Thursday May 13th, 2021

The wisteria is looking good this year, having had a good pruning. But the temperature for this time of year remains cold. What a contrast with the sweltering heat of five years ago on this same day, when my mother died in this house aged 92. Soon afterwards work began on the house to prepare it for use as a B&B establishment. Wisteria need warmth to bring out the delicious perfume of their blooms. Yet the weather is set to continue cold. Rhododendrons and azaleas are beginning to flower, and their Himalayan origins make them well suited to cooler climates. Still, the days are long, and the house and garden are coming to life again after their long hibernation. There is much to be done before the first guests arrive. Not least, to start a new yogurt culture. I never let my sourdough starter die. That has kept going all though the pandemic — in spite of the near impossibility of obtaining flour last spring.

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021

If all goes to plan, B&Bs will be allowed to dust the cobwebs off their beams, clean their windows, sweep their front steps, shake their doormats and, at long last, open their front doors to guests (from the UK at least, if not yet from abroad) from May 17th, except for Benenden Hospital patients who can stay at any time (please contact me directly). I expect that we may still have to wear masks and take precautions. Until restrictions are lifted completely in June, I will limit the number of guests staying on any one night to avoid mingling on staircases and corridors.

If you are a regular user of online agencies, note that you will not get the best deal there. For the cheapest rates, particularly when it comes to staying multiple nights, please book directly from this website. If you book via an online agency you will be paying a higher rate to cover some of the commission that the agency charges me. And booking via phone or email enquiries may cost you more too because of the extra admin time involved at my end in gathering information and inputting data. I may be feeling generous when I do the paperwork as the result of a phone call or an email enquiry and give you a discount anyway, but on the other hand, I may simply charge you the normal, base rate because it’s easier and quicker than doing the maths! However, if you use the booking buttons or pages on this website, you will be guaranteed that discount!

Tuesday, February 16th, 2021

The garden merges seamlessly into a large patch of woodland. There is no fence so, as far as animals are concerned, no boundary and they feel free to come and go and roam wherever they wish. This morning a group of stags appeared on the lawn. Family groups are quite common, but to see so many males together is unusual.

Friday, February 12th, 2021

The snow is beginning to melt away now, and higher temperatures are forecast for next week. Meanwhile, we have two regular guests for breakfast if not bed. Here’s one of them, photographed by my fabulous gardener cum groundswoman from her cottage widow, literally just a couple of feet away.

Sunday, February 7th, 2021

Snow is falling after a cold night. B&B guests are now a distant memory, and the Breakfast Room has somehow turned into a Project Room.

Friday, January 22nd, 2021

January is always quiet, and of course we are still in national lockdown, which means that in theory I am not allowed to have any guests. Exemptions include people who need to attend medical appointments and could not otherwise get home, so as this is the nearest B&B to Benenden Hospital, I am accommodating any patient who has self-isolated and had negative covid tests. But I am not permitted to serve meals in the dining room. I did not imagine, when I started this B&B, that I would have to go a whole year with virtually no guests, let alone serve breakfast on a tray left outside someone’s bedroom. My guest who ordered ham and cheese for his breakfast stayed here twice (the second time was for a follow-up appointment earlier this week), but on both occasions I never clapped eyes on him! He checked in remotely through an open front door and followed instructions. We texted and called out a cheery hello to each other through closed doors, but we did not even meet on the stairs. A surreal experience no doubt for him as much as for me.

The latest advice from the government suggests that restrictions for hospitality organisations may be in force until May. It is difficult to write news items about a B&B where nothing very much is happening.

Saturday, December 4th, 2020

Perfect timing as snow falls overnight, providing a suitable background to the decorated Christmas tree that was installed in the Dining Room yesterday. It’s just such a shame that this winter, few (if any) guests will be able to appreciate it.

Monday, November 30th, 2020

As we prepare to enter the last month of 2020, Georgie is showing off his winter coat amid the gold and rust hues of the surrounding bricks and vegetation. The whole of Kent is now in Tier 3 (the highest) as far as the coronavirus restrictions are concerned. Therefore, this B&B is closed to all except patients (and partners) at Benenden Hospital, who will have been required to self-isolate and take a covid test before arriving. To enquire about staying here if you are a hospital patient, please phone me on 077 1234 8342.

Saturday, November 14th, 2020

This week I had an unusual request, which made me rethink the nature of B&B. Instead of Bed and Breakfast, my potential guest wanted Breakfast and Bed. It had never occurred to me to offer such an upside-down facility, but the more I considered it, the more I thought what a good idea this might be in certain circumstances. The guest’s partner was to have surgery at the nearby hospital. They intended to leave home at 4 o’clock in the morning, but the hospital was limiting access to non-patients during lockdown. Partners were presumably expected to wait in their cars. Or at best in a depressing waiting room. Far better for my guest to spend a grey day in a warm bed after a good breakfast in pleasant surroundings until it was time to go home, hopefully after a successful surgical outcome. The booking agencies are not geared up for this kind of flexibility. To book a day room with access at 8 a.m. you’d have to book the two nights on either side, which would work out very expensive. But one-off, bespoke direct bookings like this would work equally well for health care workers or other night-duty staff who have come off an exhausting night shift and don’t fancy the drive home straight away.

Monday, November 2nd, 2020

In three days’ time we will go back into lockdown for at least one month. This means that the few bookings I had for November have been cancelled. After tonight’s guest leaves in the morning the B&B will shut its doors for a while to all except Benenden Hospital patients who have tested negative and/or self-isolated for the required period (if the Hospital even remains open to such patients).

It was already becoming difficult to manage my bookings as I was not keen on accepting guests from tiers higher than our local tier. Guests have to eat out, and the local publicans and restaurateurs would not have thanked me if a guest had brought the virus into this area, which until now has had few cases. The lockdown regulations, although not good for business, do at least enable me to avoid paying commission to agencies on non-existent income. I would not be so heartless as to charge guests cancellation fees on bookings that I or they have had to cancel at short notice, but I fully appreciate that online booking agencies, which after all have brought me most of guests these past three years, must survive. They have provided a fantastic service. I could not do what I do without them.