Bell Haven, 4-6 Bell Street, Swanage

Once again, time seems to have flown by – and it has been an eventful year! Trips to South Africa last Easter and the Philippines over the 2022 summer months were possible once again and it was great to catch up with my project management work after what felt like too long away.

There have been several changes for the rental agency as Travel Chapter has now taken over from Original Cottages, who took over from Wyke Dorset Cottages…. What this means in practice is that there is less of a local presence and far more onus on me as an owner to manage guests and mishaps… So far so good, but it feels a little less supported than knowing there was a local team ready to help.

A burst pipe under the floor in July tested the system (and me!) to the max. A major shout out to plumber Jamie Mcdonald who worked tirelessly to find and fix the problem, which involved rerouting all the pipework for hot water (yes, all of it) in an amazingly short time period before the next guests arrived. Unfortunately, my beautiful tiled wet room was the main casualty, along with the underfloor heating. I’m hoping that insurance will enable us to restore that room to it’s original state later in the year, but it’s functional for now. I might well ‘do’ the bathroom too!

Many thanks also to some awesome guests who were most understanding and accommodating while the watery drama deprived them of showers and interrupted arrivals.

Here’s to a quieter 2023 summer season!!

I’m always shocked when I see how much time has passed since I last updated this site. I guess we spend far more time actually at Bell Haven than online and on this site. So many of the things we do there – the upkeep and maintenance – seem so mundane that it doesn’t occur to me to write about it. But, we have set up a few new things for the 2022 season!

We have more cushions… (I’m not massively excited about cushions, but some people may be!) and a new set of very colourful crockery (thanks to an inevitable cousin, who helped smash the old ones – and I mean thank you, Jas – I like the new set!). We have new herbs, which are doing very well, and are planning to get a new bbq for outside; a few new pictures inside.

More, with the easing of COVID restrictions, we are able to include a few more ‘things’ in the house: books, games and a few more kitchen bits should be finding their way down from the attic soon.

At the time of writing we have availability in April, May and June, then not until September. Do have a look at the bookings page and we’ll hope to welcome you soon 🙂

It’s been a while since I updated this page but I thought I’d make the most of the lull during lock down to add a picture of me and Jo on Studland beach, in very wet and windy weather, sometime last December, when we were able to travel… (with thanks to Claire, who took the picture!).

Upcoming news…
It looks as if all Feb half term bookings will now be cancelled due to lock down, so we’re hoping that the season will pick up again from Easter. We have a lot of weeks booked out already so we only have a few slots left available this summer and none in August – definitely time to book now if you would like a week or short break in Swanage!

There is plenty of time in the Autumn, however – for now, anyway. Last year saw us fully booked from September to November which was very encouraging and really helped after having been closed until July.

I do want to give a shout out to our agents, Wyke Dorset Cottages for all the help and support they gave last year in managing the very unpredictable situation we were in – they were fabulous!

Well, Jo and I managed to return from South Africa, three weeks earlier than expected, on an unexpected repatriation flight. In a way it has been a gift of time, as we’ve been able to spend time preparing the house for the season that is now starting, finally, on 4th July!

There has been a lot to do – please see the guidance we received from Wyke Dorset Cottages, our agents, below. In accordance with these guidelines we have ‘decluttered’ the house of all but essential items. Unfortunately this means that we are unable to offer books or games, and the kitchen is a little less well equipped, but we hope that you will understand that this is for your safety and to enable our wonderful cleaners to do an even more excellent job.

On a much happier note, we were thrilled to have been given a new carved stone name plate for above our front door. Many thanks to Fergus Davidson (yet another cousin!) for this fabulous gift!

We are all having to adapt and deal with the impact of the Coronavirus and one of our most important considerations has been around changeovers. As always, our priority is safety, in this case that of our guests and housekeepers. Government guidance does not yet stipulate a mandatory gap between guests departing, housekeepers cleaning and guests arriving and so this has been a key area where we have looked for insight and advice from our medical consultants. Their view is that same-day changeovers are acceptable but that extra time will need to be built in to ensure the risk of infection is minimalised. We will therefore be changing our check out and check in times to 9am and 7pm respectively, allowing a three hour window after guest departure before cleaning starts, and extra time for the necessary additional cleaning measures.

What this means for our guests:

Maintaining a safe environment for all requires guest cooperation. Separate guidance is being written for guests, requesting they take some simple measures, before and during their holiday to help support the safe and continued letting of the property, including:

Before the holiday
– The arrival and departure times have been changed to allow for increased cleaning in their holiday home. If cleaning is still taking place when they arrive, they are asked to allow the cleaners to finish before entering the property.
– Thinking about items such as books and games they might want to bring with them as there may no longer be any in the property.
– We will advise them that we have recommended owners leave disinfectant and hand sanitiser for guests use, but they may like to bring these with them to use during their holiday.

During their holiday
– Following government guidance on social distancing and regular hand washing.
– Contacting us if they become unwell and are advised to have a Covid-19 test, so that we can take appropriate action to protect staff, property owners, suppliers and future guests.

Prior to departure
– Place all personal rubbish e.g. tissues and face wipes into a plastic bag and then into a rubbish bag before putting into the wheelie bin/dustbin.
– Stripping their beds and placing all bed linen and towels into a plastic bag prior to departure
– Loading and starting the dishwasher where available.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that 2020 has brought some unexpected developments! We are safely and very comfortably spending lock down here in South Africa, working very hard to look after 9 gorgeous babies and children alongside a fantastic team. We’re not quite sure when we’ll be able to return to the UK, but the plan was to return in late June! Thanks to Wyke Dorset Cottages, our brilliant cleaner Lucie and an inevitable cousin, we have been able to stay on top of the changing news and needs at this very challenging time.

Due to Covid -19, and according to Wyke’s emergency policy, most of our Bell Haven bookings through April, May and June have now been cancelled and we await the government’s briefing on when restrictions might end. Meanwhile, we’re planning to make a few improvements to the property while we have the time – a Hive thermostat should mean that we can better control the heating from afar (and have the house toasty for your arrival!) and insulating and boarding the attic should give us more storage space.

We very much hope that we’ll be up and running in time for the very busy summer holidays.

Along with Wyke, we’d like to invite people to think about booking a holiday in the UK in the autumn – why not come and stay at Bell Haven in September, October or November and put lock down behind us (we hope!). After all, our new thermostat arrangement should ensure a very warm welcome!

Jo and I went down in early December to put up our Christmas Tree in the window, ready for 3 sets of guests over Christmas and New Year. We have discovered that if we want a family Christmas in Swanage, we need to book in the Spring!

It’s been a good year for bookings and the New Year is filling up fast as well – friends, family and a host of other guests through the agency.

And in 2020…

This is also a good time to say that Jo and I are moving to South Africa for 6 months from 12th January, to help my Auntie Christine who runs Tshepo Ya Bana children’s home, just north of Pretoria. It’s a beautiful place, with beautiful people and absolutely gorgeous kids.

We are very happy to say that any Bell Haven bookings will help to support the work there while we are away.

We’ve given ourselves an early Christmas present this year in the shape of a makeover for our bathroom.

It doesn’t look massively different, but we now have an all singing, all dancing mirror with shaving socket (and demisting!!), an overhead light and a toilet and basin pair that match!

We’ve also added a shower rail and curtain for the bath, for those times when the tricky art of aiming the hand held shower whilst also trying to wash results in water everywhere. I don’t know why we didn’t think of that before…!

Jo and I are travelling down this weekend to put up the Christmas decorations. I have to admit, it’s not my favourite task, but mince pies and plenty of red wine should help. The house does look warm and inviting with lights up and a Christmas tree in the window, so my hope is that all our guests this season will feel welcome and at home.

A year has passed since we first started taking commercial bookings for Bell Haven. The lull back in September moved into fairly regular weekend bookings in the autumn, followed by two weeks of a Family Christmas and New Year when the door just kept opening to admit yet more relatives (even if some only came for the WiFi!)

January saw our beautiful old stove move out to another home and in February our new wood-burning stove was installed. The days of being smoked out and soot blackened may well be over, but warmth still lies at the heart of our home.

Due to popular demand we have installed new blinds and another stair gate – and for those of you for whom it matters, we even have a hair dryer.

In March our hard work paid off as we were awarded a very solid 3 Star rating by Wyke Dorset Cottages, with 4 Stars for Cleanliness (thank you Lucie Usher @ Care for You!). Just a few minor improvements will see us with 4 Stars soon, we hope!

Our Short Break option proved popular in March to May as people came for 3-5 days at a time. And now our summer season is starting again in earnest – there are only 2 weeks free between now and September, so check our bookings page and hurry!

And all of a sudden our first season is nearing its end…

The busyness of the first part of the year lulled as our first guests arrived and the agents and our fantastic team of cleaners took over from our previously very hands on approach.

Our first guests arrived in early June, while we still had time to make those last minute adjustments. Then we have had a full house for all of July and August which has exceeded our expectations for a first year of letting.

In general things have gone very well and from most of the feedback we’ve had people have enjoyed the house, aided of course by the fantastic weather we’ve had for most of the summer. Those who knew the house of old have loved the renovations and new features – particularly the wetroom :-). The addition of the washing machine and tumble dryer has also helped as families come back with beach-sodden towels and clothing. Other comments have been that the kitchen is well equipped, the cleaning has been excellent (with one hiccup when a guest brought 2 very hairy dogs) and that children have had a lot of fun, particularly in the attic bunk room…. (and, I heard, in the airing cupboard!).

So now the summer season is drawing to a close. We still have a few bookings in September but thereafter we’ll be able to take private bookings again, until 30th April. Our rates can be found on the bookings page – but if you’re looking for summer dates next year, please hurry as we’ve only got 2 weeks left for private hire!