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I was going to post this earlier on today, but I completely forgot! Anyway, better late than never so here goes...
Adults only – sampling southern England
Dates: Saturday 3 – Sunday 11 May Adventurers: Me, Cheryl (41) and DH Mark (48) Destinations: the south and south west of England Resorts: Bassetts B&B, Blandford Forum, Littlecote House, Hungerford, Oldfields House B&B, Bath and the Resting Post B&B, Warminster Meets: Alex, the best man at our wedding, and his wife Andrea Celebration: making the best of our Tesco Clubcard vouchers
I know that some, Ok, probably a lot of you wonder how the heck we manage to take so many vacations. We’re not super rich, I promise you that much. (If only! ) The reason is that I search out every deal known to mankind to be able to enjoy ourselves. We also put our birthday and Christmas presents to each other into holidays as well, which helps hugely. This is an example of making the best of deals.
For those who’ve read my previous trip reports, you’ll know that we have an amazing supermarket chain over here called Tesco. Despite a slight downturn in their fortunes in recent years, they still take something like £1 in every £8 spent in the UK. A few years ago, that figure was £1 in every £7, so they’re still doing pretty well.
They have a loyalty scheme, called Tesco Clubcard, where you get Clubcard points for everything you spend in store. Add in that we have a Tesco credit card, where we also earn points for every pound we spend on anything, and you can see that the points quickly add up. In fact, over the years we’ve taken the following holidays, either fully paid for or mostly paid for by our Clubcard points:
A Halloween trip to Disneyland Paris (2003) (I never wrote a trip report for this trip…)
Four nights in Belgium (2001) (and when we took this trip, I wasn’t even a member of PassPorter )
Yep, that’s not a bad score sheet in the last 13 years… As you can see from the above, we usually take a free(ish) vacation once every two or three years, so after our last one in 2012, we were due for another in 2014, and sure enough, we had a large chunk of money to spend… around £1,200 (c. $1900 at the current exchange rate as I write this).
I had a look to see what I could spend it on, and I had a lot of choice. I considered another cruise, but really all it would give us was get money off a cruise, as you had to cruise for a minimum of seven nights to use your Clubcard points. Now I wanted a “free” holiday. I appreciate that there really isn’t anything like a “free” ride, but heck if you’ve paid the majority of the holiday, that’s good enough for me.
I had another look around, and found Warner Leisure Hotels, which I knew were adult only breaks. Now I priced them up a few years ago, and they were hideously expensive, and didn’t include much with them. Well, things have changed since then. Now they’re half board, which means you get breakfast and dinner included, and there are a lot of activities included with your stay, although these vary from one hotel to another.
After much research, I decided to go for Littlecote House, which is located in Berkshire, a couple of hours’ drive away from us. It seemed to have some great reviews on TripAdvisor, which is my bible whenever it comes to booking any hotel. I was also impressed by the day time activities included, which ranged from archery to snooker, a putting green to tennis, and best of all, air-rifle shooting.
Why is this so exciting for me? Because I’ve always wanted to fire a gun. I know that’s probably weird to you guys, weird firstly because it’s pretty easy to do in the States, but the situation is very different over here. Just so you’re aware, and I am not looking to start any political debates here, but after a series of high profile shootings, which culminated in the Dunblane tragedy, a shooting at a school, where a gunman killed 16 children and a teacher. It resulted in calls for our gun laws to be changed, and trust me, even before that, they were pretty strict. Eventually, all handguns in the UK in private ownership were outlawed, with the exception of historic ones and muzzle loading ones. As a result, getting near a gun over here is pretty hard. Mark has suggested to me a couple of times that maybe I should go to a shooting range on one of our American visits, but I’m always terrified about having gunshot residue on my hands when we go through security for a flight. Anyway, there’s the background…
It also helped that Littlecote House has an indoor heated pool, steam room, sauna, and bubble pool, and a range of spa treatments at very reasonable prices.
So, with the destination set, I just needed to decide what room to get, as they had a number of choices. The top priced ones were the historic rooms, which did look very nice. However, once my trusty TripAdvisor showed me a few tales about them being haunted, I decided maybe not. It was definitely the right decision, as when I called to book, the woman I spoke to told me that she’d heard those stories from quite a few people, and when she stayed there once, someone came down in a complete panic, saying their room was haunted, and asked to be moved.
Instead, we went for a Royale Room, which gives you earlier check-in from 1:00pm, fluffy bathrobe and slippers (always a winner with me! ), biscuits replenished daily, still and sparkling water, a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine – wow!
Those decisions made, I priced up the vacations, and checked the small print, as I always do whenever I’m using Tesco Clubcard vouchers, just in case there are any restrictions. In this case, the only restriction was that you pay the full price shown on the website, rather than any deals. Generally, you can get 50% off if you pay cash. Well, that’s fine, just to make sure that we’ve got enough vouchers to cover the full price – and we did!
That sorted, we went ahead and booked, going for the first full week of May, as it has a Bank Holiday on the Monday, meaning we only need to take four days off. It’s the only Bank Holiday of the entire year that falls right in the middle of school term, meaning that traffic shouldn’t be that much heavier, as opposed to the other ones, where traffic can be insane.
The woman told me how much it was, which was £1,212. Then she asked me how much I had in vouchers, to which I proudly replied “£1,200”, leaving me with the grand total of £12 ($20) to pay for four nights on a half board basis – oh and I probably forgot to mention that I also added in a half bottle of wine per night for a reasonable price as well. We were set!
Now for the rest of our plans, as that would only cover Monday to Friday night. For as long as I can remember, Mark’s wanted to visit the Tank Museum, which is located a couple of hours’ away. Ok, so we can go there then and I’ve already booked tickets for it to ensure we make it there… I also booked a bed and breakfast place in Dorset called Bassets for a very reasonable rate, and while Hotels.com had a special offer, meaning I’d get two Reward Nights for every night you booked, rather than the usual one. Ok, that works for me!
Once we leave Littlecote House, we’ll head to Bath, as I’ve always wanted to go to the Thermae Spa. Have a look at the website, and you’ll probably see why straight away. I’ve booked a spa package there, the Thermae Harmony, which gives you a four-hour spa session, complimentary use of towels, robe and slippers, and two dishes from the restaurant menu and a non-alcoholic drink.
Along with that, you get the choice of one of their spa treatments. I’ve opted for the Watsu, where you’re cradled by a therapist in the mineral waters, with your body gently stretched and guided through various movements. I’m fascinated to give it a go, and see what it’s like. Mark is having the hot stones Vichy hydro massage, using hydro massage techniques and a hot stone massage, as he likes treatments with hot stones.
Then we’re spending the night in Bath at another bed and breakfast place, Oldfields House. The plan for the Saturday is to go to Cheddar Gorge, as I really want to see the caves there. If we have time, and we feel up to it, we’ll then head to Bristol to see SS Great Britain, which was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the transatlantic service to New York. We saw this featured on a TV programme, and it looked very neat, and seems to get rave reviews.
Then we’ll head over to Warminster to another bed and breakfast place (can you tell we like having breakfast included with a night’s stay? ) called the Resting Post for the night. The next day we’re heading over to Longleat. The main attractions here are the stately house and the safari park. I visited Longleat nearly 25 years ago, and I remember enjoying it back then, so I’m sure we’ll enjoy it again.
Then we’ll head home after a fun week away, having explored a fair chunk of southern England…
Our plans:
Saturday 3 May:
Drive to Winchester and visit the cathedral there
Visit the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu
Spend the night at a bed and breakfast in Dorset
Sunday 4 May:
Visit the Tank Museum
Visit Kingston Lacy, a National Trust property – we are lifetime members, so any visits to National Trust properties are free for us!
Spend the night at a bed and breakfast in Dorset
Monday 5 May:
Visit Mottisfont, a National Trust property
Visit the Vyne, a National Trust property
Spend the night at Littlecote House
Tuesday 6 May:
Spend the day and night at Littlecote House
Wednesday 7 May:
Visit Lacock Abbey and the Fox Museum, a National Trust property
Spend the night at Littlecote House
Thursday 8 May:
Spend the day and night at Littlecote House
Friday 9 May:
Visit the Thermae Bath Spa in Bath
Dinner with our friends Alex and Andrea
Stay the night at Oldfields House bed and breakfast, Bath
Saturday 10 May:
Visit Cheddar Gorge
Visit SS Great Britain in Bristol
Stay the night at the Resting Post, Warminster
Sunday 11 May
Visit Longleat House and Safari Park
Drive home
Another great Tesco vacation deal! Lots of interesting places on this itinerary. I've been to Longleat, Winchester and Bath, but not to the other trust properties on the list. The spa at Bath looks beautiful. I've only been to the old Pump Room! Bath is such a beautiful city. Looking forward to another great trip!
Oh wow....my DS wants to visit the Tank Museum so badly he's willing to turn in Disney trips for it. I can't wait to hear all about it. I'll have to show him your pics.
Each of your Tesco trips has made me wish we had them in the States. Your plans sound fun as well as relaxing. The spa sounds wonderful and the view from there is stunning.
Sounds like another great trip!! I am jealous that you have so much to do so close to you. We have to travel at least three to five hours to get to anything of interest that we haven' t seen or done a hundred times. Yellowstone doesn't count as I could spend almost every day there, just like Disney.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. Jenn
Another great Tesco vacation deal! Lots of interesting places on this itinerary. I've been to Longleat, Winchester and Bath, but not to the other trust properties on the list.
I always love the way that whenever I start a trip report, you've often been to those places - it's great how much travel you've done.
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The spa at Bath looks beautiful. I've only been to the old Pump Room! Bath is such a beautiful city. Looking forward to another great trip!
Bath is lovely and I'm really looking forward to going back there and experiencing the spa.
Sounds like a great trip, you have so many choices close to home.
We do and that's why I think it's important from time to time to travel closer to home and visit them, as all too often, you can miss what's right on your doorstep.
Oh wow....my DS wants to visit the Tank Museum so badly he's willing to turn in Disney trips for it. I can't wait to hear all about it. I'll have to show him your pics..
I'll be sure to get lots of photos for you to show him....
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Each of your Tesco trips has made me wish we had them in the States.
Well, they did try to break into the market out there, but it didn't work out for them, so they abandoned those plans. I don't know whether the stores they opened out there (mainly in California I think ) are still open or not, but they're certainly not opening anymore....
Sounds like another great trip!! I am jealous that you have so much to do so close to you. We have to travel at least three to five hours to get to anything of interest that we haven' t seen or done a hundred times. Yellowstone doesn't count as I could spend almost every day there, just like Disney.
I'm glad you clarified that about Yellowstone - you are so lucky to have that on your doorstep, but having visited that part of the States, I know what you mean about it being so far to everything - I remember the distances involved getting between the various national parks...
Well, we've had a lovely first day and are settled into our bed and breakfast for the night and will be heading out to get dinner shortly. We had a good journey down, explored Winchester and then spent most of the afternoon at Beaulieu, as there was so much to see. We had some interesting encounters in the New Forest, let's just put it that way. (I have to save some bits for the trip report...) It's been a beautiful day and if we have weather like this for the rest of this week, we'll be very happy!
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Anyway, better late than never 
so here goes... 
) The reason is that I search out every deal known to mankind to be able to enjoy ourselves. We also put our birthday and Christmas presents to each other into holidays as well, which helps hugely. This is an example of making the best of deals. 
) 
It was definitely the right decision, as when I called to book, the woman I spoke to told me that she’d heard those stories from quite a few people, and when she stayed there once, someone came down in a complete panic, saying their room was haunted, and asked to be moved. 
We were set! 
I’ve booked a spa package there, the Thermae Harmony, which gives you a four-hour spa session, complimentary use of towels, robe and slippers, and two dishes from the restaurant menu and a non-alcoholic drink. 
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Pixie Dust
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
I'll be sure to get lots of photos for you to show him.... 
) are still open or not, but they're certainly not opening anymore....
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