Open Air Business November/December 2016

ACCOMMODATION
The site is adults only, and I did
wonder if that would affect my
business, but I think it has actually
enhanced it. We get lots of people
looking for a kid free weekend and it
means we can leave them to get on
with it without interfering.
The people that come to stay are
looking for a city break that is a bit
different, so they are not the usual
glamping in a field in the middle
of nowhere type. We have a high
turnover of one night stays, but I
think that is a plus point as most
places in York insist on a two night
stay. The under 30s are our staple
customers and they cannot always
afford to, or may not want to, do
that.
How did you tackle getting
planning?
When we first looked into it we
didn’t need planning. The caravan
park already had planning for a
new toilet block, so I took that
over and paid for it, and we now
share it. However, the planners
then came to site for something
else and decided we should have
had planning permission, so we
filed for it retrospectively. As we
had taken down four huge derelict
poly tunnels to build the site, they
decided that as the site was actually
now more open it would pass easily
and it did. The only compromise
we had to make was adding bike
parking on site.
What other glamping
accommodation do you offer?
We now have the eight pods for
double or twin occupancy. We
converted our laundry cabin into a
rental cabin in spring 2015 and have
had a bell tent up over the summer
period for 2014 and 2015. However,
we have just changed it for a yurt
from BCT (that we saw at last year’s
Glamping Show), which will have
a longer season and has a more
usable space than the bell tent.
How do you publicise yourself?
We went onto Booking.com early
on, and to be honest have never
looked back. Yes, it takes a 15%
commission, but it’s only on the
bookings we get through the
website and we can also use its
booking matrix on our site, which is
commission free. I think it is the first
place most people look for a place
to stay.
We are also on a few ‘free to list’
sites, but between our own website,
Facebook, Trip Advisor and Booking.
com, we don’t advertise anywhere
else or really need to. We once did a
Wowcher deal, but I would probably
only recommend that for a start up
to get some quick cash in the bank
and get the name out to people.
How would you describe your
‘style’ or unique selling point?
Our unique selling points are the
fact that the site is for adults only
and that we offer a city break out
of the city. We have a bus stop at
the end of the drive and a park and
ride a few minutes away, so you can
come on foot and easily get about.
How did you choose your interior
decoration?
I travelled a lot in my previous
job and had always wanted a
holiday cottage. I also love interior
design, so it was fairly easy to
make decisions. Zip and link beds
were always on my hit list. I don’t
understand why every B&B and
hotel don’t use them. If we get a hen
party in, we just unzip them all and
we have twins, but they zip back
into doubles for the next night.
The sofas and other furniture
were dictated by size, cost and
practicality. We did start out with
some lovely unique throws and
things, but they all got stolen, so
we have gone down the Wilko, Ikea
and JYSK route so they are easy to
replace and not so desirable. It’s
sad, but that’s life. I was naïve to
think it wouldn’t happen.
All our pods are named after
birds, and we have tried to link the
colours to the names. For example,
Dove has grey furnishings, Robin is
red and Finch is green. We had to
stretch the imagination on a couple