Here it is – my 52nd blog of the year! Phew – managed my goal to do a blog a week (give or take a few days here and there).
Gosh, another year over so soon…
…it’s a sign that I’m getting old that these years just whiz by so quickly. Not so long ago we were spending several evenings a week on our sun terrace with our B&Ber friends enjoying a bottle of fizz, then we all got too busy to meet up, then it was suddenly winter, then Christmas and now we’re already looking ahead to Easter. A year seems to condense into a matter of weeks.
This year has been a particularly strange one as Torquay had snow (proper snow) for the first time in at least forty years and possibly the worst snow for nearer seventy. That left us as quickly as it came and gave way to a long hot summer which was a lovely time to live by the sea. Walking the dog along the promenade and having an ice cream was a lovely thing to do.
We’ve had a busy old year – Julian cooked over one and a half thousand breakfasts, we made nearly eight hundred beds, and I’ve made something like three thousand cakes, biscuits and treats for our guests!
We celebrated The 25’s third birthday in 2018 and it was a successful year for awards. It started in January when we were placed as 4th Best B&B in the Uk and 9th in the World by TripAdvisor in their Travellers’ Choice Awards. Later in the year we went on to be announced as Most Unique B&B of the Year in the AA awards along with a host of other accolades which keep on coming. Only a couple of weeks ago the Travel & Hospitality Awards gave us Luxury B&B of the Year in England award (2019).
TV appearances included the local news when covering the changing face of tourism as well as our award wins. We also filmed a pilot for a new show but we’re still waiting to hear if that will be commissioned. We appeared in many magazines and newspapers – mainly covering various award wins including The Sun and Waitrose Magazine.
The 25 maintained its five star rating along with its breakfast award from the tourist board and is still ranked the number one B&B in Devon on TripAdvisor. If you have yet to post a review for us it’s not too late.
All our rooms are now Smart enabled with voice control for lights, the TV, music, mood lighting and the air conditioning. You can of course also ask “Alexa” anything you like too.
As 2019 is almost upon us we are looking forward to next year with trepidation. Who knows what Brexit may bring but we’re well placed if more Brits holiday at home and if the pound slumps to an all time low it may encourage more foreign visitors too. We shall wait and see.
In the meantime, Julian, myself and Patsy would like to wish you all a very happy new year and we hope to see you again in 2019.
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