The Gellert Hotel Spa is renowned as the ultimate spa destination in Hungary. Here’s a first hand account of the Gellert experience.
Gellert Hotel Spa
While in Budapest, everyone kept saying I hadn’t experience Hungary until I had a spa. According to my newfound friends, “a spa” meant the Gellert Hotel Spa.
Being a macho American male, I dragged an American girl I met on the train with me to the spa. The purported purpose, of course, was chivalry and introducing her to an experience she would never forget. After paying $2 each, my bluff was called. Women and men were separated for the treatments. I was alone and didn’t speak a word of the language!
Once separated, I was sent into a large room with what appeared to be a few hundred dressing rooms. An attendant looked up from a desk, said something in Hungarian, slapped a piece of cloth in my hand and pointed to a dressing room.
In the dressing room, I prepared to change only to realize the cloth was no more than a string and a 2 x 2 inch square of cotton. For those anatomically challenged, the string went around your waste and the cloth hung in front. At this point, there was only one thing to do. Chant the traveler mantra, “Ah, what the heck. I’ll never see any of these people again.”
Outside the dressing room, I proceeded to immediately stand around, try to look casual and see what the locals were doing. This was a bit difficult as I was the only person in the room. Eventually a local showed up, changed and headed down a hall. I followed and hoped he didn’t notice.
At the end of the hall, we walked through two giant pools. The walls were painted in baroque styles, the steps into the pools were marble and the whole place was impressive. I nearly let my loincloth slide up.
After the pools, we approached a room that looked remarkably more industrial. There was a line out the door and I dutifully joined it behind my guide. After a few moments, we rounded the door and I saw something I did not expect. Eight loincloth clad men like myself were lying on metal tables. Large male masseuses were standing over them. They would slap them about, spray them with garden hoses, slap them about and repeat as necessary. This wasn’t the massage I was anticipating, but I sure as heck wasn’t getting out of line. That would be to embarrassing!
After a few moments, it was my turn to jump up on a table. My “masseuse” looked at me and said, “Americanski?” I nodded. He grinned. And the beating began. A Hungarian/Turkish massage reminded me of the movie “Rocky.” In Rocky, the lead character pounds on sides of meat to get ready for his fight. In the case of the massage, I was the side of meat. It didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t exactly relaxing.
After a few moments of tenderizing, I was lifted off the table and sent flying through the air. As time slowly passed, I noted this hadn’t happened to any of the men who went before me. I also noted the limestone and marble material used in the walls. Just as I started panicking, I splashed down into a pool to the sound of laughter. While I was trying to decide if I should laugh or be enraged, my body started sending its own signals. I was in a pool of what had to be the coldest water on the planet earth. I am talking Antarctica kind of cold.
Leaping out of the pool, the men in the room gave me a standing ovation accompanied by hunched over, gasping laughter. Now I knew Hungary.
Well, when in Rome…err, Budapest.
Rick Chapo is with www.nomadjournals.com – makers of travel journals. Writing journals are great travel accessories and travel gifts for him or her. Visit www.nomadjournaltrips.com for more travel articles.
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A fantastic lounge lizard recipe for: Boardwalk Breeze, with Malibu® coconut rum, amaretto almond liqueur, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine syrup.
Category: Cocktails – Long drinks
Ingredients: 1 1/2 oz Malibu® coconut rum
1 1/2 oz amaretto almond liqueur
1 part orange juice
1 part pineapple juice
1 dash grenadine syrup
How to: Shake and strain ingredients into a hurricane glass.
Glassware: Hurricane Glass
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A fantastic lounge lizard recipe for: Arctic Fish, with vodka, Surge® citrus soda, orange juice and candies.
Category: Punches – vodka
Ingredients: 1/3 part vodka
1/3 part Surge® citrus soda
1/3 part orange juice
1 dash candies
How to: Fill a glass with ice and candy fish, add vodka, grape soda and orange juice. Do not stir, but serve well chilled.
Glassware: Beer Pilsner
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The key to building a successful business online or offline is to look for an exsisting market that needs something you can offer them. Find the problem FIRST before you start trying to find the solution.
Some of the things you would do before deciding to go online is to:
BRAINSTORM A LIST OF POSSIBLE MARKETS
For example, if one of your interests is scrapbooking, you need to identify markets that relate to scrapbooking. These could be artists, painters, people who own art stores etc. Or, if your a gardener, you will need to look at areas related to gardening – landscapers or casual gardeners.
Once you have brainstormed a list of general markets for one of your five interests do the same for the other four.
GET STARTED WITH SEARCH ENGINES
In order to search for the right information for you make sure you enter in a keyword phrase eg scrapbooking tools. The results you get for the keywords will give you lots of interesting sites, make a list of them and take notes of their products and what they offer for them. All this information will help you further sown the road.
CHECK OUT NEWS SITES AND EZINES
These tools can be a great resource on what’s happening in your particular market. News sites such as CNN.com or news.google.com are the most popular sites and they are frequently updated. You can also perform searches in these sites to discover information about a particular topic. Also be on the lookout for ezine sites that relate to your topic. They are a great way to check out issues that might be dominating your market.
Tamra Forde
Director of Marketing
Freedom Business Opportunity
http://www.freedombusinessopportunity.com
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Using humour in communication has risks. People may misinterpret what is being said, they may take offence at the joke or they may just not think that it was all that funny. There is no doubt, though, that using humour well can help to build rapport, relax people and show that you’re human. It can, also, help to de-fuse difficult situations
There are, I think, no specific rules of when and when not to use humour, it will depend upon the situation, the people present and most importantly, their mood or receptivity
The answers to these questions are a matter of personal judgement based upon circumstances at the time.
The use of humour in most situations, though, is not a rational logical process. You are more likely to respond instinctively to a given set of circumstances.
For this reason ‘observational’ humour or ‘word play’ is usually most effective because it is a response to what is happening at the present time and in which everyone is involved.
Jokes, on the other hand, tend to be ‘after the event’ and so are perfect for social situations. Even so, you still need to be careful to ensure that the jokes you are telling are suitable for the people present, otherwise you risk excluding someone or of offending them. This is increasingly the case in our modern multi-cultural society. A good communicator is able to express themselves sin ways that are good for anyone listening.
I have experienced subtle humour at a funeral and seen a sad occasion brightened by the laughter of everyone present. I’ve seen doomed business negotiations rescued by a funny comment that made everyone realise how ridiculous they were being.
It takes a certain type of person to be able to use humour effectively and, to be honest, not everyone can do it well. You probably know by now whether you’re witty or good at telling jokes. If not, it’s probably best to avoid it and to communicate more effectively in the ways that you can excel.
Ian Cooper
©Eyedeecee Management Ltd, 2005 – All rights reserved
Ian has extensive management experience gained through a career in financial services and as an independent management and training consultant. He formed his own consultancy to optimise his wide experience of general, sales, training & operational management whilst using his highly developed communication skills to train, coach & develop people toward high performance.
He writes learning support material and management texts upon which he bases a range of seminars aimed at increasing personal effectiveness. He takes a straightforward & practical approach, de-mystifying theory and bringing clarity of thought and sharp focus to meeting individual development needs.
Ian has an MSc degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from the Robert Gordon University Aberdeen. He is a member of numerous management & networking associations.
Ian lives with his wife in London, England and enjoys travel, walking, the theatre, photography/art, writing (on business and fictional subjects), good food/wine & malt whisky.
email: ian@eyedeecee.co.uk
website: http://www.eyedeece.co.uk
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Every month, an average of over 90 foodservice licenses are issued in every state. That’s over 4,500 new restaurants going into business every month across this country.
Do you have a restaurant space that you would like to fill with a quality tenant? Certainly there is no lack of tenants out there that would be interested in your site, so how do you go about finding the right tenant? This information was created specifically for Landlords who want to find the right tenant for their property.
When a prospective tenant is looking for a restaurant space, you as the prospective Landlord should know what they’re looking for, and in this order its; a lease they can afford, a site that fits their concept design wise, visible signage space, and parking. Everything beyond this is secondary.
Yes, the quality of the location is of vital importance, but the affordability of the site is paramount. Armed with this information, you should be able to present a sales package to your prospective tenant in terms that they can understand. If you can make the location financially easy to get into, that will give your prospective tenant the extra cash to commit to the other things related to getting the new restaurant off the ground.
In order to protect yourself from an unqualified tenant, there are many questions that you will want answers to. Set your expectations with the prospective tenant upon your first initial meeting. By doing this and listening closely to the answers, you can avoid a lot of potential pain for both of you.
Six factors that can help you select the right tenant:
#1. Create an interview checklist. You will want to cover a lot of ground with your new prospective tenant, and you’ll want to ask relevant questions. Depending on your unique situation, you may have legal restrictions placed on your ability to ask questions, so you will want to review your interview game plan with your legal advisor. This information is meant to be informative only and is not to be considered legal or accounting advice.
#2. Credit worthiness. Let the prospective tenant know that you care about their prompt payment history, and that you will expect them to personally be on the lease. Few restauranteurs will want to personally sign a lease, and it will be important to deal with this matter right up front. If the prospective tenant knows that their personal creditworthiness is of importance to you, you’ll cut right to the chase every time. Are you as a Landlord willing to lease to a company with little or no operating history? Perhaps if you have a space that has been vacant for a while you’d consider it, but you will want a significant amount of financial security up front.
#3. Background check. There’s an old saying that goes something like this, “What has happened in the past is indicative of what may happen in the future”. Your prospective tenant may have a background that may not be spotless. Only you can be the judge of what you are willing to toleratebut don’t forget that old saying. Background checks are inexpensive and can provide a lot of valuable information into the business dealings of your prospective tenant.
#4. Feasibility study. Has your prospective tenant had a feasibility study done or is one planned? This study will evaluate the chances of success of the new restaurant venture, by examining the location and facilities offered (such as: walk in coolers, delivery doors, restroom facilities, and power availability), concept, competition, niche market, financial opportunity, and the overall viability of the project. This study will give you and your tenant the security in knowing that the new restaurant may be the right concept in the right area. If the prospective tenant has not considered a study, and you like what you see from the Landlord perspective so far, you may wish to split the cost of a feasibility study with the tenant, or just pay for it yourself and bill the prospective tenant back over time. The findings are hard hitting, and factors that never may have been contemplated may be brought to light. Most importantly, the Feasibility Study will help identify and confirm the market niche that your prospective tenant is seeking to fill. This is of vital importance both to you and to your prospective tenant.
#5. Business plan. A restaurant business plan is focused on the menu, and everything revolves around it, including revenues, expenses, equipment, payroll projections and all of the other numbers and concepts that will go into a business plan. It is not realistic to think that your prospective tenant has a business plan yet, because the location issue is still unresolved, as it the seating count, and so many other variables. Want to surprise a quality prospective tenant with something great? Offer them a long term lease that includes a business plan that you are willing to pay for (and of course, include in the lease terms). This will set you apart as a caring Landlord who wants the very best for the tenant. Don’t you think this would be just the thing to close the deal? Think about how few Landlords are including a business plan with an executed lease, and you could end up being the Landlord of choice! One of the nice hidden factors in this equation is that as you have commissioned the business plan as the Landlord; don’t you now have the ability to give your input into the concept as a whole? Now, you are not only the Landlord, you have become somewhat of an informal business partner, allowing you a good view of what’s happening in your space without being surprised.
#6. Business team. A restaurant management team not only consists of the owner(s) and the managers, it’s those outside the day-to-day operation that provide advice, direction and counsel that play very key roles in the success of the new restaurant. Legal, accounting, and restaurant consultant all play unique roles and contribute to the profitability of the operation. Regardless of the experience of the prospective tenant, this team should be in place in the very early stages, and by the time this person is ready to start looking for space, it should be a red flag to you as the Landlord if this team is not together yet.
Norman Vincent Peale once said, “We tend to get what we expect”. Let’s begin expecting a quality tenant and put ourselves in a positive conducive to that goal by using these steps above. Stay focused on the goal of a long-term relationship with a profitable tenant.
If you would like additional information on Feasibility Studies, Business Plans, or other aspects of how a Restaurant Consultant can aid in adding value to your property, the author, Kevin Moll is President of Restaurant Consultants, Inc. and can be reached via his website at http://www.restaurantconsultantsinc.com or local Denver at 720-363-0164 or toll free at 1-800-961-6005.
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The continual record growth in the South Florida real estate industry has prompted SkyPan, an award-winning Chicago-based commercial aerial photography company to establish a permanent business presence in Miami. Mark Segal, SkyPan’s founder has announced that the company’s new Florida office will be located at 120 N.W. 25th Street, suite 204 in Miami. It will be the home base of one of SkyPan’s helicopters and will serve as a center of operations for all of the company’s Florida projects.
Since its inception in 1989, SkyPan has earned an excellent reputation through their revolutionary video and still camerawork onboard remote-controlled helicopters. Among SkyPan’s clients are many leading developers of high-rise buildings. The images SkyPan captures are used to enhance websites, advertising and marketing materials.
With the company’s five-foot helicopter hovering high above the future site of the building, SkyPan offers an alternative means to capturing images that are otherwise difficult and expensive to obtain. Segal can capture the panoramic aerial view at any pre-determined altitude or floor level with his patented technology, producing museum-quality photographic work. Finally, the speed and maneuverability of the helicopter make this approach to photography a superior alterative to a crane setup.
“We completed two exciting Miami projects in rapid succession, the Toscano Residences in Dadeland and Met3 in downtown Miami,” comments Segal recently, “The continuous growth of South Florida real estate translates into enormous potential for SkyPan.”
The list of SkyPan’s distinguished clients include: The Trump Organization, MDM Development, The Minto Communities, EDI and the Fifield Companies.
Nicole Lewis , Director of Media Relations for The Apple Organization.
Founded by the legendary Phyllis Apple nearly 30 years ago, The Apple Organization is a full-service public relations firm with a client roster of who’s who in the real estate and hospitality industry. The company is based in North Miami Beach and has grown to employ a full-time staff of 25 talented and diverse professionals. For further information, call The Apple Organization, 305-937-1581 or visit http://www.appleorg.com
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In my last article I told about a kid with ADHD symptoms who I was working with in my practice. I taught him to connect his love of hockey with doing science homework, which he was currently getting F’s in because he was bored. He used hockey cards and posters and music to do this and he ended up getting A’s in Science as a result.
That’s an example of someone with ADHD symptoms connecting something they love and something they’re not that excited about together to make it at least a semi-exciting experience.
Today, Stephanie Frank and I are going to going to talk about how to use sensory stimulation with Adult ADHD symptoms–using all five senses–to help focus the brain with Adult ADHD.
An example of this is when I have to do the dishes–something I find extremely boring. It’s hard for me to stand there for more than two minutes. My ADHD symptoms kick in and I wander off. So here’s what I do to stay focused when I do the dishes.
First I make myself a nice pot of coffee (ever noticed how people with Adult ADHD love coffee?). The second thing I do when I want to get a household chore done at high speed is, a technique I started using after we came up with this hockey idea for the kid with ADHD symptoms I was working with: except I use a different interest.
I’m a distance runner. I love running. So, I actually will get in my running clothes, shoes, shorts, and shirt, and do the dishes at high speed while dressed up like a runner. It’s kind of a funny sight, but it works. It works really well–and can work great for anyone Adult ADHD symptoms.
Stephanie Frank explains why this really works with Adult ADHD symptoms:
Stephanie: Let’s talk about why that works with Adult ADHD, Tellman. If you’re focusing on something, you’re probably doing it unconsciously. You’re not even aware of all the things that are happening. Let’s bring that up to the awareness level that people with Adult ADHD symptoms operate at.
The point is that when you want to focus, people with Adult ADHD symptoms have a brain, a body, a mind that works automatically in kind of a multi-tasking sort of a mode. People with Adult ADHD can accomplish many, many things at once, whereas most people without ADHD symptoms have to go from one thing to the next thing to the next thing.
Because you have Adult ADHD symptoms, you like to do lots of things at once. This is because when you sit down and you try to just focus on this one thing, what happens is your brain almost rebels. It shuts down. It gets to that point where it says, “Ugh. I’m so bored. There’s not enough stimulus. There’s nothing going on. I can’t just focus on this one thing because I have such a capacity to do more things.”
The basic premise for getting something done with Adult ADHD symptoms, especially when it’s something you don’t like to do, is very simple, and it’s this: you have to involve multiple senses. You have to involve all your senses.
Tellman said that he puts on a pot of coffee for the sense of smell. Of course, caffeine doesn’t hurt, right? So right there, you can smell the coffee. Then he puts on his running clothes. That’s kinesthetic. That’s feeling in your body. You could also light a candle. That could be a visual sense that doesn’t distract, or it could be a smell too.
You can play music. That is auditory. So, you’ve got your entire body, all your senses involved and being stimulated…and your ADHD symptoms are just soaking it up, actually helping you to focus more…did I get all the senses?
Tellman: Well, you’re talking about visual, kinesthetic, auditory or hearing, olfactory, and gustatory which is smell and taste. Then, some people would say, “What about your connection with your spiritual life?” Some people would even refer to that as a sixth sense.
You can integrate that too, if that’s your style, and that makes sense to you. Whatever religion you practice, see if you can somehow incorporate that into what you’re doing.
There are lots of very powerful ways to simply connect up things that interest you with what you’re doing, to really make them work for you. Be creative. Use your ADHD symptoms of hyper-creativity and innovation to your advantage on this.
While we’re on the subject, there is another solution people with Adult ADHD symptoms can use for getting those things done that you don’t like to do, and it’s called “outsourcing.”
There are very specific ways people with Adult ADHD can outsource things at home, and things at work, that are taking your time and energy that shouldn’t be. To find out more about outsourcing and other great techniques for Adult ADHD, see below.
Tellman Knudson can help you learn to focus, beat distraction and accomplish your goals. Learn more about Adult ADHD Symptoms and pick up your free newsletter of ADHD practical tips and techniques to make your life better today!
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A fantastic lounge lizard recipe for: Cuban Manhattan, with dry vermouth, rosso vermouth, white rum and Angostura® bitters.
Category: Cocktails – Short drinks
Ingredients: 3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz rosso vermouth
1 oz white rum
2 – 3 dashes Angostura® bitters
How to: Stir well over ice cubes in a mixing glass, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a stemmed cherry, and serve.
Glassware: Cocktail Glass
What’s in it for you?
(per 2.6 oz serving)
Calories (kcal)
Energy (kj)
Fats
Carbohydrates
Protein |
133
558
0 g
4.2 g
0 g |
Fiber
Sugars
Cholesterol
Sodium
Alcohol |
0 g
-
0 mg
11 mg
19.1 g |
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Customers are demanding quality products and services again after the turnaround from the recession of the 1980s. They can no more be seduced into buying just anything through discounts and slick marketing methods. The goal in customer satisfaction lies in making customers feel that their needs have been met.
Experience with Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 rule tells us that 80% of the value of business results from only 20% of targeted efforts. This implies that keeping your current customers happy is 8-10 times cheaper/easier than gaining new customers. Get more return on your efforts by focusing on repeat customers. Here are 5 steps you can take to keep your customers happy:
1. Put Your Customer First And Identify The Best One: Customer focus is a must to begin with and no matter what you do, you are at the service of your customer. Customer service begins with your employees following this rule. Gathering customer information like birthdays, their preferences, habits, spending profiles, etc. and acting upon it paves the way for healthy interactions with them in addition to collecting feedback about your products and services. Some companies are actually using six sigma to help achieve this systematically.
2. Keep Updating Customer Data By Staying Close To Them: Customer profiles keep changing with changes to their financial and social conditions. A change in contact details or purchase preferences comes in handy in the management of customer relationships. For example, a card sent when a customer purchases their first home is certain to please the customer. This also helps adjust products and services according to customers’ expectations.
3. Categorize Customers: You can group customers broadly by their demands, specific requirements and nature. You can start doing this by asking basic questions. As expectations vary, one single product may not satisfy everyone. Different products and services may have to be developed to meet different customer needs. Many companies have used six sigma to help achieve this.
4. Pay Attention To The Little Details: Ironing out little shortcomings is a mark of perfection and catches attention of niche customers. This little extra is the thing that makes you stand out in the crowd. Customers love to identify themselves with companies that do this.
5. Communicate Positively: Communicating to target customers need not be just about your services/products. You can communicate positively midway through the service for a tip/correction or take/give a suggestion that pleases the customer. This is also perceived as an attempt to develop personalized communication and service.
If keeping customers happy is the mantra for sustaining and growing your business, this end goal is perhaps the basic purpose of six sigma methodology which many companies have effectively used to increase customer satisfaction.
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions – Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
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