Updated 22nd July 2021

We’re delighted to be welcoming guests as planned to the Sheepyard Barn and log cabins and look forward to seeing friends and family enjoy a relaxing break together.

As you’d expect with most things at the moment, despite the easing of restrictions, we have maintained  some of the changes to what we can offer and what is provided in our accommodation to ensure the safest possible environment for you.

Firstly, we want to assure you that we have given this a lot of thought to maintain an appropriate balance between yours and our teams protection and the luxury holiday we always provide. We hope by letting you know in advance of these small, but important, changes you will still have a relaxing and peaceful break. 

To give you peace of mind, we have been done, and continue to do, a lot of work to ensure we have the most effective protocols in place to make our accommodation safe for you and our staff. We continue to follow government and leading bodies in the industry, adjusting our protocols in line with the latest advice. These are some of the actions we have taken:

• Reviewed our risk assessments and standard operating procedures to follow the latest government and industry recommended protocols
• Introduced additional cleaning and thorough disinfecting procedures
• Replaced our cleaning products with those that are approved to the standard that effectively 
• Introduced new cleaning products that meet the approved standard against coronaviruses
• Not meeting or saying goodbye to guests in person but expanding our range of digital welcome information and videos
• Introduced some small actions we’d be grateful for guests to carry out when they depart to help protect our staff

Most importantly, as per the Government advice, please do wash your hands regularly. We will be working hard to maintain a safe environment and need your help to keep any potential risk to a minimum. We thank you in advance for your support.

 

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FAQs for Holidays 19^th July 2021 Onwards

I have a booking with you for dates for July 19^th 2021 onwards, can I visit as planned?

Absolutely! We are open for business and have guests currently staying with us in the log cabins and Sheepyard Barn, enjoying a relaxing break. We are very much looking forward to welcoming all our guests here as planned.

We are, of course, monitoring the situation closely and should there be any change in government advice that restricts guests from travelling to us, we will discuss options with those impacted on a case-by-case basis.

I have a booking for the Sheepyard Barn but we are a group of more than six and from multiple households, can we still visit as planned?

From 19^th July 2021 the rule of six/two household limit on indoor gatherings was lifted so you can continue with your holiday as a larger group than six or multiple households as planned.

I have a log cabin booked but we are a group from different households, can we still visit as planned?
Absolutely! From 19^th July 2021, the rule of six/two household limit on indoor gatherings was lifted so you can continue with your holiday as multiple households as planned.

I’ve booked one of your properties – will we be able to use the hot tub?

Yes, the private hot tubs for each log cabin and the hot tub at the barn will be available for you to use. All handles, buttons and areas around the hot tubs will be disinfected prior to your arrival.

I’ve booked the Sheepyard Barn – will we be able to use the indoor swimming pool?

Yes, the private indoor swimming pool at the barn will be available for you to use. All handles, buttons and areas around the pool will be disinfected prior to your arrival.

Are there any changes to arrival and departure times?

To comply with enhanced cleaning protocols as advised by the Government and leading bodies within the industry which we are maintaining until otherwise advised by the industry body, our team do require more time between guests arriving and guests departing. Therefore, we kindly ask that guests arrive from 4pm as normal but depart by 9:30am.

I’ve got a balance due to pay, should I go ahead and pay it?
Yes please. As things currently stand, we do not foresee any negative changes to holidays being able to continue as planned, therefore, our standard terms of business, which includes the balance payment being due eight weeks prior to arrival, apply.

What is the situation if there is another national lockdown?
If another national lockdown is introduced, we would work with you to transfer your holiday to new dates wherever possible. If this is not possible, we will be able to offer a refund. We would contact all those impacted to discuss options.

What steps are being taken in your log cabins and barn to reduce the risks of spreading COVID-19?

The health and well-being of our guests and dedicated team is our main priority. As part of our standard operations, we have strict cleaning procedures for the log cabins and Sheepyard Barn, however, as you would expect we have implemented additional cleaning protocols to ensure the properties are effectively disinfected and are using cleaning products that are approved to the appropriate certification against coronaviruses. We have also made some small, but important changes, that we believe will help ensure as safe an environment as we can offer.

These include:

• Slightly earlier departure times to ensure the team have the extra time required to carry out the necessary cleaning protocols.
• Self check-in rather than us personally meeting you but we will be on site and on hand should you have any questions on arrival. We also have welcome videos set up with lots of information about the accommodation.
• Our Guest Information Folder will now digitally available to guests prior to arrival rather than having the paper-based version in the accommodation.
• Some non-essential or multiple items, or those that would be difficult to ensure their sanitisation, have been removed from the properties such as books, DVDs, games, etc.
• Supplying hand sanitisers, a certified cleaning product and new pump hand soaps at the kitchen sinks for guests to use if they wish.
• A change in departure whereby we won’t come to your accommodation to say goodbye but will be in touch to ensure you enjoyed your holiday.

We will be encouraging our guests to follow the advice of the Government and the NHS to play their part in reducing the risk of spreading the virus by washing their hands regularly, maintain good hygiene practices such as using tissues when coughing or sneezing, or your sleeve if you have no tissues, and disposing of tissues in the bin.

We are in a remote countryside location. We have some lovely walks from the door or you can soak up the views across the fields and meadows. In particular, our log cabins allow you to keep yourselves to yourselves in an isolated environment yet still get away and enjoy a peaceful break.

Here is some guest feedback from a family staying in our Sheepyard Barn for one week at the end of July 2020:

“I just wanted to say on behalf of my family and myself a very big thank you for everything you did to enable us to stay with you. We thought the high standards of the Barn were not compromised with the things you had to implement to keep us and yourselves safe during this very difficult time. 

The information sent to us prior to our stay was very comprehensive and clear and the videos were amazing, especially useful for our pizza oven experience! I cannot thank you enough for providing the perfect setting to celebrate my birthday and we all had a brilliant time. I will certainly recommend the Suffolk escape to others and look forward to joining you again in the future for another break.”

And some guest feedback from a couple staying in one of our log cabins for one week in September 2020:

“Once again we have enjoyed a wonderful holiday in ‘Southwold’. We were so lucky to have such lovely weather to enable us to really relax sitting outside in the comfortable seats and just enjoy the lake and scenery. The farm walk was great with a very welcome stop at the Golf Club!

 The small changes that you have made to cope with the current circumstances were not a problem and we felt very safe during our stay.

 Thank you all for your kind attention to us, we hopefully will see you again next year.”

 Can I amend my holiday or change my dates?
As we are open for business, our standard terms and conditions apply to all bookings. However, if travel restrictions are increased again and impact your holiday dates, please contact us to discuss your situation and we’ll do our very best to help.

Will I receive a refund if I want to cancel my holiday due to COVID-19?
As we are open for business, our standard terms and conditions apply to all bookings. However, if your holiday dates are impacted by COVID-19 please contact us to discuss your situation and we will do our very best to help.

What happens if I want to cancel my booking because I am worried about becoming infected with COVID-19?
We understand you or your family/friends within your group may be worried. As we are open for business, and you are not impacted by any government restrictions in place, our normal terms and conditions apply. This means if you choose to cancel, a refund will not be offered. Please do bear in mind that balance payments are not due until 8 weeks prior to arrival so we recommend you wait and see what the situation is at that point in time rather than cancelling your holiday now. Things are changing on a daily basis so it’s hard to predict what will happen and we’d hate for you to miss out on your holiday.

To hopefully help ease your concerns a little, we have new cleaning protocols in place that are aligned with leading bodies within the industry and the Government. We are also using products that are approved to the appropriate standard against coronaviruses. If you have any specific concerns, please do contact us so we can help alleviate any worries.

What happens if I need to cancel my holiday because I become infected with COVID-19?
Please contact us to discuss and we will work together to see how we can help.

What happens if I am not infected with COVID-19 but have to cancel my holiday because I have to self-isolate or I’ve been advised not to travel by a medical practitioner?
Please contact us to discuss and we will work together to see how we can help.

What should I do if I or one of my group feels unwell during my stay?
If you or anyone in the accommodation starts to feel unwell with symptoms of COVID-19, please contact us to advise us of the situation. Our number is 01473 652149 and our email is escape@suffolkescape.co.uk.

If you/your guest has acute symptoms such as breathing difficulties or life is at potential risk, please seek medical help urgently.

Immediate steps should be taken to book a test and all guests must self-isolate. A test can be ordered from – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ or call 119.

If your test result is positive, the current guidance from the Government is that you will need to return home to self-isolate immediately using private transportation where reasonably possible, unless you or any other members in your group cannot drive you home.

If anyone in your group shows signs of COVID-19 then we will need you to provide names, telephone numbers and email addresses of everyone in the party so that we can pass this onto the NHS as part of Test and Trace if it is required. This information will not be used for any other purpose.

What if I need to self-isolate whilst I am on holiday with you?
If you/your guest shows any signs of having COVID-19 and have taken a test to confirm whether you do or do not have the virus, please self-isolate (all members of your group) while waiting for the test result.

If the test result is positive, the current guidance from the Government is that you will need to return home to self-isolate immediately using private transportation where reasonably possible, unless you or any other members in your group cannot drive you home.

If anyone in your group shows signs of COVID-19 then we will need you to provide names, telephone numbers and email addresses of everyone in the party so that we can pass this onto the NHS as part of Test and Trace if it is required. This information will not be used for any other purpose.