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177
Almost all of the clubs meet regularly once a week; they arrange
their own programmes, including outings, Christmas Festivities, etc.
Holiday Hotel
To meet an ever increasing demand by elderly residents for
holidays, the Council operates its own hotel for the exclusive use
of Greenwich residents at Westgate-on-Sea.
The present hotel, which is managed by a Resident Superintendent and Assistant with appropriate staff, is an annexation of the
previous Greenwich and Sea Grange Hotels and it can cater for
almost 2,000 guests annually.
Existing accommodation at the combined hotels includes a
kitchen serving the whole establishment, several lounges with sea
views, a bar lounge and three dining rooms all on the ground floor.
Inclement weather is countered by enclosed balconies and there are
ample facilities for indoor entertainment and pastimes, including
television and radio.
It is the Council's intention to provide a cheerful holiday and
recreational facilities for guests and, although the holiday-makers
are generally expected to be active, provision is made for frail and
handicapped old persons to be accommodated on the ground floor.
These excellent holidays provided by the Council for retirement
pensioners resident in the Borough, i.e. men aged 65 years and over
and women of 60 years or more and not in full time employment,
are comparable with the best. Holidays commence on Friday and
bookings are for a fortnight. Parties are conveyed by escorted
coaches from various "picking-up" points in the Borough to and
from Westgate. Less active guests are further transported by minibus to and from their own homes and the "picking-up" points.
Every fortnight, during the period from May to September,
eight of our elderly citizens, who for medical reasons require ground
floor accommodation, go to the Greenwich Hotel. Each case, which
is submitted to very careful consideration, is visited to ensure that
the term "holiday hotel" (not convalescent home) is preserved.
The new combined hotel remains open to enable "out of season"
holidays to be taken. Charges are very reasonable and, when
possible, applicants who accept an "off-season" for their initial
holiday are offered a summer booking when the opportunity for a
second holiday arises. Accommodation for the Christmas period is
reserved for persons living alone.
Miss W. E. Wilson, the Resident Superintendent, reports as
follows :—
"The Hotel re-opened for guests on 17th March, 1967, after being
closed for spring cleaning.