How our guide evolved
You know those jobs you’ve circled for a while, and then once you finally finish them you think, “I wish I’d done that sooner?” Well, our digital guest guide was exactly one of those.
During lockdown, we finally got around to creating it. Before that, we had a paper guide that just kept growing and was hard to keep up to date. It also meant we couldn’t include any handy links for guests. Our digital guide took many hours to get it set up, but it’s been a real game-changer for our guests ever since.
The paper binder was gone and our digital guide was finally on the Long Barn’s own iPad. We especially love that you can add it to your phone, so it feels like you have all the information as an app. That way, you can easily check out places nearby to visit when you’re out and about.
For us, it’s so much easier to keep the guide current. And it helps with our ethos on sustainability by reducing the paper we use.
Before you arrive – everything you need to know
We’ve been using our digital guide since 2020. We’re always tweaking and refining it based on guest feedback. You’ll now find quick links right on the welcome page for things like directions, check-in details, and our catering recommendations. We hope this makes finding all the important information as easy as possible before you even get here.
Live like a Local – our tips and hidden gems
Keeping in touch with local businesses we recommend has been a challenge. Especially in current times as sadly some close, but also new kids on the block arrive. We only recommend places we’ve personally visited; it’s a hard job but someone has to do it.
So our guide is packed full of our recommendations of places to eat, visit and relax in. You’ll find suggestions of the best butcher and farm shop alongside where to go for a slap-up meal. Every entry is linked to the google page or web site so that you can check out opening times and current information.
We even include our favorite walks, but don’t worry, we still have paper copies and maps at the barn for you to take with you.
New Pages
We’ve added some new pages as well
- “Celebrations” – where you’ll find all the options for a special celebration from decorations to catering to a photographer. We’ve also linked to some of our blogs with tips and suggestions on how we can help make your celebration perfect.
- “A Perfect Day” – full of suggestions for specific days out from “a day with something for every generation” to “A Wet Day”.
- “Sustainability” – which covers our approach to sustainability and how guests can help.
New Chat Feature
Recently Touch Stay, the company who host the guide introduced a Chat Feature. Whether it’s searching for the wifi code or a local pub recommendation, it can find the appropriate section in our guide and direct you to it. It’s still an experimental feature and doesn’t always get it right. But it has improved the basic search function massively.
The Human Touch
We love using technology that makes life easier, but we also know that some of our guests would rather just speak to a real person. We are always here to answer your questions, offer suggestions, or help with any problems. Sometimes it’s just easier to talk it through, and we really do love chatting to our guests.
Whatever works for you, we want to make sure your stay is absolutely perfect and take the stress out of organizing a large gathering.
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