Our first year

So the first year has been and gone as we now start preparing for winter, so what has been happening ?.
Were do I start !,  the hotel has been a fantastic success from the first day of opening when it was just me and my old friend Henry staying on the first night (the sweetest boy who is still a regular ) to the hotel now employing over twenty staff and accommodating over 60 guests every single night, so what next ?...................... rumors have been circulating about Love Ur Cat !, could it be true, could we be looking at starting a new development on the site for a five star hotel for cats ?, all i can say at the moment is  "watch this space". 
Friends, Friends, Friends, we have met so many new friends, some truly lovely people and some unique characters, not to mention some amazing guests, from Mika our scuba diving doggie from London to Festa our little frenchie who battled through a hard time in his first year, I couldn't mention them all due there literally being thousands, we love them all.

Elsie
Well that was an adventure, after not having a day off for over four months I decided a little break was needed and went back to Santorini, to those who have not been its a must, lovely place considering its only a short flight........ anyway after spending most days sailing around the islands we would stop off on the way back to the villa at the supermarkets and stock up on essentials, these being dog and cat food for the strays............... and there is so many, the only downside to this beautiful island is the animal neglect, I know there are several organisations helping but its still not enough.  
Each evening we would stop and feed dozens of cats and dogs, and at night we would leave bowls of food outside the villa door all of which would eaten through the night, in the mornings I would sit out with a coffee watching the beautiful sunrise surrounded by half a dozen cats having their breakfast and cream to fatten them up ready for their long day ahead. On the very last morning I started the same routine, prepared the cats breakfast and made a coffee and sat outside the villa next to the pool watching the sunrise, but this morning was different, no cats !, half an hour goes by and there has usually been at least three or four by now who have eat and ran, nothing !, then I see a set of eyes peer over the small wall and approaches the first cat of the morning, but something is wrong you can see she is nervous, something has spooked them.......................... and then it happens, one, two, three, four cats going running past the gate not stopping for breakfast, and then she appears, a dog, she had ventured down the side of the mountain through the night looking for food (god hopefully not a cat!), she peered into the villa and nervously approached, very thin, very dehydrated and very sad, I brought her some cream and what little dog food we had left and she used her remaining strength to eat what she could before collapsing in a heap, six hours later she awakes, four more fours and we are leaving to fly home !, so what to do, turf her back out on the street ?, no not an option, already started to fall in love, so her first journey in a car, lets go and find a vet, (apologies to Herz for the sick in between the seats of the brand new BMW), blood tests ran, health check done, vaccinations done, passport stamped, kennels for the next two weeks booked, flight to Athens booked,  kennel in Athens booked, Flight to Heathrow booked, Jesus that was a manic 4hrs, rush to the airport catch our flight and home, two weeks later I am in Heathrow picking up our new little girl Elsie who is now having the most amazing life ruling the hotel with Bentley in the day and living at home with us in the evenings, shes gorgeous like a little deer, shes so happy - I watch her when shes dreaming, her little legs running in her sleep, I wonder if shes dreaming about chasing cats in Santorini ?, shes in for a shock this winter, the cold, and if we get snow, its amazing watching a dog when they first see snow, I wont be missing that first experience with her. 

Losing A Past Guest
I have lost my Nan, my Grandad, cousins, uncles, aunties and family friends in the last year, all have been sad but nothing hurts more for me than losing your dog,  your dog is there for you everyday with a smile and a wag of the tail, with unconditional love and loyalty, so when we get a call from a customer to inform us one of our past guests has passed away at home it is heartbreaking for all the staff at the hotel, so many tears have been shed over the last few months from the loss of guests we truly love,  you will all be so so missed, Barney, Walter, Hugo, Hops, Pip, Charlie, Buz, Ava, Leo, and Betsy. 

And then there's the other side when customers become ill and cannot look after their little ones any longer and they come to us, one nice story came recently when little chase had to be given up by his loving mum due to serious ill health, it was heart breaking for his mum but she did it for the right reason, poor chase didn't know what was going on but also knew he was loved and cared for at the hotel so he settled very quickly, but that all soon changed when we saw a possible match with one of our customers who recently lost one of her babies the most amazing little hugo, (we literally had staff collapse on the floor in tears when we found out Hugo Passed) - anyway we introduced little chase and it was love at first sight, he now has a new soul mate and a fantastic new live being loved everyday - fantastic.

If your ever passing the hotel please call in and say hi, we love meeting new people and Bentley is always on hand so dribble down your leg.

Scott