Committee News

The owners committee recently sent out a letter to all Pearly Grey Owners outlining the resorts plans for the upgrade of the apartments.  In their letter the committee asked you as owners to vote in favour of a levy to allow the continuation of the upgrade program which is vital to the future of the resort (at the forthcoming SGM special general meeting). I realise that many of you owners will have questions relating to the upgrade program, to assist in answering some of these questions we have compiled a ‘Questions & Answers DVD’ featuring the Resort Developer and Mr Vale a Pearly Grey owner.  The DVD will be available online and can be viewed at the following website Pearly Grey Q&A DVD.

Resort News

The beach
Today we received confirmation from the Adeje Council that the new beach in Callao Salvaje, Playa Ajabo, will be officially opened on Friday 18^th May.  After a short ceremony planned for midday, the beach will then be open to the public.  I must say they have done a splendid job on the beach construction and it will be a welcome addition to the facilities available in the local area and specifically Callao Salvaje.  I’m sure many of our owners will not believe our long wait for a local beach has finally happened, a long running saga has come to happy ending!!

Refurbishments
Our ongoing apartment upgrade program has now moved to the S apartments (these are the apartments in the tunnel, opposite the gymnasium and offices).  Apartment S-5 is currently being upgraded and we are hoping to complete all the 2 bedroom apartments in this area by August 2012.  The studio apartments will be refurbed during the summer.

Gymnasium
On 22^nd May we will finally see the remaining areas of the Bodyzone Gymnasium reopened, with a completely new look and feel comprising a new treatment room and upgraded changing facilities.  Judith, our sports therapist will be moving from the beauty room upstairs and relocating to the new purpose built treatment room.  Judith has many exciting ideas and will be offering a wide range of health and fitness services in addition to some bespoke keep fit classes tailored to aid and benefit your overall health and wellness.

New Offices
In conjunction with the gymnasium refurbishment some of the administration offices have been redesigned with staff being moved into new areas and the accounts office being relocated to what were the courtesy rooms.  We have given all the office staff the option to review and improve their working environment and where possible aesthetic changes have been made to accommodate their requests.

New Courtesy rooms
Now located in a separate area of the gymnasium, the new and improved courtesy rooms offer our guests all the facilities you need to freshen up before your journey.

WiFi
During the next two months we will be installing the necessary cables and antennas to make the whole resort WiFi friendly, allowing you to access the internet from the comfort of your apartment.  In addition to enhancing the internet experience for our guests it will also alleviate the congestion in the reception area which on our main check-in days in the summer gets very overcrowded.

Guests survey sheets
The resort will be reverting back to an online holiday experience survey in the near future, this will replace the survey sheet form we currently post under your door.  I would like to remind you that the resort takes your feedback very seriously and we rely on your comments and suggestions to help us improve and steer us in the right direction as regards future improvements.  Each week the survey sheets are collected and the data is collated and reviewed by the senior management team.  Where applicable, any complaints are tasked to the relevant head of department and actions are put in place to investigate what went wrong and procedures put in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.  All suggestions we receive are discussed and when merited are implemented.  In summary the survey sheets act as a huge incentive to our staff whether it be complaints, compliments, encouragement or suggestions, your participation is both welcome and vital.

A message from James

Pearly Grey continues to show signs of recovery and coupled with the improved exchange rate we are well on the road to a successful 2012.

On a personal front my wife and I will be spending nearly 5½ months at the resort this year and we are both really enjoying being back and involved on a day to day basis.  The resort continues to move with the times and we will shortly be announcing the launch of some exciting new products that will improve your existing ownership without necessarily costing you money.

My children continue on their life journeys and my two daughters are knee deep in mid year exams, sleeping too little, cramming too much and stressing the family. Who would be a parent..??
My son is enjoying a good year at school, playing a leading part in his sports teams and improving his academic results.  In fact as a reward for his endeavours I shall be taking him with me to this years AGM which is being held near Glasgow (thank you air miles) and then on to a spot of golf at some of the old courses.  So, if any of you owners have memberships or carry influence at any of the established and famous golf courses then we would very much appreciate anything you can do to help us get a slot on the fairways.

Thanks very much and kindest regards

James Beckley
Resort Developer.

It seems our long wait for a beach is almost over.
Yesterday we had discussions with the Town hall councillor for Callao Salvaje, she advised us of the following information;

Next week between 19^th & 20^th May the Canarian Government (Costas Department) will officially hand over control of Playa Ajabo Beach to the municipality of Adeje.
Once this paperwork has been completed then the beach will be open to the public almost immediately.
An official opening ceremony will probably take place at a later date, once we know any details we will let you know.

Councillor Amada stated that this schedule should be adhered to but last minute changes are always possible, after all this is Tenerife…………

Thanks guys,

  
I would say it looks almost finished apart from a few small details, hopefully these will be done soon and then the Adeje Ayuntamiento will announce the date for the Inauguration Ceremony.

  
We are hoping that our next beach report will be the opening ceremony, so keep a keen ‘weather eye’ on our blogsite and facebook page for details of when the official beach opening will be, as soon as we know then so will you.

Thanks guys,

So guys, we know you like it down there but be warned……….James will be back soon so you better start to think about moving to your new office.

Last Friday the old courtesy rooms were ripped out and what remained was an empty shell, I always think the demolition part of any construction work is the most fun.  There’s a lump hammer out there with my name on!!

  
  
Over the next few weeks this empty shell will be converted into a modern, fresh and comfortable office where our accounts team can spend many a happy hour looking after the pennies, oh yeah and paying the bills too!!

Hope you are all well, first things first, the Beach is so close to completion I can taste the sand in my picnic!!  We will be recording a video blog from the beach as soon as it’s officially open.

What a great week we had this week as we had the first winner of our FREE WEEK at the Pearly Grey, the winner was Mrs Mary Alcock from Stockton-On-Tees.
For those of you who don’t know about this competition, for the remainder of the year we are giving you the chance to win a FREE WEEK at Pearly Grey.  It’s very easy to enter.  Every Sunday and Thursday night we will draw out two lucky tickets, the two winners get to play for a chance of a free week in a game of ‘Play Your Cards Right’.

If you make it to the end you win a free week, but even if you fail to make it to the end your ticket will be entered into a special New Years Eve Draw where the prize will be;

• Free weeks half board accommodation at Pearly Grey, plus flights for two people!!

How much and where do we get tickets I hear you cry???

The tickets are only 2 Euros, that’s right only 2 Euros, and are sold at the resort during the week.
Every penny of the money raised goes to the Ingane Yami Charity that is so close to our hearts here at Pearly Grey.  With prizes being very generously donated by our resort developers James & Karen Beckley.
So while you’re here get involved, Mrs Alcock did and she now has a free week in the sun for £1.50!!!!!!

See you all soon

Jimmy

For the past week the main administration area has been blocked off to allow our onsite maintenance team to finish the conversion of Dougie’s old office and to lay a new raised floor so that admin will be on the same level as the new Bodyzone Reception area.

Our admin team have endured a lot over the past few months with the constant noise, dust and temporary relocations while the demolition and construction work carried on unabated.  But we are all excited and looking forward to when the new Bodyzone Reception and Welcome Area will be open for business.

Special thanks must go to our maintenance team who have performed miracles over the past few months, well done guys!!!

Standing in reception on “Maundy Thursday” I was overwhelmed when chatting to one of our guests and her children about the Easter Bunny and chocolate eggs,  when an hour later Niamh Edwards (the 7 year old guest) gave me her written version of her Easter story……. And you all know how I love a good story!   So here goes……

One sunny day Jesus and his disciples were going to Jerusalem when Jesus found a donkey, he said to his disciples please can you ask the owner if I can borrow his donkey. Jesus then rode the donkey instead of a horse because he wanted to show that he was gentle and not showing off that he had powers and was the son of God. So he rode into Jerusalem and people were waving palm branches to welcome him. Three people weren’t because they didn’t believe that he was the son of God. Jesus then went into church and the people were using it as stalls, he was very, very angry and went up to the tables and tipped them over. They then had the last supper Jesus got the bread and said “this is my body” then he took the wine and said “this is my blood”. After dinner he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and the soldiers came to arrest him they took him to the Roman Emperor but the Roman Emperor said “no” and the crowd said put him on the cross!!!! So he had to carry the cross to Skull hill and he got nailed to the cross and then he died……… The next day they wrapped him up and put him in the tomb, then the next day the stone was rolled away and the cloth was folded. An angel then came and said “Jesus is alive” then Jesus said tell the others that I am alive, he then said this is my last day, so they saw him on the clouds going home!

Thank you Niamh, our ‘Easter inspiration’

Happy Easter to all……..may your weekend be very chocolatey.
Ciao for now…

The walkways and public areas look to be almost completed, benches have been fitted for those who just like to sit and watch the day go by.  Plants and shrubs have been planted to give the area natural character and add to the overall ambience of what we can see is going to be a beach to be envied.

 
 
In summary it’s a modern beach with great facilities and easy access, and a great addition to Callao Salvaje. We can already start to imagine what it will be like when ‘phase 2’ links Callao Salvaje to Playa Paraiso with a public ocean front walkway.

 
Although we are almost there we still have no official completion date, so keep viewing our blogsite and facebook page as we will let you all know once we have a confirmed date from Adeje Ayantamiento.

I am writing today to acknowledge an AMAZING member of our WONDERFUL staff/family.

Lynne, our daytime bar attendant whom you all know, and probably all love because she makes ‘thee’ very best coffee in the world, returned to work after the recent and very sad loss of her husband and soul mate Phil.

Lynne has asked me to thank each and every one of you who have been staying or working at Pearly Grey for the love, strength and support you have given her.

Phil’s illness was not made public as it was a personal family matter, however Lynne feels it’s the right time for people to know, as working can be a bit upsetting when people ask how Phil is doing etc.

Lynne is in good spirits due to the positive atmosphere at Pearly Grey, she really feels that being around all of you has made the whole process more manageable.

So once again, THANK YOU to everyone for your generosity of spirit & support shown towards a remarkable lady.

Kind regards Dougie

I was born in Alajero, La Gomera. I have lived in Tenerife since I was 5 years old.
I am 45 years old, divorced with two daughters and a grandson.
I have worked in this Hotel for the last 6 years and I love working at Pearly Grey as in my department we are a great team and with the rest of my colleagues there is always good atmosphere and we are like a family. I have made some very good friends here.

If you were born again and could not be Spanish, where would you choose to be born?
Some Island in the Pacific Ocean.

If you were wealthy and not need to work to live, what would you do?
To travel and help ONG Vicente Ferrer.

(Andres González González – Head of maintenance) says about Javi
I have known Javi for 25 years. We have enjoyed working together on many projects, we socialise together sometimes and we’ve shared good times as well as some sad moments.
I know him very well. He is good person.
PS: He really can be grumpy and appears to be unlike the person I’ve described. Hey! He’s single with no obligations (I think).

(Liliana Espinosa – Administration) says about Javi
Javier is a good worker, very responsible and a very important member of the Maintenance team.  Despite his seriousness in the workplace he has a great sense of humor, and occasionally can be heard singing or whistling in the corridors while efficiently doing his work.
I think he is a trustworthy person, and despite the fame that he has to be a very serious person, in the end proves to be a very happy and positive guy.

Javier Chinea Escuela (Javi)

Nací en Alajero, La Gomera. Desde los 5 añitos vivo en Tenerife.
Tengo 45 años, estoy divorciado con dos hijas y un nieto.
Trabajo en éste Hotel hace ya 6 años y me encanta trabajar en el perla Gris porque en mi departamento formamos un gran equipo y con los demás compañeros/as reina un buen ambiente y somos como una familia. Aquí he hecho muy buenos amigos.

¿Si volvieras a nacer y no pudieras ser español, dónde elegirías nacer?   
En algún archipiélago del Pacífico.

¿Si fueras millonario y no necesitaras trabajar para vivir, qué harías?      
Viajar y ayudar a la ONG Vicente Ferrer.

(Andres González González – Jefe de Mantenimiento) dice de Javi
Conozco a éste elemento hace 25 años. Nos hemos gozado juntos muchos trabajos, fiestas, momentos muy buenos y algunos tristes.
Le conozco muy bien. Es buena gente.
Pd: Es verdad que es un cascarrabias y aparenta ser todo lo contrario que he dicho. OJO! Soltero y sin compromiso (creo).

(Liliana Espinosa – Administración) dice de Javi
Javier es un buen trabajador, muy responsable y una pieza muy importante para el equipo de Mantenimiento.
A pesar de su seriedad en el trabajo es una persona con un gran sentido del humor, y de cuando en cuando se le puede escuchar cantando o silbando por los pasillos mientras atiende eficientemente los partes de los clientes.
Considero que es una persona digna de confianza, y a pesar de la fama de serio que siempre le precede; al final resulta ser un chico muy alegre y positivo.