In the words of Tina Turner 'We're simply the best'

Yes, better than all the rest! We have just won 3 awards from Whitby Hospitality Association.

We have won:
Guest Accommodation of the year 2009,
Sustainable Tourism 2009,
and Website of the Year 2009.

We are delighted. Thank you to all our Guests who took the time to nominate us. We really appreciate it.

Winter Special Offers

Why not enjoy a winter break in Whitby. Throughout November, January and February we offer our winter special offers.

Offer One:
Stay any 3 nights midweek from Sunday to Thursday inclusive and get your last night half price.

Offer Two:
Stay any 4 nights midweek from Sunday to Thursday inclusive and get your last night free.

So come along and enjoy the beautiful Coast and North York Moors this winter.

Nominated for 2 Awards

Last night we had fantastic news, we found out that we are finalists for 2 Awards from the Yorkshire Dales and Harrogate and Yorkshire Moors and Coast for Guest Accommodation of the year for 2009 and also for Sustainable Tourism. As you can imagine we are delighted. Thank you to all our guests who thought we were worthy of being nominated for such prestigious awards. The Awards Ceremony takes place on Wednesday 25th November, so fingers crossed.

The Leeway gets GOLD

Last week we got great news , we achieved Gold with the Green Tourism Buisiness Scheme. We are really proud of this and will continue to work towards and improve our policy on a greener environment. A big thank you to our Guests for helping us achieve this.

Our Beautiful Dylan

Tuesday 11th August was a very sad day. Our 2½ year old Bassett Hound Dylan passed away. He was an absolute joy and brought such love and laughter. What a character. On occasions he escaped upstairs to our dining room for a cuddle from Guests. Those who met him loved him, especially Ian and Julie who always brought him treats (and turned him into a Goth!). He was so cuddly, a big living teddy bear.

We would like to thank our wonderful Guests who were with us on Tuesday morning for their understanding when all we could offer them for breakfast was fruit, cereals, toast and tea and coffee. I am sorry I could not provide a cooked breakfast, but after finding Dylan unconscious in his bed, I had to stay with him until the Vet arrived.

In June 2008 Dylan became clumsy and started tripping up, and then falling, so after 3 months of investigations at the Vets the only thing they found was that he had hip displacia, so they sent him for an MRI scan which revealed he had a very rare brain disease. The vets said there was nothing they could do, and in September only gave him about a month to live. We bought him a massive stroller so that we could take him to the beach for a run, which he loved, and if he fell he did not hurt himself. In January 2009 we were lucky enough to learn of a healer who not only worked with people but also with animals. Her name is Eliza and she runs Healing Vibrations. Eliza came every week to work with Dylan and used Theta and Reiki on him. Dylan loved Eliza and was always full of energy when she left. Thank you Eliza for giving Dylan 7 months of quality life, you really did help him. From when his treatment started with Eliza we did not need to use his stroller. He started walking longer distances and in the end was so normal, we had forgotten there was something wrong with him. If you know of anyone who needs healing please contact Eliza at healingvibrations@ymail.com or telephone her on 07769902147, we can fully recommend her.

Dylan was going to be a Goth Dog in October. He was the first dog to wear a Hot Patootie coat at the April Goth Festival ( he can be seen parading the West Cliff on Utube in his Bat coat ). We had just purchased two more, one with skulls and one with spiders. These coats can be worn on their own or with a hot wheat bag inside to keep them warm in winter or to ease aching muscles which is why Dylan had them as he had hip dysplacia. Hope you like the photos. If you like his coats there will be a stall at the October Festival where you can purchase them from Angela, who makes them. www.myspace.com/hotpatootieuk

Our Little Cat

It is only right that I also mention on here our Blackie who passed away 3 weeks ago on Wed 22nd July at the grand old age of 20. We were a little worried when we got Dylan as Blackie was an old lady, but had no need to be, she was the Boss, as she had always been over our other dogs, Scamp and Toby many years ago. She was never a cuddly cat, but a loyal and very independent cat, who we miss dearly.

BBC Breakfast TV

Did anyone see Garry on Breakfast TV yesterday?

The BBC called us on Thursday and asked if Garry would do an interview for Breakfast TV on Friday morning, regarding Tourism, and how more people are staying at home and holidaying in Britain. Of course he said yes.

So yesterday morning he was supposed to meet the BBC wagons by the Whale Bones, and have a walk on the beach while being interviewed, but the BBC wagon had broken down, so the interview had to take place at Cross Butts with views of the Moors instead of the sea!

Garry thought the interveiw was being filmed and shown later, but to his horror at 7:20am they said 'live in 1 minute'

What could he do, but carry on!! And he did well too.

Visit Britain Silver Award

This week we had fantastic news. We had a visit from the Hotel Inspector, who gave us the Silver Award. This award is given to Hotels and Guest Accommodations to recognise exceptional quality at all levels.

So we are a 4 Star Silver Guest House now! We are really thrilled.

It is our reward for 3 years of hard work. We finally finished all the refurbishements this April, in time for the new season, so there is nothing remaining of the old Leeway Guest House. Of course we still have plans, and have already bought the new Laura Ashley wallpaper for Room 6! But the redecoration of this room will have to wait until the end of this season now, but we have big plans, as always, for Room 6 in November.

Keep it Cash in Whitby

Last weekend was the Line Dancing Weekend in Whitby, and all our regulars seemed to have a great time.  So much so they re booked for next year.  So if there are any line dancing fans around the dates for next year are the 7th, 8th and 9th May 2010.

This weekend is the Gospel Music Convention, which we hope everyone enjoys.  Lets hope the weather stays fine!

We have just come back from a mini break of 2 days, but this will be our last day off now until our holiday in September.  We only went to Middlesbrough!!  We are huge Johnny Cash fans and our favourite band 'Keep it Cash' were playing there, and they were brilliant as usual. If you want to see them, here is the link to their web page which shows where they are playing this year.  If they are in an area near you, don't miss them.  They will be playing at Whitby Pavillion again in January 2010.  This was me on stage with them last time!  http://www.myspace.com/keepitcash

We stayed at The Grey House Hotel, which is a 4 star b&b, set in its own lovely grounds, and run by Jana, who is really friendly, and has a great b&b.  We can recommend staying there if you need to stay in Middlesbrough at any time.

Goth Weekend April 09

Well, what a fantastic 5 days we had. This was our 7th festival since running The Leeway, and it was the best. This year we decided to join in the event, so every afternoon we were out shopping and each evening we were out dancing. We have a fantastic Goth wardrobe now, and must have fitted in, as we are on Myspace.com/Gothevents and also on UTube!!

We even bought a Goth coat for our Basset Hound, Dylan!! Who enjoyed meeting everyone, and is also on UTube.

A big thank you to Ian and Julie, our great Goth friends, for taking us under their wing. Can't wait till October, and we can do it all again.