This weekend I am off to the northern Yorkshire Dales for a bit of a cushy break - aiming to spend two nights in nice hotels.
No! Not for me the thrashing of Wanda's flanks in the wind and rain or the boggy paddle though the marsh-grass at five or six in the morning to answer the call of nature...
No. Not this weekend anyway. I shall be living it up in a bit of luxury for a change. I shall be taking the plimsolls for an outing as well to see how they get along as the weather forecast is, shall we say, "mixed"...
I stayed at the first hotel, Keld Lodge, of this weekend's trip back on my LEJOG in 2007, when it was newly opened and they still had carpenters and decorators in, finishing it off, and always promised myself a return trip. It will be interesting to see how it is now - it was lovely when I stayed there before. It used to be the Youth Hostel, but amazingly the YHA couldn't (or wouldn't?) make it pay (at the junction of the Coast to Coast and Pennine Way!) and sold it off to fund a huge gap in their balance sheet following the Foot & Mouth epidemic and years of mis-management of the Association.
The second hotel, in Arkengarthdale, will be a mystery break - I have not stayed there before but I am going there almost as a 'hotel inspector.' I have been offered a free night's Dinner, B&B package to 'test it out' and let everyone know what its like. It's The Charles Bathurst Inn and from their website it looks really good and is set amongst some lovely Dales scenery - so it looks like an ideal place for a break.
I am being given free rein to write whatever I like about my stay, so I thought it would be a great idea - so I am thoroughly looking forward to the weekend.
So - you will hear more upon my return! Have a good weekend, everyone.
You'll be very close to Blog City here, Alan - specially at the CB.
ReplyDeleteCuddavawalk if yer like - only I'm up Buckden Pike on Sunday - travelling through Richmond.
How do you organise cushy stuff like this anyway?
Yes, how do you organise this free cushy hotel stuff?
ReplyDeleteWhy not stay till Tuesday and come walkabout with the Pie Man - Settle to Malham and back...?
Have a great weekend.
(Nice pic BTW)
never turn down a freebie..!
ReplyDeleteenjoy! :)
Have a great time, and if you get the chance then I'd very highly recommend a visit to the Kearton Country Hotel in Thwaite (not far from Keld) for lunch/tea/whatever. It's one of the most hospitable places I've ever visited, and when I arrived there, soaked and frozen, on my PW walk in March 2008 they brought me an enormous and delicious free ginger biscuit with my coffee :)
ReplyDeleteSo Sloman, it seems we're both graduates of Hotel Inspector School!
ReplyDeleteI'll be heading up that very way shortly (if all goes to plan) for the same cushy deal in return for an honest review.
I'm interested to hear what you think even more now!
Enjoy.
Just getting back to the comments on here - dreadful stewardship of the blog!
ReplyDeletePieman: Missed you - but enjoyed your report!
Martin: We workers have to keep the econommy turning over you know - how else would you be able to sit back into your life of ease? Sorry - Need to be nose to the grindstone on Monday - sigh
Dave Ho: Dead right! And it was absolutely lovely too! - So I shall be going back as well!
Shirl: We did indeed go back to the Keartopmn tea-Rooms on Sunday and had a lovely coffee with the self-same ginger biscuits - reert lovely they were too!
Marcus: I am looking forward to heariong what you think of it - I thought it was smashing!