but this will be considered as one entry.
- Entries must be submitted by post to Caterer & Hotelkeeper, View with a Room competition, Reed Business Information, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS. Alternatively, entries may be submitted using the appropriate module at withaview.com, which may be accessed through www.caterer.com. The password "greatview" will allow you to log on free of charge.
- All entries must be received before 31 October 2003.
- Employees of withaview.com, Reed Business Information, Marketforce, Hogg Robinson and its trading agents and relatives of employees of the same companies are not eligible for entry.
- Entry to the competition is free of charge and no purchase of Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine or associated products is necessary. Photocopies of the entry form are permitted.
- There is no alternative to the cash prize.
- Winners will be notified in writing and the names of the shortlisted entries and the overall winner's name will be published in Caterer & Hotelkeeper.
- The judges' decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
WITHAVIEW.COM
Withaview.com is an independent Web site that allows potential customers to search for hotels, restaurants, residential or commercial properties on the basis of outstanding views.
Most travel-related Web sites deal with discount pricing, late bargains or last-minute arrangements by serving as either an electronic clearing house or an online replica of existing brochures or guides. In addition, the present star-rating system for hotels guarantees the quality of rooms but not what's beyond the curtains.
In this site, customers can put an establishment's view at the top of their requirements and, as each establishment that uses Withaview.com controls its own entry on the site, it is generally kept up to date and appropriate. And the site is fun and easy to navigate.
For more information, contact Withaview.com, 88A Bradbrook House, Studio Place, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 8EL; tel: 0207 235 7404; fax: 0207 235 3246; e-mail: info@withaview.com
This competition is sponsored by
Visual One Systems