4-star holiday cottage near Malvern, Worcestershire

Barn News

  • Four Star Gold Award for Rhydd Barn

    four star logo

    We are very pleased to announce that Rhydd Barn has, again, been awarded a rating of Four Stars with a Gold Award in recognition of exceptional quality within its star rating. Quality in Tourism, the assessment service for VisitEngland (previously the English Tourist Board), inspect star rated properties every year to ensure that standards meet their strict criteria. Here is are the highlights of their report:

     

    • The new gate provides easier access to the site and a new sign has been fitted. Fencing has been strengthened.
    • Investment has included the replacement of the arch window on the ground floor and blown glass has been removed. Wi-fi is a new addition for the property and will be appreciated by guests.
    • The public area space provided is very flexible and is offered across three floors.
    • In the public areas the wooden flooring to the first floor has been improved and the new rug presents well. The new standard lamp is a useful addition.
    • An excellent ratio of bathroom facilities is provided.
    • The kitchen has excellent flooring and lighting is also well positioned within this area.
    • The content of the guest information continues to be exceptional.
    • Great cleanliness standards were noted throughout the accommodation.

    This has only been possible with the help of our cleaner, our gardener and Rosemary’s sister Andrea. Many thanks to them for making sure that Rhydd Barn is a clean and attractive place to stay.

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  • Wifi at Rhydd Barn at last!

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    We are pleased to announce that the wifi service in Rhydd Barn is now working—at last! We hope that our guests will find this useful. The wifi password will be included in our instruction leaflet (sent to all visitors before their stay) and it will also be included in the information folder at the barn.

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  • Wi-fi at Rhydd Barn—but not yet (two months since placing the order)

    [soliloquy id=”703″]Many of our guests have asked us for a Wi-Fi service at Rhydd Barn. We are pleased to inform you that broadband and wi-fi will be installed within the next week or so. We hope that—if all goes smoothly—Wi-Fi should be up and running in the Rhydd Barn by mid April. A password for the wi-fi will be supplied in the guest information folder. [This post was originally written 6 April 2016]

    UPDATE (24 May 2016). Unfortunately, until today, neither Plusnet nor BT had succeeded in connecting us to a broadband service! Annoyingly, we had to wait ages for Plusnet even to answer the phone (20 minutes usually)—and we were subjected to raucous ‘music’. which sounded especially awful from our telephone’s speaker, whilst we waited on the line…  Today we finally have a telephone line that works (the latest thing was that mice had chewed a cable). So, now all we have to do is to connect the router… We hope this won’t take too long—but an error message came up when we tried this afternoon, so it’s back to the dreaded Plusnet tomorrow and another long wait on the line…

    We apologise to our recent guests who were expecting a wi-fi service.

  • Elgar Museum half price offer

    [soliloquy id=”708″]This year we are again offering half price entry vouchers to the Elgar Birthplace Museum.  The usual adult entry price is £7.50 per person so two people could save that! The museum includes the beautiful cottage where Elgar was born (pictured above), the visitor centre with displays about Elgar’s life and music, and also two gardens: a beautiful cottage garden and the Jubilee Family Garden where you can sit, relax, and even enjoy a picnic. The museum is around 20 minutes’ drive from the barn.

    Much of Elgar’s music was inspired by the Malvern Hills where he used to go for long walks—the very hills you can clearly see in all their beauty from Rhydd Barn.

  • New entrance gate

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    The single wooden entrance gate to the barn was becoming difficult to open and close. We have now replaced it with two half gates, pictured above, which meet in the middle. These new gates should be much easier to use and will hopefully last longer.

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  • New items for the barn

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    We have purchased a standard lamp for the upstairs living room to allow more flexible lighting options—it is especially good for reading.

    Also, a new small carpet, shown in the picture (right), to give a little more floor coverage. It is placed in front of the the french window.

  • Christmas 2015

    xmas2015

    The conifer tree at the entrance to Rhydd Barn has had its top removed and side branches pruned. Sheep have been grazing the meadow for a few weeks but have now departed. The Barn looked very attractive at Christmas with its decorated tree, side lights and banisters.

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  • Hedge cutting

    Rhydd Barn at sunset

    The hedge at the bottom of the field in front of Rhydd Barn has been cut lower and tidied around the gate and water tank. This has improved the views of the fields from the barn adding to the attractiveness of the site.

  • Four Star Gold Award for Rhydd Barn in 2015!

    Gold Award April 2015 Four Star Award - April 2015

    Rhydd Barn’s annual inspection for VisitEngland (carried out by Quality in Tourism) took place on 10 April 2015. We are pleased to announce that we maintained our Four Star Gold Award rating. ‘The overall score and that of the key sectional areas sit comfortably within the Four Star banding range or exceed guest expectations […] All the elements required for the Walkers Accreditation continue to be in place […] A Gold Award has again been achieved.’

    Here’s the ‘Highlights’ section from the report:

    The property enjoys a very good location and the ‘piggery’ provides a useful additional storage area. Externally the building is in an excellent condition with further painting having been completed. Some excellent views are provided. The accommodation has an unusual layout however this has made the public areas particularly flexible and spacious in relation to the numbers accommodated. The new cushions present well.

    Tiled flooring to the ground floor is excellent with repairs now completed and the bathroom ratio continues to be a key strength. A very good range of kitchen equipment is provided. Recess lighting where fitted has been very well positioned enhancing ease of use.

    Guest information is particularly comprehensive and collation has enhanced ease of use.

    Repairs and improvements are ongoing. For instance, we recently replaced  the ground floor picture window because the double-glazed unit had ‘blown’.

  • Elgar Birthplace special offer

    Elgar Birthplace Museum logo

    We have arranged a special offer for visitors to Rhydd Barn: a 2-for-1 offer for admission to The Elgar Birthplace Museum in Lower Broadheath, north-west of Worcester. Special 2-for-1 vouchers and brochures for the museum are in the barn. With this offer the price of admission for two adults (normally £15) would be £7.50. Refer to the museum’s website for further information about the museum. The museum is about nine miles away from the barn.

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  • Patio flowers

    Spring tubs outside the barn.

    Flowers on patio

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  • A few small repairs

    Bathroom - towel railbathroom - mirror shelf

    The photographs show that the towel rail in the bathroom, which had become unsafe, has now been replaced.

    At the same time a new glass shelf was fitted under the mirror above the washbasin which is more securely attached to the wall.

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  • Four Star Gold Award again for Rhydd Barn in 2014

    four star logoRhydd Barn had its annual assessment by Quality In Tourism on 11 April 2014. We are very pleased to announce that we have maintained our Four Star rating and our Gold Award (given in recognition of exceptional quality within a property’s star rating). We have also maintained our Walkers Welcome accreditation (please refer to the Walkers Welcome leaflet for more information about this).

    Some highlights of our assessment include:

    “The property enjoys some excellent views even from the ground floor windows”

    “Guests appreciate the flexibility of layout of the living areas in particular”

    “The barn is specious for the numbers accommodated”

    “Excellent standards [of cleanliness] observed—high and low surfaces are pristine and kitchen equipment and kitchenware is immaculate”

    “The guests continue to benefit from a shower room to the ground floor as well as an en suite facility on the first floor”

    “Guest information continues to be comprehensive and is up to date”

    One point that we have already improved on since the assessment  is to make sure that the emergency information is more clearly displayed.

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  • Flowering meadow

    CowslipsPrimroses and cowslips are flowering in the little meadow by the entrance gate to Rhydd Barn. More primroses have been planted this month.

    Bluebells are flowering at the bottom of the slope behind the barn in ‘the dingle’.

    The small white flowers of blackthorn are appearing in the hedgerows. A lovely warm sunny day after a cold and wet winter.

    I have bought an attractive set of new saucepans for the kitchen.

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