We listened to the Prime Minster announcement and we are delighted to say that we are Open from July 4th.
This page includes:
We ask all guests to make sure that they are at all times following the latest UK Guidance / Law regarding holidays, if you are not you are possibly putting us at risk, and are not fulfilling your contract. We ask that you remember your duty of care to ourselves, our community and our other guests. If you are travelling in breach of this guidance / law and we have to shut down then you will be liable for any cancellations & loss of income that may occur.
Restrictions can change at any point and we will be following guidance that is in place on arrival day - or as soon as we become aware.
From Monday 14 September, gatherings of more than six people indoors or outdoors are banned in England. Our holiday accommodation has a maximum occupancy of five guests overnight or as per your contract, our terms and conditions state that "The number of persons using the accommodation at any time must not exceed eight (8)" - this is now superceded by the new law and no more than six people can be gathered at anyone time during your stay. If you are breaking the law then we will ask you to vacate from the property early, and no refund will be offered. Updated 9th September 2020.
How to meet with others safely: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing
"What you should do if you're on holiday in an area with local coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions or live in a restricted area and are planning on taking a holiday outside the area." was published by the Governement on 7th August - we ask that all the guests ensure they are familiar with this guidance and that they are adhereing to it during their stay. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-on-holidays-in-areas-with-local-coronavirus-covid-19-restrictions - If you are travelling in breach of this guidance and we have to shut down then you will be liable for any cancellations & loss of income that may occur.
We must highlight it is the guests responsibilty to ensure that all their party are able to travel, if you are in breach of this and put our business at risk, we will be taking it further - we are trusting you to keep us safe - just as you are trusting us to keep us safe.
Guests booking direct automatically get sent a Welcome document prior to arrival, and we asking now that you contact us on the day before leaving for the cottages on our mobile to ensure there are no problems with the departing guests, and if you can let us know your approximate arrival time. We can then confirm everything with you, and let the cottages air as much as possible. We have enhanced our cleaning routine - which we have explained in the departure section - we may have not finished the outside spaces by the time you arrive.
We have always offered a key lock entry - so it is essential now that you make sure you have your key code, we have added hand gel nearby ready for you to use. Please let us know when you have arrived, and we will still pop by and say hello - but we will be respecting social distancing - we will wear masks on request (for some we know this is a barrier to communication) and we will happily answer any questions about your stay.
The cottages will be cleaned ready for you, the beds made up - there will be the homely touches that make our holiday cottages a home away from home. We have considered carefully whether to include information on the local area, personal touches like plants, soft furnishings etc and we have done research on what we think guests would like - you are coming for a holiday, and over the years our guests have clearly said that is what they value. We will steam the soft furnishings between guests.
During you stay if you show any sign of infection whilst staying with us, you must return home as soon as possible and notify us of the potential risk - as you could be putting other guests and ourselves at risk. This is as per the Government guidelines. If you are unable to return home you are liable to any costs of emergency accommodation, Guest First for example offer insurance in this occurs, this could include the costs of extending your stay and could be the costs occurred by the arriving guests as their holiday would be canceled.
If any guidelines change during your stay, and we become aware of them, then we will be contacting you and may request you leave early depending on the information received. We appreciate your understanding and co-operation at this unprecedented time.
In all properties we have included extra soap and cleaning supplies. There is a basic first aid kit. We recommend that you bring hand sanitizer with you, and take it out and about with you - particularly if you are planning on enjoying some walks in the forest or coastal picnics - as there are some lovely accessible walks that have gate latches that you would need to touch to keep the ponies out.
If you are staying in Little Bench or Bench Cottage please be aware of social distancing when using your front door, the shared laundry area and garden. There are lots of reminders around the cottages and as you enter along with hand gel available for any visitors.
We ask now that you send us a text on departure - letting us know that you have vacated the property, we will ask that you turn the heating down, and open all the windows that are not visible from the road, then lock up as normal and leave your key in the key safe. This is to ensure the property is aired fully before the next set of guests, and to help reduce any risks to ourselves, by sending us a text - we can ensure we can pop along as soon as we can.
We ask that you wipe down all surfaces on departure to reduce the risks for ourselves, in addition to our standard terms where we have always requested you leave the cottage as you would like to find it.
If you become ill or anyone if your party does with suspected Covid-19 within 48 hours of your departure, it is your duty of care to let us know, as soon as possible.
Guest's whom have stayed with us before will know that the cottages have always been cleaned ready for your arrival. We have always cleaned the cottages thoroughly, ready for the next guests. This has always included comprehensively cleaning of kitchens and bathrooms, wiping all cupboards, vacuuming and floor washing as well as cleaning and tidying any shared spaces.
We have added extra cleaning equipment - we now have a specialist carpet cleaner and a steam cleaner - so that we can ensure that the soft furnishings can get a deep clean. We can share our cleaning checklist with you, and our risk assessment, based on guidelines provided by the Professional Association of Self-caterers.
Due to the additional work - lawns may not be mowed and gardening maintained on changeover days so we may be doing this during your stay, but we will be maintaining social distancing as we work.
We ask for contact detail of all guests staying overnight in the cottages for Test and Trace details - from 24th September we understand that everyone can use the Covid-19 app - there wil be a QR code to scan as you enter your holiday cottage - it keeps you logged in for 24 hours - so we advise logging in daily, and if you have any visitors (no more than 6 are allowed on the premises socially) that they log in too - so they be contacted if necessary - the app and further information can be downloaded here: https://www.covid19.nhs.uk/
The New Forest is following the same guidelines as the rest of the England - I will be continually updating this section so please refresh it for the latest details. Some attractions have limited numbers -so please check at least 2 weeks prior to arrival if something requires booking - it does vary. Local Restaurants and coffee shops are also recommending reserving tables, but in theory the New Forest is back to normal - so check out our Lymington, New Forest and further afield guides.
If you are meeting with friends and family in the area please note that, gatherings of more than six people indoors or outdoors are banned in England. More than 6 people on our premises for social gatherings is against the law and we may ask you to leave, and we would really appreciate it if you do not put our local accessible business at risk by gathering in larger groups.
If you are meeting with friends and family in the area please note that, gatherings of more than six people indoors or outdoors are banned in England.
More than 6 people on our premises for social gatherings is against the law and we may ask you to leave, and we would really appreciate it if you do not put our local accessible business at risk by gathering in larger groups.
This is forever changing... we are not promising to include everything but it is a great resource to refer too during your stay- there are some restrictions in place, so we are sharing some of them here - but we do suggest you check Online to ensure they are open and are able to accommodate you. At the moment it is a great opportunity to enjoy the New Forest's open space and your stay at Our Bench differently - most of these link to facebook pages, and the information is subject to change.
If you forget your face mask / face covering and would like one then we have a disposable one we can sell you (£1 each) but we would encourage you to use a reusable one and wash it often as per our green ethics - the disposable ones contains plastic particles and take a while to bring down. You can get them locally:
If you are exempt from wearing a face mask - the government advise downloading this PDF and saving it to your phone so it is always with you, it also includes a page to share if you can not hear someone and need to lip read. We would recommend wearing a sunflower lanyard if this is the case - details of the scheme can be found here: Hidden Disabilities - and we have some available at the cottages you can purchase for a £1.
Last Updated: July 27th 2020
We have been supporting the Covid Symptom tracker since it was first started... a recent updated announced a "new feature introduces the idea of a permanent home address (where you live most of the time) and an additional address for where you are currently staying." This means you can change your location whilst you are on holiday (use SO41 8HH) , so that you can continue to monitor whereever you are. https://covid.joinzoe.com/data - this is a great way to see possible HotSpots in future and determine where higher risks may be. We are currently a low risk area (September 2020)
Fantastic - we are delighted you booked direct for the best prices. If you have fully paid directly with us and your circumstances change then a reminder of our cancellation policy
We have booked through a 3rd party agent - we have to deal with that company direct and the terms they have set. Our Book with Confidence is for direct bookings only - these terms are not agreed with your 3rd party booking agent or OTA and we will be working with the terms they have specified. Please note our 3rd party agents do not book with our Covid-19 postponement option - if you are unable to attend once you have paid your balance then this is considered a cancellation and no refund will be given.
You are able to book contact free through our website. We no longer take direct bookings from OTA's through our web site - they need to book via phone or email. This is the only way to book as your terms are not the same as the ones for DirectBookings. We work with your terms.
If you are coming to stay from outside the UK then please check the UK Government Website to see if any restrictions are in place, that may affect your travel.
We are not taking bookings from guests whom need to self isolate. Currently if guests need to isolate for 14 days, we are unable to offer accommodation, partly due to the fact that you may need to isolate for a further 7 days, which may effect our next booking so you will be held liable for the extra costs occurred and the cost of your extended stay payable immediately but also due to the specialist nature of our accommodation we feel that you would impose too higher risk to our other guests. Self Isolation guidance is here.
Last Updated 1st JUNE 2020
Tel: +44 77510 64167 Email: cottages@ourbench.co.uk
© www.ourbench.co.uk 2020 Photography © www.renoufdesign.co.uk
