Ventnor self catering villa, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We provide a large range of literature for our guests to help them to appreciate the landscape. This ranges from wildlife books and leaflets, including information about where to go to see e.g. red squirrels, walking guides and maps with specific recommendations for routes depending on ability and cycling guides to the Island.
There are specific recommendations for four totally different walks that can be done from the house thereby not needing to use a car during a short break. These include going up onto St Boniface Down, exploring the wild landslip between Ventnor and Shanklin, over the downs to Appuldurcombe and along the coast towards St Catherine's Point.
Bus information is provided, with frequent buses passing within 200 yards of the house.
Whilst the house's chandeliers still use conventional bulbs (to make the glass sparkle) all other lighting uses either compact fluorescent bulbs or led bulbs. Over 20 hi-tech led bulbs have been used in place of spotlights and use less than 10% of the energy of normal bulbs for the same light output. These bulbs are not generally available in shops yet.
All of the toilets in the house are modern low capacity dual flush units and the showers are low flow units. There is one small bath in the house which is required for the Quality in Tourism grading.
Community
We provide a comprehensive guide to the local area and the island. This includes information on where to find local businesses (e.g. doctors, dentists, libraries, petrol stations, bike hire, organic food etc.) with a guide to local restaurants and other places to eat, including sample menus. Literature on a wide range of island attractions and places to visit is kept up to date. The main folder is an A4 ring binder bursting with information with overspill literature alongside.
Each year the house is opened to the public for free as part of English Heritage's Open Days programme in September. The house is one of a very small number of places opened in this scheme that is not an already established tourist attraction. Around 400 people have a conducted tour round the house across two afternoons and the event is widely publicised across the island and by English Heritage on the mainland. It is seem as so beneficial to local trades people that some nearby shops open specially on the Sunday afternoon as they know we will be attracting people into the area.
A house visitors' book is kept for guests to share their holiday experiences and this contains their experiences and recommendations for restaurants, attractions and places to visit on foot.
A local fisherman lands his catch at Ventnor Haven, just below the house, this is available to buy and is absolutely fresh with no food miles.
Landscape
Our specially compiled guide to the island gives recommendations for getting out into the countryside to enjoy the island. This is alongside a collection of all of the walks books about the island currently in print as well as a number that are recently out of print. A large scale map is provided for guests who prefer to select their own routes. Cycling route books are provided with itineraries ranging from the ambitious Round the Island circuit to smaller family rides.
There is also a historic collection of books about the island many of which are long out of print which give other clues as to interesting places to visit.
The house is ideally situated to explore the unique under-cliff of this part of the Island ranging from the landslip to the east with the remarkable Devil's Chimney rock formation to the rugged terrain with the inland cliffs to the west, all with unusual vegetation resulting from the mild winters due to the shielding effect of St Boniface Down.
A short walk along the cliffs to the west leads to the renowned Ventnor Botanic Gardens which takes full advantage of the unusual climate with collections of plants from around the world.
Our web site for the property has a page about walking on the island with useful links to other walking resources.
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