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Review of 2013

Tuesday January 7th, 2014 |Fiona

To start off, I feel the need to apologise. My new year resolution for 2013 was to write a blog every month about what was happening here at Gwaenynog. Well, I got as far as the snow in March/April, but then fell behind – and didn’t recover! So, once again my resolution is to be more consistent, but I’m not to beat myself up over it either. My aim is to do quarterly ones if I get sidetracked during the year. I’ve been told that self-imposed pressure is the worst of all…

Camping

Anyway, our year was due to get off to a grand start with a group which included campers and B&B guests just after Easter, however that was scuppered due to the snow. The B&B guests still came, but because of the temperatures and snow, we had to cancel the camper – the toilet block was not going to be connected, due to the low temperatures.

A surprise to me has been the number of new campers who stayed with us. I shouldn’t be, as it’s a great way to holiday and can be pretty inexpensive, especially these days when every penny counts. One family came for one night, having just bought their very first tent, then returned to spend a week with us – all 5 + 2 dogs! And they plan to return next year. We’ve had a real mix of groups, from families attending weddings – so some were in the B&B as well as camping – to people from Germany & USA who saw our sign and decided to try us, to small groups of friends here to spend the weekend. As I said, a real mix.

B&B

The variety of guests and the reasons for their visit continues to surprise me – from those having a birthday treat overnight without the kids (Grandparents were babysitting), to those who are just stopping over on their way somewhere else (a mistake they’ve admitted, as there’s so much to see in Mid Wales and are planning to return!), to those who are just looking for a quiet break; some are even here to see the sights.

And then there are those who are here for a particular reason – say a local wedding, a family gathering of some sort, as well as those visiting for a meeting. One such guest attending a meeting was one of our latest to arrive – we’ve had a few for a variety of reasons, including a regular, but this one was what you’d call a late arrival! They didn’t even leave London till about 8pm, when they called. They finally arrived about 3am. Norman offered to sit up and wait to greet that one!

I’ve decided to be more careful about what I put in my blog, as one guest even apologised for booking the superking for only the one night – because I would have to iron it. She’d read my blog and felt guilty… So, please don’t – it just goes with the job. Anyhow, I now have a wonderful ironing lady who does the sheets for us! When telling someone about this when we were away for Christmas/New Year (yes, we take holidays too!) they were shocked that we ironed all our sheets… I have to say, there’s nothing quite like beautifully laundered bedding when you go away. What you do at home is usually the easiest/quickest (go on admit it!) and going away it becomes a treat – it’s definitely something that I look forward to.

The heat wave of June/July – and into early August – was a wonderful surprise to us. We knew how lovely it can be here, as we’ve had some marvellous months in previous years, but nothing really to compare to the 30°+ temperatures we had – the seating on the patio (shown left) was put to more use than ever before! As a help, I decided to invest in some fans for the rooms, although the house is made of stone and is lovely and cool when its warm outside, it can still get warm upstairs, and as the nights were 20°+ as well, with no wind to speak of, it made for some clammy nights. The guests here at the time all said how much they appreciated it. Just goes to show that we try and think of everything.

So, here’s to 2014 and we hope to see you again, whether you’re a camper or a guest in the B&B.

Happy New Year to our guests, both from the past and in the future.

from

Fiona & Norman, and Bonnie & Beau.