Blog

When Can You Holiday?

Dear Trimstone Manor Friend

I hope that you have been keeping safe during these surreal times and when the tragedy of so many friends and families having passed-away is there as a shadow behind us all.  However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel now and that’s good news!

WHEN CAN YOU HOLIDAY?

Well, received wisdom says things can begin again on 4 July.  Holiday providers will have rules and regulations to follow for themselves and their guests, including pre-arrival declarations about your health.  Special rules and regulations will apply for facilities and hand sanitiser will be ‘everywhere’ for your use.

I don’t believe there will be a sudden surge in visitors but conversely, the summer could result in hordes of people all wanting a  break from being cooped-up and a shortage of available accommodation especially as travelling overseas is likely to still be very difficult or not recommended, especially if you have any sense of prospective vulnerability.  Prices could be ramped-up too as many places won’t be open and the demand could be fierce so don’t delay a booking!

We have had very few enquiries and only a couple of sets of key workers – including three chaps having to make physical repairs to a wind turbine!  We have been able to isolate them and leave the rooms untouched for enough days to dispel any worries about the virus.

So in short, we are ready to start helping you enjoy your Cottage or Hotel break (though we are avoiding food provision initially).  Adding a big dose of ‘common sense’ for all of us and for you too as well as remaining alert and aware are going to be the right and best way of enjoying your stay.  We look forward to seeing you!

NATURE UPDATE

This year, we seem to have been blessed with perhaps the most ever song birds etc we have witnessed, including nesting wrens, Great Tits, Blue Tits, House Sparrows, Gold Finches, Blackbirds and Robins and mostly in the climbers on the front of the Hotel.  We don’t have a cat and I think there is only one in the whole hamlet and that ensures naïve fledglings have the best chance of survival (three little wrens right outside and which would have lasted no time at all last weekend).  We have to watch the very clever Jackdaws however as they can be very nasty corvids, only doing what is in their nature but there are too many of them really).  At least we are devoid of rats and grey squirrels which will clear whole hedges and woods as they eat eggs and fledglings for a pastime too.

And lovely too to hear a cuckoo here – the first one I can recall since we arrived – they are now so scarce (and primarily because their main food sources are also scarce).  We may have head a Nightjar one evening too – in the distance and should have loved to have seen that one – never before here.  What with Bee Flies and several rare Oil Beetles, it’s been a good spring/early summer and there have been more butterflies than usual – especially the early Orange Tip.

We’ve also had Ravens including a nesting pair and I have to say the first time we have ever heard the female (I believe!) making a ‘plonk… plonk’ sound!  We wondered what on earth it was but yes, that was it!

Our gorgeous resident Peacock ‘Albert’                                                                                                    

 

Gardens are ready to welcome visitors!

AWARDS

Thank you to ‘Hotels Combined’ for giving an award to us!  We have just been granted its “Recognition of Excellence Award for 2020”.  The Company says:- “HotelsCombined is a hotel price comparison website that was recently announced as the Best Hotel Booking Site for 2020 by Frommer’s. Its goal is to make sure its users can find and book their stay in the top properties and now Trimstone Manor Country House Hotel is recognised as one of the very best.”

THE FASTEST WIFI IN THE WEST?

We still have the fastest holiday accommodation wifi in the North Devon and Exmoor area!   At large cost we upgraded to go fully fibre-optic for better business effectiveness, staff efficiency and responsiveness.   No, this is not ‘just’ a wired connection to the nearest roadside box but a super, unique fibre optic link direct to the local Exchange with Ubiquity ‘Enterprise Grade’ equipment.  It has proven invaluable during lock-down…

The Hotel and cottages had slower speeds than two-thirds of the Country but now faster speeds than 99% of the rest!  We have always believed in free wifi – whether residents or the cream tea or coffee visitor.  In fact I’m angry when we travel and find complicated access processes or extra fees.  People on holiday need reliable and speedy internet.  When I am away, I need to work and many others do too.  For entertainment – or for their children, it is important and so there are no access restrictions on broadband width for guests either as they can experience elsewhere!

This is not only for tourists but for business guests too.  The wifi and mobile signals nearby are pretty poor and not reliable so the frustration some face when they do their work won’t be found here.  We shall also be open for conference facilities too when we can so imagine streaming presentations – no interruptions or slow speeds – plus reliability and all of your delegates having great, free wifi.   The facility will encourage more guests (even out of season for those escaping for work projects to enjoy the surroundings too) but more morning coffees and afternoon teas as these guests have direct free access too.

So come and stay a night and see.  Average Broadband download speeds in the UK are 46.2mbps and upload speeds of 6.2mbps. Trimstone’s speed is 300Mbps download and 30mbps upload.  Our internet means you can download an Ultra HD film (70gb) in 31 minutes compared to 3.24 hours on the average speed.

Looking forward to seeing you sometime!

Our very best wishes and keep safe meantime!

Philip & Helen Milton