News

Thankful to be Open

After the craziness of lockdown and being shut for so many months, we were so grateful to have the green light to open on the 4th July.

With some new regulations put in place, to keep our guests, team, community and us safe – we flung open our doors, so to speak and welcomed guests with a vengeance.  After such uncertain times, it has been wonderful to see people enjoy themselves and have a change of scene.

Both the yurts and cottages here at The Orchard Retreat, have seen a variety of new and old faces and it has been really lovely.  Devon tourism is back – hooray!

The feedback has been lovely, not only are our guests having a great time but most have told us how safe they feel and thanked us for our reaction to the COVID pandemic. So lovely to hear, as I can assure your the build up to opening was pretty worrying. We didn’t know if we were doing the right thing encouraging people to come and stay. Morally it felt very confusing, but as soon as we implemented our new way of working and by adhering to the government guidelines, we felt safe to open.

The good to go scheme via Visit England was a great tool to help us know we were ready to open.  It was really impressive how the whole industry pulled together so our sector could try and resume so sort of normality.

Changes

By changing a few things in house, a later check in time and earlier check out, we have had time to really complete a deep clean of all accommodations.  Our guests have been so helpful by understanding these time changes by contributing to minimum contact, by stripping the beds and ensuring one family at a time in the communal areas etc. Thanks guys!

It seems to have been a really long summer and with the continued good weather and guests still arriving, after schools went back, we couldn’t be happier with how it has all gone.

With COVID numbers rising again and an uncertain immediate future for the country – thank goodness we had the summer for us all to feel a little bit more normal.

We are so grateful to our key workers and hospital staff for keeping the country going and our hearts go out to anyone who has been affected by this pandemic.

Keeping Positive

In the last six weeks we have all experienced something completely unprecedented – a global pandemic.

While our heroic NHS (click to donate) staff and other vital key workers keep our country from seizing up completely – we all have to stay at home, in lockdown, feeling a little lost, helpless and worried. Our hearts go out to those affected by the corona virus, we have been thinking of everyone.

So how do we remain positive during this difficult time? I mean, that is quite the question.  Being isolated from our families and friends, trying to work from home (if we are able) and homeschooling (if we are fortunate enough to have children) have posed a number of challenges.  All while incomes dwindle and we seemingly have nothing to look forward to (for now).  But brighter days will come.

Small Businesses

For us, as a small business, this should be one of our busiest times and it has been an enormous adjustment to not have any guests around.  The first time since we opened seven years ago. Having to navigate the cancellations, ensuring our guests don’t lose out financially, whilst juggling our cash flow has caused great anxiety.

But we have remained pragmatic – we’ve had to.  For us, that has entailed keeping busy.  Completing jobs we don’t normally have time to do and making sure everything here is in order. Our guests have been amazing.  Most have postponed their stays rather than cancel.  A real show of loyalty and a want to return, which is lovely.  This has defiantly been a positive for us.

Take Stock

This time has given us the chance to take stock and reflect.  I can’t say I have learnt any new skills during this time, although I have planted seeds and they have grown – win!

But what we have learnt, is that we are so we are so fortunate to live where we do, to be together and that we are safe and well.  All things to be happy about and for that we are so grateful.

But more than that, we are so pleased to be able to offer a lovely sanctuary to our guests when this is all over.

So with all that in mind, whatever you can do to keep happy, stay sane and get through this, know we are in this together and despite our varying circumstances, what a much needed leveller that is!

We are proud of our NHS staff and key workers and after all of this, we will be here, waiting to offer some much needed escapism when the lockdown eases and we can travel around more freely.

Staying Safe

Stay safe, stay well – do whatever is needed to get through this.  Here’s hoping for some positive news from the government on Sunday – as long as the time is right and the data allows for some lifting of restrictions, we will be ready and waiting for your return.  Fingers crossed for sooner rather than later.

Much love to you all

Vicky and Nick

The Cider Barn

For many years The Cider Barn has been heated by the old woodburner, which had a back boiler – this meant as well as pumping heat out into the living area, it also heated the radiators in each room.  Whilst this has been lovely and certainly a sustainable way to heat the property (we used our own managed wood source), we felt some of our guests would like to be warm without lighting a fire.

So in January, we had a wonderfully efficient gas boiler installed and the barn is now lovely and warm.  However, so as not to lose the sustainable way of heating the barn altogether, we jumped at the chance of using Calor’s BioLPG.  It is made up of residue and waste materials, is sustainable and renewable and is a step in the right direction to a greener gas. Go Calor!

Interior Update

Whilst we were at it, we made a few more interior updates, which we know our guests will enjoy. In fact, our current February half term guests are loving it and said it is amazing. Very cosy and smart and they love our taste, how nice is that.

So what else did we do? Well firstly, we had a third loo added in the large upstairs bedroom. There had always been a sink and given the size of the room, we felt there was enough space to take up a small corner, adding a loo with the sink and creating a small ensuite area.  It is perfect, just what we were after and looks brilliant. Actually, it is as if it has always been there.

We also wanted to add another shower.  There is already the ensuite shower room in the main bedroom downstairs, but the family bathroom only had an original roll top bath, a sink and loo.  So we found the perfect shower to go over the bath.  This means each bedroom has a loo and there are now two showers.  Perfect for groups of adults, or larger families to shower at the same time and get out in good time to explore the local area. Yay!

We also re enamelled the bath, so it feels shiny and new.

Added Extras

Finally, we also had a new highly efficient woodburner installed for added warmth. We updated the wall lights in the living area to give a more modern feel, added a new wall mounted smart TV, a new coffee table and another mirror here and there.  We also painted all the walls and oiled the floors.

It looks amazing and feels so gorgeous and cosy and we know these updates will help make the Cider Barn an even nicer space to holiday in.

Bookings are flying in, but please do check our availability and book directly, or email stay@theorchardretreat.co.uk for any questions. We would love to welcome you soon!

Our Season In Short

I realised I hadn’t written a blog for a while – time has whizzed by, but it is never too late to sit down and write about our season highlights hey?

As the weather started to improve in Spring, we welcomed many returning guests to the yurts, as well as some new faces. And so the season begun!

As ever, such lovely guests made it so much fun and when they enjoy their stay as much as they seem to, it really makes our job so worthwhile.  The feedback is always so positive, with the words magical, tranquil and special being used on many occasions. Lucky us.

Returning Guests

We had returning guests who now live in San Francisco and when they told their children they were coming to the UK for a summer break, they requested to have a weekend with us again.  Heart melt!

We were at full occupancy over the holiday periods and welcomed many weekend guests around the other weeks of the glamping season. Brilliant to see so many couples enjoy the peace and retreat away from their busy lives.

One guest, a paediatrician from a well known London hospital, took the time to take some night shots of the orchard and the results were simply stunning. @dancromb via Instagram – thanks Dan!  They also want to come back with their families, which is just lovely.

Highlights

We were awarded Silver by Green Tourism last year and having made some further steps since then towards being even more sustainable, we are well on the way to be being awarded their gold accolade. Fingers crossed this happens in the next month or so.

Funny loo roll has been introduced – well funny as in the name but not in their eco credentials.  Who Gives A Crap are just great and the recycled loo roll is really good quality. Light bulbs are being changed for LEDs, plus this year we have sponsored quite a lot of people raising money for various charities – a great part of our job.

We held a den building competition over the summer holidays, which was perfect for encouraging the children into our woods to play.  So many young children got involved, there were some lovely designs and two are still standing.  Maddy and I have been enjoying them ever since, so much fun.

As ever our outdoor baths are going down a treat.  People love them.  Feedback also says they are preferred to a hot tub, so that is great to hear.

There was of course the squirrel incident! A mother squirrel created her nest behind the shower, chewing though the hot water pipes to keep her babies warm. Clever, but a situation that made for a more hectic change over day.  Never a dull moment.  Luckily Nick and Maddy set to work saving the baby squirrels (their mother retrieved them after we exposed the nest) and fixing the leak. Amazing team work and definitely a highlight. I mean who doesn’t love a good animal rescue.

Awards

Finally both our cottages and yurts were awarded the Visit England gold award for our outstanding quality of accommodation &  contribution to customer service. What a delight, we couldn’t be happier.

Thanks again to all of our guests who joined us for another amazing glamping season, to our guests who are still enjoying the cottages and to our small team who help us get things done. Always something to do, but it’s really worth it.

Happy Autumn everyone!