Home Farm Cottages

Spring Newsletter

26/05/2020

Lockdown and the long awaited phased release

As you will be aware we at Ness Castle Lodges in Inverness and Home Farm Cottages in Glendaruel have been in lockdown since the second week in March.

Our time has been filled in recent weeks with bookings management and we are so grateful to customers who have rebooked for next year and who are looking forward to their break when the green light is given to visit.
 
On the pandemic itself, whilst supporting the efforts of the UK and Scottish Governments in terms of carefully monitoring the science and health data, we also have an eye to economic recovery and when our lodges might be available for occupation.  But, I emphasize that we will only do this when it is deemed by our Governments to be safe to do so.
 
We also appreciate the forbearance of our teams, the back-up supply chain and our suppliers as they have all been equally impacted by this event that we’ve not seen in terms of health and safety since the 1918 Irish flu outbreak.
 
On Home Farm Cottages, in Glendaruel, which still looks glorious no matter the weather, our team are helping to keep the grounds in pristine condition, as you would expect.   Repairs and maintenance is being carried out around the Estate thus retaining its ambiance and in as perfect a condition as possible to present when visitors re-join us in Argyll.  There are one or two elements we need to address in terms of social distancing and these will be obvious in that we can't allow the games room to be multi-family users, but we will be introducing a scheme to try and address that as we move through the spectrum.

We are also looking at social distancing controls but our layouts give a degree of security in that nobody is immediately adjacent to others with plenty space available to meet the criteria planned.
 
Our turnaround teams will also be tasked with going the extra mile in terms of using recommended products to ensure that every  changeover has new procedures to keep pace with the various recommendations which are coming out and targeted at our industry.  So we need our Governments, Scottish and UK to release travel restrictions to enable guests to book and visit.

All attractions in Scotland, akin to England, Northern Ireland and Wales, will also have restrictions, but the operators are well skilled on how to do this so I would anticipate this being undertaken as we emerge from lockdown as well.
 
All of the good food destinations around Argyll’s secret coast are raring to go and the message from them collectively is ‘haste ye back’.
 
At Ness Castle Lodges in Inverness, we have obviously adopted the same positioning as Home Farm Cottages in Glendaruel, with our caretaker not furloughed thus able to concentrate on Estate maintenance, lodges maintenance and generally keeping Ness Castle Lodges up to its expected standards.
 
The Capital of the Highlands is missing greatly the early spring tourism visits and it is important that they would like to welcome you back to the area also for a relaxing fun filled holiday, staying with us on the banks of the River Ness not far from the centre of Inverness itself, and indeed the iconic Loch Ness.
 
As with Home Farm Cottages in Glendaruel, in terms of its games room, we have to address the social distancing challenges  at Ness Castle Lodges on the gym, steam room and hot tub and I suspect we will have difficulties with these aspects as the rules unravel.
 
Nevertheless, we will keep the visits to Inverness as memorable as they have been in the past and to many visitors, an experience where they go away saying they enjoyed themselves and book again to return.
 
Over the piece, we have been in business for over 20 years in Home Farm Cottages in Glendaruel and 15 years at Ness Castle Lodges and I think we offer a product which is first class in terms of its target markets, its ambiance, the standard and the service from the teams on site.

As a family and team,  we really enjoy reading the comment cards and visitor books to see what people  are saying about our products and I have to say its most encouraging as we analyse what a visitor thinks of their stay.
 
Lets hope all four Governments in the UK have a collegiate approach and eventually move towards the stepping stones to recovery to enable normality to return to our society and in the leisure industry to help us have a balance of work and leisure and, this year, largely on our doorsteps whether it be Wales, Northern Ireland, England or Scotland.
 
Thank you for reading this and we look forward to welcoming you to Home Farm Cottages in Glendaruel or at Ness Castle Lodges in Inverness.

Kind regards, 

The Sutherland / Campbell Family 


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