An Autumn like no other

An Autumn like no other

We’ve had a Summer like no other this year. Now we are experiencing an Autumn like no other too. 2020 will be remembered most, I believe, for the efforts made by medical, care, and services staff putting on a brave front and soldiering on in the face of the coronavirus. Families and friends have had to to find new ways of connecting. We’ve all had to create ingenious ways of working – whether via technology; taking turns about in our places of work; wearing personal protective equipment as and when required; or simply keeping our social distance from those we meet or pass by on the streets. For a guesthouse like ours, we have had to do things remarkably differently too.

The inside scoop

Many things and ways of doing them have changed at Blenheim Lodge. Life everywhere seems to revolve around beating and keeping the virus at bay. All of us know someone we care about. All of us have a responsibility to take care of ourselves; and all of us have an important part to play in ensuring that we keep not just ourselves, but also all those whose paths we cross, safe. To these latter ends, we have tried our best to do our bit here at Blenheim Lodge. they range from social distancing to the way we “serve” breakfast. (In actual fact, we began delivering take-out breakfasts to guests by leaving them outside their doors when we re-opened on 7th July after the first lockdown. This has worked out well for our B&B, and we will continue to do this until we are able to serve breakfasts safely again in our pretty dining room.)

Enjoy a break at Blenheim Lodge

Blenheim Lodge is located within the Lake District National Park and offers rooms with incredible views of Lake Windermere and the fells. Recently, the UK government set out three tiers of Covid-safety levels for England, with various places in England being placed within a specific tier depending on how rampant the disease is in them. The Lake District National Park, our location in Cumbria, has been placed in the “Medium” tier of restrictions – the lowest tier of Covid spread and incidence. Blenheim Lodge is  therefore open for business – but with care!

Our letter to guests

One of the ways in which we are doing things differently is to write to all our guests as soon as they have booked. The “letter” contains information pertaining to how we are operating at Blenheim Lodge in order to help keep us all as safe as possible. When a booking comes in, we try to contact guests by phone straight away so as to let them know how we are doing things, ensuring that there are no surprises when they arrive. (Although this information is on our website, we do believe that there is nothing quite like the human touch – or, in this case, a friendly voice to inform and answer questions as necessary on the phone.)

When guests arrive

We like to welcome our guests in person. It’s nice to be able to put a name to a face and say a cheery “hello”! We show guests to their rooms just like we would normally have done, give them all the information they might need whilst staying with us and try our best to answer any questions they may have regarding their stay at Blenheim Lodge and in the Lakes in general.

When guests are staying with us

We ensure that our guests know that we are always happy to answer questions or to help with making their stay with us as enjoyable as possible in the Lake District National Park where our B&B is located. We can help with quite a number of things even if we don’t spend physical time with our guests in the same way that we used to before the coronavirus. For example, we can advise about places to visit; reserve dining tables for them in local restaurants; book activities and tours for our guests, and so on.

Saying adieu

It’s always nice to catch up with guests on their stay and say thank you and goodbye in person, and this is probably the part we miss most when guests depart because we miss the chitchat before departure. Unfortunately, we cannot have people congregating in the hallway during check out as this would compromise the ability to socially distance effectively. Check out is at 10 am or before as with most other local guesthouses. We used to be there to say bid farewell and collect the keys, but now guests drop their keys in a box specifically set out for them instead, and go their way. Nonetheless, they do go with our best wishes.

We live in hope!

Scientists are working hard to create an effective vaccine to fight the coronavirus. Or perhaps the virus may mutate into something less virulent. We can only pray and live in hope that people (and animals) somehow develop an immunity to Covid-19. 2020 hasn’t been a great year for the world thus far where this disease is concerned. Let us pray and hope that soon the world will have a means of not just tempering, but killing off the Covid-19 virus altogether. That, is certainly my prayer and my hope!

Blenheim Lodge . . . panoramic Lake views, peace and tranquillity, nestled against acres of beautiful fields and woodlands, in the heart of the English Lake District National Park.’