No Dogs is Good!

Guess what.  Someone has found this blog useful!! A first!

Whitelady House is a stunningly beautiful house near Lydford Gorge.  It sleeps 12 people, and is run by my friend Kay, who has extremely high standards, and she has never received fewer than the full five blobs on TripAdvisor. Don't go there, now that I have mentioned it.  Wydemeet may not be immaculate, but it is right in the middle of the moor!

Well Kay invited me to meet her friends the other evening at the Trout and Tipple, so they could pick my brains about running a B&B.

I started talking to this couple, but found there was nothing much left to say, because they had read this Blog.  Hurrah!

I have had one or two further thoughts recently, though.  

One is that I have discovered my new 'No Dogs' policy doesn't keep people away.  Quite the opposite! It attracts them!  Other People's Dogs are a nightmare!  Worse than Other People's Children!  They bark throughout the night. They whine during breakfast. They have to be taken out at 6am, the tramping around disturbing everybody else who's trying to sleep. They smell, and pant in your face.  They poo in the garden.  And completely distract their owners who can't relax in somebody else's house even worse than if they'd arrived with a two year old toddler! Who wants to stay in a B&B stuffed with horrible stinky, hairy, muddy, Other People's Dogs? Yuck!  So the answer is - borrow ours! Yay, Twiglet!

Something else that has recently come up is that not only is Wydemeet probably the best centre in Dartmoor for walkers, but also for fishing!  Apparently you can spend a day happily trout-fishing the Swincombe, which is 100 metres from our door, for just a tenner, while your wife relaxes in the hot tub, reads a book, or chats to me.  And I'm told that all the best seatrout and salmon pools, such as 'Queenies', are all within a walking radius of Wydemeet.  No need to get in the car.  No wonder the original owners chose this spot to build this fishing lodge! And I never knew any of that! Yet only two fishermen have ever come to stay here, to take advantage of this extraordinary facility.  Where are you all? I even have one of ghillie Brian's last home made 'green flies' for you to try!

Another small point of interest came up recently, when some guests badly wanted to stay for only one night, despite our minimum two night policy.  Both parties readily agreed to an extra 50% charge.

And what should I do about single people staying?  I don't deduct anything from their bills, but try my very hardest to ensure that everything possible is provided and they can use the house as if it was their own home. I will even go out specially to any extra shopping that they might need.   Not a trivial matter from this location!