Dorset House staff have been watching with interest as a tent village grows and grows in Hagley Park, opposite the House. It's the Ellerslie Flower Show again, with new exhibits taking a full month to be built (and grown) in time for the opening of the Show tomorrow 10th March! Running until the 14th, this show was extremely popular last year and is bound to be packed again this year. Highlights include Wearable Floral Art, Englishman's Retreat Garden, Floral Photo Comp - take a look at the website: http://www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz/
Dorset House has three new team members, Julia, Maresa and Helena. Julia and Maresa are our new weekend receptionists, meeting and greeting our guests upon arrival. Helena has joined our housekeeping team for the summer.
Dorset House is participating in the Christchurch City Council's 'Target Sustainability' Programme. We have had our current sustainability levels audited by the council, and are now working from their report to implement new ways of improving our waste, energy, recycling and water use performance. We welcome guest thoughts and ideas!
Dorset House flew through our 2009 Qualmark inspection, retaining our four-star rating with the improvements made to the House over the last year. We continue to strive to make Dorset House a great place to stay - we welcome your suggestions!
Dorset House recently donated three large bags of towels and clothing to the Christchurch City Mission, which they were pleased to receive. The City Mission supports, cares and advocates for people who are less well off and disadvantaged in the community, operating a night shelter, foodbank, detox and alcohol programmes. This donation was a combination of towels and items from Dorset House, as well as items donated by our travellers for charity. We will continue to collect linen, useful clothing and towels for the next donation.
Dorset House enters the winter season with some fantastic special deals on accommodation. Weekly rates available - just ask our staff. We'll have our annual closedown between July 4th and 20th - some time for our staff to recharge their batteries. Cross your fingers for some winter snow!
Dorset House is proud to have been congratulated by Hostelworld.com, a 'Top Rated Hostel' for 2008 as voted by our guests. We look forward to working with Hostelworld.com for 2009 - striving to continually improve and provide a fabulous stay in Christchurch.
Christchurch is packed with people all enjoying summer right now, there's heaps to see and do. Dorset House is ideally located to take advantage of some of the free summer activities on offer. Step across to Hagley Park for assorted free concerts, Twilight Cinema showing nightly (take a picnic!), free theatre and music events (Shakespeare, comedy theatre, lazy Sunday classical, jazz and band music) and coming soon: the Ellerslie International Flower Show debuts March 11-15, for the first time in Christchurch. Just steps from Dorset House - your ideal base for summer fun in the Garden City.
Happy New Year everyone! Summer is well and truly here and it's a warm one, with temperatures in Christchurch at 28 degrees today, 35 yesterday, and 37 the day before...perfect weather for travelling, camping and swimming around our beautiful islands. (We measure our temperatures in celsius - that's 82, 95 and 98 degrees fahrenheit for those of you who work that way!). Beach swimming is generally very safe in New Zealand with a dose of common sense. Surf lifeguards patrol the busier beaches, and the quieter ones...well you might get one of those to yourself! Watch out for rips and currents, and swim between the flags. Escape the cold, we'd love to see you come enjoy our summer soon.
Dorset House is open right throughout the festive season. Some of our staff are taking some well deserved time off - but the rest of us will be here to look after our guests over Christmas and New Years. The house has just been freshly painted, in 'oyster' with 'chili and cream' trim, it looks great. Helen's summer garden is also in full bloom, with hydrangeas, sweet peas, and many other lovely flowers (which Ang doesn't necessarily know the names of) brightening up the place!
Dorset Apartments Opening Early on November 7th! Due to heavy demand, we are opening some of our budget one and two bedroom summer apartments a few weeks early. They are filling up fast, so ask us about availability for your travel dates. Dorset Apartments are comfortable self-catered accommodation in the heart of the city. They very affordable, excellent value with all linen, towels and furnishings included, all you need to do is turn up and make yourself at home! Available for stays of two nights or longer.
Dorset House aims to make life easy for you! We've just implemented automatic SMS booking confirmations. Just enter your mobile number when you book online with us, (or give it to our staff over the phone) and we'll send you an SMS message confirming your booking dates, room type and the daily door code - it's that simple!
To celebrate the arrival of spring (finally!) and some warmer weather, room 1 has had a facelift, with new carpet and lots of new paint. That's just one of the many upcoming improvements planned for Dorset House this spring - no time like the present!
Dorset House is thrilled to confirm that Dorset Apartments, our new summer holiday apartments are now accepting reservations for December 2008 - April 2009. These one and two bedroom boutique apartments will be a great choice for those wanting their own space. You can book online at www.dorsetapartments.co.nz - or ask the staff at Dorset House and they will be happy to tell you more.
Dorset House has just had our yearly Qualmark inspection, and passed with flying colours, retaining our four-star rating - 
. This means our quality is rated "Excellent. Consistently achieves high quality levels with a wide range of facilities and services". We are always striving to improve, and welcome any ideas you might have about how we can make your Dorset House experience even better.
The fabulous crew at Wicked Campers have provided Dorset House with our very own Wicked Camper to trundle about in this winter. Reuben has already tested 'Big L' out this past weekend, and pronounced the camper experience a lot of fun! Dorset House staff are lining up to pile on the duvets and hot water bottles and get out and about exploring the South Island this winter in our Wicked Camper!
Life at Dorset House has been busy, with the arrival of several new staff.
The leaves are turning, and we're switching on the heating and electric blankets to keep Dorset House warm and cosy.
Some of us are getting ready for the winter season with great anticipation - not long now, please cross your fingers for plenty of snow! Don't forget we have a purpose-built drying room for all your skis, snowboards and any other gear you manage to get soaked!
Needless to say all the staff here at Dorset House are still raw from the disappointment in the Rugby World Cup.
Dorset house staff have recently put on their best face for new professional staff photos which have turned out great and will be on the website soon.
Summer is here this means the festive season is approaching and Dorset House is open everyday 8am till 6pm apart from Christmas day. Those staying Christmas eve will also be booked in for Christmas night.
Dorset House now has a new Drying Room that our wonderful builder Phil has recently completed.
Sarah is counting down the days until the IRB Rugby World Cup starts in September. GO THE ALL BLACKS!!!
Reuben has just arrived back from the UK and France after 3 weeks in the warmth he even has jandal tan lines!!!
Michelle celebrated her birthday and made herself a delicious carrot cake yum thanks boss for the tasty cake.
Reuben and Sarah have demolished a packet of Jaffa Cakes that he kindly brought back from the UK.
Dorset House had its annual close down for 2 weeks break so we all can re-charge our batteries in time for the winter season.
Dorset House had a gas heater installed in the Sitting Room so we can keep everyone warm and smiling during the winter months as we are no longer using the fire as Dorset House is supporting the Clean Heat Project.
Dorset House has upgraded one of the upstairs bathrooms with the rest due to be completed during the colder winter months.
Qualmark recently visited Dorset House for our annual inspection and Dorset House has maintained a 4 star rating
BBH results from the annual BBH Survey which guests completed in February; Dorset House now has a new rating of 86 % up 4% from last year
Dorset House is proud to go live with it's new website, complete with on-line booking and virtual tours. Please have a look around find out all about Dorset House Backpackers.
Dorset House has recently been upgraded and redecorated to cater for travellers who wish to experience up-market facilities at affordable prices. Don't be shy to say hello to Kerry the Electrician or Phil the cheeky builder as you may catch them as they maintain the house.
Michelle and Sarah loaded up the truck with the old linen from Dorset House including duvets, sheets, pillows, towels and tea towels and delivered it to Cholmondeley Childrens Home in Governors Bay, Christchurch. Lynn and Chris showed Michelle and Sarah around the complex and introduced them to some of the children in their care. It is a great facility and they were pleased to receive the linen, particularly the towels!
Cholmondeley Children's Home provides quality short-term residential care for children in need and support for their families. As well as providing a special haven for children, we run a popular community-based outreach programme for parents. Cholmondeley is supported by contracts provided to Government and health agencies, and donations from the community, which pay for their operating expenses.
