We were delighted to host the party to mark the retirement of Ruth White, CEO of Rowans Hospice
Among the guests celebrating her retirement was TV legend Fred Dinenage
He said Ruth had done an amazing job leading the organisation since June 1994. She explained she has been working in hospices since 1986 and she came to Rowans Hospice as their first matron.
Looking back over her time at Rowans Hospice, Ruth said: ” It’s been tremendous. There are many facets to the role and I’ve been lucky to work with an amazing team.”
One highlight was the time she and the team were able to fulfill a father’s dying wish. Through the power of social media, the hospice was able to secure a top secret screening of a recent Star Wars movie before its release.
Ruth said she was looking forward to taking stock before deciding on future plans.
“When you have been working in an organisation for as long as I have, it will be good to create some space and take the time to decide who I am and how I want to spend my time from now on,” she said.
A host of new talent will be taking part in this summer’s Sunday Sessions at the Queens Hotel in Portsmouth.
Our hotel is well known for hosting live music on a Sunday throughout the summer. Some of the best-known local performers take part.
This summer talented new faces will be joining established acts such as Rachel Hawnt, Martyn James &Rob Richardson and Amba Tremain as they set out on their career path to stardom.
Head of Sales, Marketing & Events, Nicole Morris, explained: “Undoubtedly we wanted to build on the success of last year’s Sunday Sessions. We wanted to offer new talent the opportunity to sing in front of the appreciative crowd that we regularly attract at the Queens.”
Judging panel included Queens Hotel General Manager Paul Playford, Julia Worsley PR and Marketing Officer at the Kings Theatre and music promoter, Nick Courtney.
Julia has acting experience in TV, film, radio and theatre. She’s also had leading roles in West End productions of Les Miserables, Oliver and The Commitments.
“It was an absolute honour to be asked to represent The Kings Theatre at the auditions for the Sunday Sessions. I couldn’t believe the high standard of acts especially considering the age of some of the auditionees.
“We are so fortunate to have so much talent locally. It’s always rewarding to be able to help promote this.
“The Queens Hotel team are as committed as we are here at The Kings Theatre, to shining a spotlight on up-and-coming performers and opportunities such as the Sunday Sessions are a huge part of the journey towards a professional career for these young performers.
“I applaud the Queens for this initiative. I am very much looking forward to coming down to the Queens Hotel to watch the winners. The audiences really are in for a treat,” she said.
Nick Courtney added: “It was a pleasure for me to attend and watch the rising stars auditions at the Queens Hotel.
“The standard was exceptionally high. Many of those auditioning were far more than just rising stars or the up and coming artists that were expected to audition.
“Many already had years of experience despite their young age. They just wanted to be seen and given the chance to perform in the beautiful Queens Hotel garden.
“It was really nice of them to give up their time and make the effort. Hopefully everyone will enjoy their performances as much as we did.”
The full-line up can be seen here
Picture 1 – Amber Sutka,11, was the youngest performer at the auditions and will be singing
on July 9 th
Picture 2 – Established act Martyn James and Rob Richardson performing at the Queens in
2022
Picture 3 – Judging panel left to right: Paul Playford, Julia Worsley and Nick Courtney
Cherry Liquor, the face of Portsmouth Pride, popped in for a masterclass in cocktail-making from our Bars Manager, Sobhi Mazloum.
We are the official hotel of Portsmouth Pride and love nothing more than hosting Cherry and the Portsmouth Pride team.
Sobhi mixed his special cocktail named the Rainbow and Cherry was the perfect muse for his colourful concoction.
“I love nothing more than creating bespoke cocktails, “explained Sobhi. “We will be making these over the Portsmouth Pride weekend (June 10/11) and then throughout the summer.”
One pound from the price of every cocktail will be going to Portsmouth Pride and General Manager Paul Playford said he hoped the Rainbow cocktail would prove popular.
He said: “We are keen supporters of Portsmouth Pride and we hope our cocktail fundraiser will help to boost their coffers.
“It’s really important for the Queens to be a place that is welcoming for everyone and the Portsmouth Pride event is one of the highlights of our calendar.”
Related articles: Portsmouth Pride Photos Portsmouth Pride 2022 Official hotel of Portsmouth Pride
A new food industry networking event, Eat the Island, takes place on Thursday 8 June from 3 – 6pm at the Queens Hotel. It is for local food and drink producers, independent retailers and hospitality venues in Portsmouth and the South Coast region.
Eat the Island is a free networking event organised by Portsmouth City Council, Hampshire Fare and the Queens Hotel. It aims to bring together local businesses to inspire, create opportunities and celebrate the area’s vibrant food and drink culture.
The Portsmouth food industry event will offer producers the opportunity to showcase their products to local hospitality venues and retailers. It will help them to grow a sustainable and thriving supply chain in the heart of Portsmouth. In addition, there will be a programme of short talks covering good practice, increasing revenue and enhancing the consumer experience.
Jane Lamer Head of Economic Development and Skills at Portsmouth City Council, said: “Eat the Island is a new initiative resulting from our work to support local businesses through the annual Southsea Food Festival.
“By bringing together food and drink businesses, we hope to enable greater opportunities to work together and grow Portsmouth’s economy.”
Tracy Nash, Commercial Manager at Hampshire Fare, said: ‘Joining up the foodie dots is what we do best at Hampshire Fare. This is going to be a great example of this. We are delighted to be involved in this Portsmouth food industry event. We are very excited about the vibrancy of the food and drink sector in this region’
The event builds on the success of Southsea Food Festival and the city’s lively food and drink offering.
Paul Playford, General Manager of the Queens Hotel said he was delighted to host the first Eat the Island event.
“We are keen for our island city to be seen as a food destination.
“We look forward to working with other hospitality providers and local producers to put ourselves on the foodie map for the UK,” he said.
Related articles: Executive Chef Simon Hartnett speaks up for local produce,
Restaurant 1865 in the top 10 worldwide for restaurants
We are delighted to work with talented typographer and designer Sarah Fisher, who created The Portsmouth & Southsea Colouring Book.
The moment we saw the wonderful vector illustrations she created for her book, we knew we wanted to be able to offer children the opportunity to colour in Sarah’s delightful depiction of the Queens when they visit Restaurant 1865.
General Manager, Paul Playford, said: “We like to keep our younger guests entertained as they wait for their meal. Having such a great illustration of the Queens for them to colour in is just the icing on the cake.”
Sarah explained she had previously created colouring books for designer Cath Kidston and really enjoyed the process.
When she moved to Portsmouth seven years ago, Sarah had the idea of creating a colouring book for the city. In the process, she got to know her way round the landmarks and iconic buildings we all know and love.
“I illustrated 52 original drawings of scenes around Portsmouth for The Portsmouth & Southsea Colouring Book. I did this by working from photographs that I had taken. Then, I turned the detailed vector illustrations into an 80-page colouring book for grownups. I raised the money to self-publish the book via Kickstarter in Autumn 2017.” she said.
Copies of Sarah’s colouring book can be purchased from the reception team at the Queens. You can find out more about Sarah here.
Related articles: Queens Hotel working with Pete Codling, Ben’s colourful illustrations of the Queens Hotel building
Team members working across all areas of The Queens Hotel have received life-saving training so they know what to do in a real-life emergency.
The training was organised by Lara Hardwick via SADS UK who recently presented the Queens with a defibrillator. She was inspired to raise funds for the life-saving piece of equipment after her father Alan, a fit and healthy 67-year-old, had a cardiac arrest back in April 2022, when he was jogging in Southsea.
Lara explained: “Just 10.8% of people who experience a cardiac arrest outside of hospital survive. Taking 5 minutes out of your day to learn CPR from this easy link could help increase that number.
“Figures published by London Ambulance Service also show that when a Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) was used by a bystander and at least one shock was delivered to patients, the survival rate was more than five times higher (57%).”
Queens Hotel General Manager, Paul Playford, said :”We were delighted when Lara arranged for the defibrillator to be based at the Queens and this life-saving training will ensure that team members from across the hotel feel confident to use the equipment in an emergency situation.
“Our location close to the seafront and on a main route into Southsea means we are well placed to offer help, should the need arise. Our guests can also feel secure in the knowledge that we have this life-saving kit to hand.”
Pictured left to right: Head of Breakfast, James; Restaurant manager, Alfredo; General Manager, Paul, and Events Co-ordinator, Irene with Housekeeping Supervisor, Belen, in the foreground.
Related articles: Defibrillator now installed at The Queens Hotel
Our General Manager, Paul Playford, is swapping the comforts of a warm bed for a night sleeping under the stars at the CEO Sleepout, Portsmouth.
In his day job, Paul can be found looking after some of the top bedrooms in the city. However, on Thursday April 27th, he’s stepping out of the hotel to spend a night sleeping at Fratton Park, and it’s all for a good cause.
He is taking part in the CEO Sleepout at Portsmouth Football Club to raise funds for local charities tackling homelessness in the city.
“This is such a great cause and when I heard about the CEO Sleepout I was keen to get involved.
“I hope businesses we work with will support what I am doing, as well as family and friends,” said Paul.
CEO Sleepout has raised £3.5 million for more than 100 charities working to tackle homelessness in cities across the UK.
“I would really appreciate any sponsorship that people can give me. It will certainly be an experience sleeping at the football ground in a sleeping bag.
“But I am the lucky one as it is only one night,” he added.
To support Paul, please go to his Just Giving page here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-playford
Related articles: Running the Great South Run for a great cause, Queens Hotel team receives life-saving training, Queens Hotel receives Freedom of the City
Stephen Tennant stayed at The Queens Hotel!
As the official hotel for Portsmouth Pride, we have thoroughly enjoyed the LGBT+ History month posts from Portsmouth Pride celebrating key figures.
Accordingly we’d like to add our own favourite queer icon, Stephen Tennant.
A British socialite known for his eccentric lifestyle, Stephen was a member of the so-called ‘Bright Young Things.’ They dominated the headlines in the 1930s due to their extravagant behaviour.
In the post war years, he was a regular guest at The Queens Hotel. He was well known for holding court in the lobby, cutting quite a dash with his stylish flair.
In his book Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant, celebrated local author Professor Philip Hoare, described how Stephen was a much loved guest at the hotel.
“The hotel was Southsea’s best, with its impressive marble pillared hall, and stained-glass domed ceiling. It had, like all of Stephen’s favoured hotels, a quiet hushed air of untrumpeted luxury.
“He would take one of the first-floor rooms, with a balcony looking out over the promenade and green of Southsea, its castle and cannons and strolling sailors.
“One of the porters at the Queens, Charlie Taylor, remembered Stephen sitting in the lounge, gazing at the dome. ‘When I first saw him he was wearing a long fawn camel coat and a pixie hood!’
Stephen quickly had the staff under his spell.
‘He used to have his hair done at the ladies’ hairdressers in town – brilliant blond – and he wore crocodile skin shoes. One day he was sitting in the hall, and called me over. He asked me to take them round to the shoe shop in Castle Road and get them dyed pink!’”
Related articles: Portsmouth Pride photographs, Amazing day at Portsmouth Pride event
We’ve been delighted to work with talented student architect, Ben Cooper, who is a major fan of the Queens Hotel building.
Ben is currently studying architecture at the University of Portsmouth and as such wanted to interpret the hotel in a series of digital illustrations. Needless to say, we were delighted with the finished designs and colourful interpretation.
“The Queens Hotel is such an iconic building and one that everyone instantly recognises when they think of Southsea.
“Being able to interpret the Queens through this series of images, has been a reward in itself. I really like the way the building has changed over the years. I also love that recent renovation work has revealed such gems as the marble floor in the lobby,” he said.
Ben, 21, from Bishops Waltham, has just completed his second year of study. He set up his illustration side hustle last Summer.
Markedly he has been targeting independent businesses with interesting premises and The Queens Hotel was top of his list.
“Digital illustration offers you the best of both worlds. Its hyper-real effect sits between a photograph and an art piece.
“Colours can be changed in an instant and additions made with the least amount of effort.
“Having an architect’s eye, I can talk to people about their buildings and share their passion,” he said.
Since the age of 12 Ben has wanted to be an architect and says the subtle artform appealed to him because it is a creative way to earn a living.
Ben is already earning an international reputation with commissions coming in from across the globe.
Recent projects have included working on illustrations for the Coal Creek Miners Museum in Tennessee and golf-themed digital shop in New Zealand.
Looking to the future, while there are options to specialise in architectural graphic design, he’s keen to work as an architect and keep his architectural illustration site active.
We love Ben’s work and we hope you do too.
Related article: Sarah’s drawing on her love of the city
News that Portsmouth has been declared the second coolest place in the UK outside of London, comes as no surprise to the team here …
We might be biased of course but we think our island city is just the BEST…
And we wanted to share our reasons why you should explore the city during your stay.
We’ve got so many great independent businesses on our doorstep. And here are just a few of our favourite independent businesses in Southsea:
Strong Island Clothing Co. – Think super-cool seaside style. From their Marmion Road shop, you can buy everything from T shorts, bobble hats, sunglasses and a whole lot more.
Bored of Southsea in Albert Road – a skate shop with fine pedigree, they stock limited edition sneakers, boards and other skating paraphernalia.
Rose Clover on Elm Grove – House plants are the coolest household accessory and you are bound to find the perfect greenery for your home here.
Love Southsea – The brainchild of influencer Louise Whitmore, she has her own clothing label and additionally her markets allows local traders and artists to showcase their wares.
We have some wonderful cafes springing up all over the city. Here’s our pick of the best places for coffee in Portsmouth:
Southsea Coffee Co – Just down the road from us in Osborne Road, you will find this wonderful coffee house. They serve delicious coffee and a yummy menu.
The Southsea Deli – Great coffee, fab food, and lovely items to buy in the shop. Futhermore, you can often watch a cookery class going on at the same time. Don’t forget they have a cool deli truck at Eastney Beach too.
Baffled Deli in the heart of Old Portsmouth – the third outpost for this stylish business and well worth a visit.
Hunter Gatherer in Albert Road is passionate about coffee and their plant-based menu is truly delicious.
Hideout Coffee Company has a great vibe going on and the doughnuts are totally scrummy.
There’s a great craft beer and distillery scene in Portsmouth. Here are our recommendations for the best beer, gin and rum producers in Portsmouth.
Southsea Brewing Co – Based in Southsea Castle, a 16th Century fortification, creates small batch beers and sells them from their own pub, The Brewers Tap.
Staggeringly Good has built a fine reputation for creating great beer. Furthermore it has become known as one of the UK’s leading breweries ranking consistently in the Top 20 in the country on Untappd.
Urban Island was founded in 2014 and was voted brewery of the year by Portsmouth & South East Hants CAMRA.
Portsmouth Distillery Co. is also based in a fabulous setting, the pentagonal Fort Cumberland. It is certainly worth visiting as part of a distillery tour to see where they make their wonderful gin and rum.
It’s not surprising that a wealth of artists and makers have made their home in the UK’s 2nd coolest city.
Here are just a few that we particularly admire – the best artists in Portsmouth.
Pete Codling is artist in residence at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and a past winner of the London Biennale. You can read more about Crowd 2021-23 Pete’s current project in an earlier Journal post – a set of enormous drawings that will be a portrait of the city.
Colin Merrin is based at Art Space in Southsea and regularly exhibits in London. Essentially an oil painter, he is also an established watercolourist, he was elected to the Royal Watercolourist Society in 2009.
Kevin Dean has illustrated numerous books, designed textiles, ceramics and public art. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, he can often be spotted around Southsea sketching and his images adorn our room keys.
Jacqui Mair has added plenty of colour to the local art scene with her delightful floral collages. Her sketchbooks are so inspirational.
Roo Abrook produces contemporary mixed media collage using her own original drawings depicting mainly portraits of women and children.
My Dog Sighs after 10 years of giving his art away for free as part of the global phenomenon Free Art Friday project, My Dog Sighs has an incredible international following. With five sold out shows under his belt, he has become an important figure on the contemporary art scene. Some of his work can be seen from our garden.
Additionally Portsmouth is really well known for its heritage and a visit to the Historic Dockyard is a must (please ask at reception for details of discounts for our guests).
We are also a city of literature – the Portsmouth Literary Map illustrates where some of the greatest names lived and worked. Dickens fans can visit the museum that bears his name and follow the Dickens Trail
And Sherlock Holmes fans can find out more about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s connections with Portsmouth.
Photo credit: South Parade Pier by Kevin Dean.