Latest News
SUMMER 2010
It has been a starry season here at Chase Lodge. We were very proud to accommodate some truly VIP celebrities. No, not Lord Lloyd Webber but the five dogs competing to be Toto in The Wizard of Oz. It was a privilege to be chosen as the first choice accommodation for the BBC’s hit show, Over The Rainbow.
 Dave and Rachel |
 Eddie and Lucie |
 Missy and Anna |
 Spider and Lucy |
 Troy and Jackie |
 Missy putting in an appearance for her fans. |
Yvonne, our wonderful breakfast lady, with all of the Toto’s. Yvonne is loved by all our guests, dogs and humans.
We’ve always been praised as a dog friendly hotel but to have some of the worlds cutest pooches staying here simply brought the place to life. Anyone who cares for a dog is by nature, a decent person and the five owners proved that to a tee. We would also like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the production staff for such kind words and beautiful flowers.
The fact that Dame Judy Dench was also starring in A Midsummer Nights Dream, at our local theatre, meant that we were inundated with enquiries. We could have filled our small hotel ten times over and that’s before My Fair Lady opens in nearby Wimbledon. The lucky few who did manage to get tickets to see our favourite Dame included guests who came all the way from America just to see the show, then flew back after the standing ovation. That our neighbourhood theatre, The Rose, can attract such a worldwide audience is a testament to the quality of shows that they produce.
The play received rave reviews as did we on the internet. Here is one write-up our hotel received from a wonderful lady in Montreal:
“Shakespeare holiday/birthday present took me to this Victorian boutique hotel. Minutes from the train to Waterloo (1/2 hr. ride) and on foot from the Rose Theatre, this gem is clean with very comfortable beds, new bathrooms and spacious double rooms. The 4-day stay was smooth and Robert and Denise were kind, warm and personable making this surprise holiday a permanent and glorious memory. Walk and walk and walk.. over the bridge to Kingston or to Hampton Court, or bus it conveniently to Richmond or Heathrow (45 mins., 2 GBP), I recommend this gem without reservation”.
We would like to thank all our guests who left us such wonderful feedback. Here’s another review from two of our oldest guests (that’s time of stay not physical age!):
“When coming to London, my mum and I have stayed at Chase Lodge for nearly 15 years now. From the very first time that we stayed, we have always found the staff to be warm and friendly, polite and respectful, and extremely helpful and professional making our time there memorable for all the right reasons. We have consistently found that all levels of service provided are of the highest calibre. It is also refreshing these days to still find the more traditionally-styled accommodation with a wealth of character and more intimate atmosphere, unlike the tower-block hotels which seem lifeless in comparison. Our stays at Chase Lodge have been warming and rewarding, not simply functional, as a result. If you are looking for accommodation in the area, I would strongly recommend that you give it a try - top marks from me and mum!”
 Chase Lodge in full bloom |
 Bushy Park in the snow |
Spring brought an unexpected bout of cold weather. When staff at the Teddington Memorial Hospital were completely snowed in, local businesses helped out. For our part, we were delighted to offer the stranded nurses the use of our rooms free of charge and would not hesitate to offer this again, at any time.
We had many visitors from one of our favoured charities, The Downs Syndrome Association. In honour of their work, we are donating £1,000 worth of free accommodation to their members this year and every year. It is always a pleasure to meet them.
 Photo by Fiona Field |
 Illustration by Lester Magoogan (who has Downs Syndrome) |
We were particularly impressed by one guest from Downs Syndrome Association who could play 8 instruments! (when we can’t play any). He was part of an amazing Royal Performance with the most beautiful sets.
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Our summer season begins with Wimbledon Tennis just around the corner. The tennis should be particularly passionate this year with our British Number One, Andy Murray, standing a real chance of reaching the final. We shall be cheering him on, between strawberries.
Our busiest event is always the Hampton Court Flower Show and this year promises to be more fragrant than ever. We’re just one minute away from Bushy Park where you can either walk to the Palace (20 minutes) or catch one of the many riverboats (a glorious half hour of beautiful scenery on the River Thames). We often wonder what the Bushy Park deer think of our guests who return through the park carrying huge rubber plants.
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At the time of writing the bluebells are out at nearby Kew Gardens, transforming the ground into a carpet of heliotrope. There is a potent smell of jasmine in the air and the Maids of Honour tea rooms is selling cakes like… hot cakes.
Kew Gardens
We would like to congratulate one of our favourite guests, Balou, on winning a rally. Balou is the gorgeous brown dog on the left.
As ever, we’ve been renovating the hotel and have installed flat screen TV’s in every room. Though these are now ubiquitous to us, it’s like being at the cinema. Call us old fashioned, I know. It is always a delicate balancing act to keep pace with technology (free wi-fi and the like) while preserving the character of our 19th Century building.
We recently had our hotel analysed by a Feng Shui expert who ensured that our whole building had positive energies. Though the evidence of this is almost unnoticeable, guests often say how happy that they feel here. None more so than the blushing brides at our regular wedding receptions.
All our staff have been frequenting the village’s newest restaurant, Il Fiume (think lobster soup!). As if Jamie’s Italian wasn’t tempting enough. It looks like we’ll be spending the rest of the summer going to the gym!
Finally, congratulations to our administrator Robert who writes plays in his spare time. His adaptation of Ernest Hemmingway’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel won the Angel Award at this year’s Brighton Festival. It has received rave reviews and was a complete sell-out. Well done Rob!
Janaury 2010
Welcome to our very first Chase Lodge newsletter. First of all, Happy New Year, we’re looking forward to a whole new decade and all the wonderful things that may bring.
Last year, we had a lot of our regular customers come to stay and we were delighted to see each and every one of them (we’re also keen to see new customers too). It seems amazing that we have been here for 25 years with our anniversary coming up on March 21st - 25 years, oops! how did that happen?
As usual there have been many moving stories too numerous to list but there are a few that deserve a special mention:
As you probably know, we host many wedding receptions here so it seems unusual to mention one that happened in Miami Beach – but doesn’t our friend Gillian look beautiful in her wedding dress? Huge congratulations to Barbera, Alan, Gillian, Alex, Sammy and the whole family. We look forward to seeing you again and sharing the experience.
As usual, everybody cried at our christenings, including the staff. We’ll be breaking the tissues out this year too.
We were all very excited when Lenny Henry and Barry Rutter booked to stay here during their production Othello at the Rose Theatre (though Lenny ended up staying at his wife’s house instead, which we would too if were married to the lovely Dawn French). It was a terrific production, both men were great and it’s no wonder that it transferred straight to the West End.
Huge congratulations to our favourite Thai restaurant up the road. They beat of massive competition to win the Best Thai Restaurant in Britain award on Gordon Ramsay’s F-Word. And so they should, their spicy cinnamon quail is amazing.
Our Christmas lights drew in quite a few children, thinking we were Santa’s grotto.
Last but definitely not least, we were very privileged to help our friend Yvonne, in a very modest way, in her fight against breast cancer. We can now report that she has fully recovered and has come to work with us.
That’s it! Kind thoughts to you all.
Denise, Robert and all the staff at the Chase Lodge Hotel.