The Great Glamping Staycation 2020
Well, that was a crazy old summer, wasn’t it?!
October: we wave goodbye to our last guests of the glamping 2020 season
Lungs full of fresh air, bellies full of good food, and hopefully with enough happy memories to carry them through the long nights of winter. Because winter is definitely on its way isn’t it? And this year winter, like pretty much all of 2020, is a slightly more daunting prospect than usual. So I thought I’d take a moment to look back over this strangely short summer season and remember all the good times we have had, think about what we’ve learnt along the way, and kick off our planning of new outdoor events and safely distanced gatherings in the fresh air near London for 2021.
Looking forward to an exciting 2021 glamping season
Closing the site in 2020 has all the usual emotions but, like everything in this crazy world we now live in, those familiar emotions seem somehow heightened this year; more extreme.
Since opening Home Farm Glamping in 2015, October has always brought mixed feelings for me. Closing down the site and packing everything away now symbolises autumn for me, and I’ve learnt to relish the huge wave of emotions that always hit me; sadness at another summer passing, joy at all the guests we’ve welcomed, pride in my team for carrying Home Farm Glamping through another year, relief that we’re all about to get a well-earned rest. There’s also lots of excitement at all the new ideas we’ve had, that we can work on over the winter to make a reality before we reopen in April 2021.
It’s all about the team
Most of all Home Farm Glamping is nothing without the people who work here. I am so proud of our core team of hosts, changeover staff and maintenance team. In a year when everyone else is being advised to work from home to stay safe, they came in every day with a joke for the guests and never flinched at the inevitable risks involved in meeting and greeting new people every day.
A quick note here to mention that, as well as the obvious and vital precautions we took with our risk assessment, new Covid-19 procedures and PPE, I also had the ace incentive up my sleeve of delicious cooked breakfasts and croques monsieurs, from our wonderful resident caterers @chefsainlo, to entice them into work!
Feeding the glamping spirit
Talking of food, what an amazing job Sainlo Events have done feeding our glampers throughout the season! We have worked with husband and wife team, Colleen and Head Chef Jean-Luc Sainlo, for several years now and it is always a pleasure. This year, in the face of their staple event and wedding catering jobs abruptly being cancelled, they managed to pivot to tend to our fully-booked glamping crowd, providing truly memorable feasts at our on-site glamping cafe ‘The Meadow’ for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and our special supper club events.
As well as allowing us to support a local business we love, we were also thrilled to be able to offer our guests a break from ALL THE COOKING that lockdown has caused. We had overwhelming feedback from all of you that a holiday this year had to involve someone else doing the hard work, and Sainlo Events certainly did that in their own beautiful way.
Expanding our network - local businesses pulling together
In a year where local businesses faced venue closures, this summer we opened our doors to invite like minded locals to offer our guests unique experiences while at Home Farm Glamping.
These included smartphone photography safaris, bushcraft lessons, archery classes, massages with a view, spa wellbeing sessions, outdoor yoga, wildlife and bat walks. These relationships have been so rewarding in a period where so many self-employed people are struggling to keep their businesses going. At Home Farm Glamping we were so thrilled to be able to offer them a place to continue providing their wonderful skills, and to offer our guests some much needed them-time to recoup their strength, steady themselves in this uncertain world, and build memories to look back on in the future. These are relationships that we know we can build on to improve the experience we are creating for our guests and also build a community that people love to join.
Familiar faces and first-time glampers
I always feel very happy thinking back to all the guests we’ve welcomed and got to know during the summer, and this is another emotion that has been even more intense this year.
Familiar faces booking back in to come and see us and a huge new audience choosing us as a place to escape from lockdown, reunite with their families, and release their children into the countryside!
It is hard to put into words how much it means to have had so much support, both during the period we were forced to close and cancel bookings, and continuing once we were allowed to open.
A staycation whirlwind
Now looking back from the end of the season, the difficult days of April, May and June seem a long way off. In reality we only got through those days because of all the messages our guests sent us encouraging us that, as soon as restrictions were lifted, you would all come and visit.
And come and visit you did!! Wow!! From the moment we were finally allowed to open on 4th July we were fully booked, and by the end of July we had a patiently waiting waiting list of over 500. At some stages the enquiries were coming in so fast I had to take on a new member of staff just to be able to respond to you all!
Anyone working in hospitality will tell you that going from closed to fully booked in 24 hours, especially in the middle of a pandemic, is a fairly overwhelming experience, but my team rose magnificently to the occasion and all our guests made it an absolute joy.
Thank you for your support and encouragement
So this blog is really a huge thank you to my team and all our guests, and all of you who wanted to come but didn’t quite make it. It’s been a rollercoaster and we couldn’t have done it without you all.
We now have a moment to draw breath, consolidate what we’ve learnt over the season, and then start planning for 2021. We hope you’ll keep in touch while we are closed and we always love hearing any feedback or ideas you may have. Sign up to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and keep an eye on our What’s On page for details of all the outdoor music events, inspirational speakers, workshops, retreats and supper clubs that we are planning for 2021.
For the time being at least it seems like staycations are here to stay, and at Home Farm Glamping we are proud to be able to offer the Great British public the perfect excuse to get outside into the Great British countryside.
Jess, Founder, Home Farm Glamping, jess@homefarmglamping.com, @homefarmglamping
