When renovating Town End Farm and setting up the Long Barn, we tried to put ourselves in the shoes of our future guests. We thought long and hard about what we thought people would need and picked the brains of lots of friends and family.
We’ve just come back from our first 2 weeks away in 5 years in one of our favourite places, Italy. We stayed in two very different Air BnB’s which made us think about how the Long Barn is set up. Both places were lovely but with very different hosting approaches. Neither was right or wrong; we all have different expectations. But it did make us think.
One place had the most uncomfortable sofas we’ve ever sat on but the most responsive host who made us feel very welcome.
The other place had really comfortable sofas and bed, but not even a bottle of water in the fridge for us. Which would have been much appreciated when we arrived at 10pm straight from the airport. And not a single instruction or guide on anything in the place. Which given some of the tec it had was a shame. Thank goodness for Ian’s IT skills.
Neither had any personal recommendations or local tips on places to visit from where to eat to where to explore.
As ever, we’ll be doing a few updates to the barn inspired by what we’ve seen. And making a few changes to our digital welcome guide to help guests.
Watch this space….
But it made us reflect as well on what we think we’ve got right at the Long Barn; some by happy accident and some by design.
So here is why we think that you’ll feel at home when you arrive at the Long Barn:
– Stylish comfortable spaces to spread out in as well as get together in the spacious living areas.
– Genuinely no short straw bedrooms: there won’t be the usual scrum to get the ‘best’ room (or avoid the worst one…)
– A welcome hamper packed with goodies including homemade lemon drizzle cake for a cup of tea or roost coffee. With milk in the fridge for that cuppa.
Three reasons we think why the kids will feel at home:
– The West Barn, a gorgeous games room space away from the grownups with table football and table tennis.
– The two PS4s – one in the Long Barn and one in the West Barn.
– Fast Wifi throughout and Sony smart tvs in every bedroom
(plus instructions on how to use all of them in our digital welcome guide, although we suspect that if you’ve brought your kids, they’ll be showing you how to use them)
If you’ve stayed with us, and can think of something that we could do to improve the Long Barn, please let us know. We now has a downstairs walk in shower, outside small tables and umbrellas thanks to guests feedback.
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