Open for Business From 12 April.

I am delighted to announce Character Farm Cottages is now open again and we look forward to welcoming our guests back to our cottages. I think we have become used to receiving a huge amount of ever changing rules and regulations regarding the pandemic but overall I would like to suggest “common sense” prevails and will list here a few of the changes and protocols we will be using and expect guests to adhere to. We have all had a very difficult couple of months and our main objective is to ensure you all feel absolutely welcome and safe in our cottages and the stunning surrounding area and can enjoy your stay with us here in Dorset.

There are several industry standards appearing in conjunction with self catering holiday cottages indicating we are indeed following official guidelines. I have used the Visit England Good to Go Standard which shows we are applying with current gov guidelines and have a risk assessment in place regarding cleaning and social distancing.

Check in and check out times have changed to allow us more time for cleaning on changeover day. Just to clarify please expect to check in after 1700 on the day of arrival and check out before 0900 on day of departure. As per usual we will leave the cottage open for your arrival with the keys inside so just make yourselves at home. One of us will try to meet and greet you at some stage during your stay from a safe distance!

Please will you strip the beds and put the linen in bags provided before you leave. In addition please give some time to having a general clean around before leaving and also leave a few windows open to air the place. And speaking of linen, some of you have already informed us that they intend bringing their own linen. This is of course absolutely fine with us, however please just send a quick email to let us know before your arrival.

We will be following the latest guidelines on cleaning – effectively this will be based on a clean followed by a disinfect. In addition to our normal high standards of cleaning, all high-level touchpoints, such as surfaces, handles, remotes, switches, taps etc will be sanitised with a recommended viricidal sanitiser.   All hard floors will be cleaned with a recommended Log 7 floor cleaner.   The house will be treated with a viricidal spray throughout as we vacate it. At the moment we have decided to remove much of the literature and magazines that we provided in the past. We are trying to provide useful information on laminated pages that can be disinfected and also online as a section of my site.

It goes without saying, if you or any member of your party falls ill before hand please do not turn up at the cottage. If you fall ill with suspected covid whilst staying with us please follow the advice below:

According to UK Hospitality guidelines, if a guest presents themselves with symptoms or Covid-19 or is asymptomatic but declares the need to self-isolate, they should be advised to check out and return home to self-isolate according to current government guidance. If the guest has acute symptoms, has breathing difficulties, or their life is at potential risk, seek medical help immediately.

We do recommend you use the NHS Track and Trace app to record your movements.

Please be aware that we are now required to maintain records of staff and guests visiting our premises. Essentially this will be no more than the information collected at the time of your booking which we hold anyway in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). However the difference now is that GDPR allows us to share this information with the NHS Test and Trace scheme should they request it within 21 days of your stay. This is a voluntary scheme so if you do not wish your details to be shared with NHS Test and Trace please let me know. Further details can be viewed on the Gov Uk website by clicking here.

The games room will be open for one household at a time. The washing machine and tumble dryer are both available. Please bring your own bats and balls if you wish to play table tennis. Do wipe everything down with the supplied wipes after you are finished.

If you are at all concerned about anything we are doing (or not doing!) in relation to covid safety, please let us know.

As always we are on site should you have any problems – however we will endeavor to keep a low profile and meet and greet from a distance – ie outside. We probably will only consider essential maintenance whilst we have guests staying. You may well consider and feel happier contacting us by phone if you need to report any problems or concerns -Jane is the best point of contact on 07920554277.