May 2008 Hello from Cornwall It’s May so it’s time for our bi-annual newsletter and although the sun is shining with clear blue skies today, the wind is blowing which is causing the most fantastic waves along the Coastline – really dramatic. Great for a brisk walk and then back to the hotel for a cup of tea or something stronger!
Whenever we write the newsletters, we are amazed at what has happened within a year. It’s incredible the change 6 months can bring. One of the most major changes here is that, after 10 years of helping the family grow and develop the hotels, Martin’s brother Chris will no longer be commuting on a regular basis from Surrey to Cornwall so that he can spend more time with his family. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Chris for all he has achieved over the years. The other lovely bit of news is that in October this year, Chris plans to marry Carol, whom he has been with for a number of years. We are all delighted for them both. As a result of this change, from 14th March we took over the management of both The Polurrian Hotel in Mullion and also The Fleece in Cirencester, which Chris was overseeing. Don’t worry – we aren’t going anywhere! Both these hotels have a management team in place already so it just means that Martin is ‘on the road’ quite a lot at the moment whilst I am at the Budock Vean during the day and juggling spending more time with the children with coming in to the hotel in the evenings to see everyone. We are very excited about The Polurrian and The Fleece and would like to offer you the chance to try out either of the hotels and give us your feedback as we move to develop and improve them. To this end we would like to offer all Budock Vean guests a 10% discount off either hotel’s standard published tariff, with a complimentary bottle of House Wine on arrival.
The Polurrian is great for a quiet out of Season break with some lovely local walks, a local beach and good leisure facilities or a lively Summer Holiday with children and grandchildren. The Fleece is ideal for a Cotswold weekend break, or a shopping trip as it is based right in the centre of Cirencester. So, if you would like to have a look at either hotel please log onto their websites www.polurrianhotel.com and www.fleecehotel.co.uk.
To book a break at either of these hotels and receive the 10% discount, please phone, write or email them quoting BVSpring08.
So, what else have we been doing in our spare time?! Well, in July 2007, we bought out Spiezia Organics which is a local business which we invested in 6 years ago, making Soil Association certified Organic skin, body and homecare products. Many of these products are used by Eloise and her team in Budock’s Natural Health Spa. Spiezia Organics was the first range in the U.K. to have Soil Association accreditation across 100% of the products. The products contain absolutely no man-made chemicals and are created down at Gear Farm in St Martin’s (about a 35 minute drive away). Gear Farm is well worth a visit as they make fantastic Organic pasties which we will soon be offering as part of our new Bar Snack Menu. Dave who makes the pasties there also has a Shop and Café on-site where you can buy freshly made pizza, cakes and lovely local organic produce. Or pop in and see Kurt and Lucy Jewson and the team at Frugi who make beautiful Organic Children’s clothing. If you want to buy any Spiezia products, as a Budock Vean customer, you will get a 10% discount on all Spiezia products. Either visit Gear Farm or buy on-line www.spieziaorganics.com and your 10% discount will apply on all products excluding gift sets, which are discounted already. If you buy on-line, enter bvspiezia08 when you go to checkout and your discount will be taken off.
Some of you may wonder where Martin is when you come to Budock, even if he is in the hotel. He has lost a little bit of weight recently and has now been renamed “the shadow”! Many people have asked whether he has taken up running too. This is definitely NOT the case but …he has taken up trampolining with Hannah and Molly who can often be heard shouting “Higher Daddy! Higher!” from the garden. It’s a really fantastic sight! I am going back out to run the New York Marathon in November to raise some more money for a Cancer related Charity. Many thanks to those who have already left money to support me. My aim is to raise at least £2,500 over the next few months so if you feel you would like to donate that would be marvellous. We were delighted to win the Cornwall Sustainability Award for Medium sized business for the second year running this year and on 8th May we will be attending the Cornwall Business Awards where we are a Finalist in the Customer Focus category. This is very much down to our wonderful team at Budock who make our working life so easy and work really hard in supporting us.
In terms of refurbishment at Budock, we have a new much larger terrace which overlooks the grounds and in addition we have refurbished several bathrooms with the plan to completely refurbish all of them over the next 3 years or so. Feedback has been great which Martin is pleased about – they are his “baby”. The hotel’s boat, Hannah Molly has been out and about on the Helford River and a couple of weeks ago Hannah and Molly and a group of their friends were there to give the boat a fine send off!
For those of you who are staying with us in September, if you are around on 10th & 12th September you may have the opportunity to book a trip on one of the Tall Ships which are visiting Falmouth. We have arranged two trips including a bus to and from Falmouth which will cost £58.00 per person. Spaces are limited and only available to hotel guests so if you are interested book soon. We are all well, still loving life in Cornwall and bringing our family up here. It’s great when we are not working to wander down to a local Cove with our girls and Kipper and go rock pooling. We have been here 8 years now and are celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary on 5th June. Many thanks as always for staying at Budock Vean, for all your feedback and for making our work so enjoyable. The winner of the prize draw and complimentary two night stay this time is Mr P Lethfead-Currie from Helston. Congratulations! We look forward to seeing you all soon. Best wishes Martin and Amanda Barlow