News

[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.

[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.

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.

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.

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’.