Dunsley wins Certificate of Excellence

We are really proud to announce that, thanks to fabulous reviews from our equally fabulous guests, Dunsley has won a coveted Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence.

 2014 is the first year that the travel site has given this award to holiday cottages. It is a global award, for the very top tier of businesses on Trip Advisor: those achieving five star ratings, taking into account volume of reviews.

 “TripAdvisor is pleased to honour exceptional vacation rentals for consistent excellence,” their excited letter reads. “The Certificate of Excellence award gives top performing properties around the world the recognition for the consistently positive they receive  from those who matter most – their customers.”

 So hurray: thanks to you all for posting such inspiring reviews for our little cottage... please keep them coming, we love reading them, and so do other guests (although, of course, that does mean you need to share Dunsley with them!). Your feedback and support is, as always, appreciated.

 Thanks again, from Judy and Duncan

 

Private Parking for Dunsley Cottage

The private parking platform for guests at Dunsley cottage in Staithes (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) is now complete. We are delighted to be able to offer the closest possible parking to the harbour village, on a smart new plinth by the Captain Cook lookout. Our local contractors have done a fantastic job building the 2-place platform, and another lower platform which will, hopefully by the end of summer, be home to a wooden shed. Duncan has made the steel barriers (NASA-worthy, like the cottage gate).
 Next job is to landscape - we plan to plant wildflower meadow seed, and buy montbretia and flax from Poet's Cottage shrub nursery in nearby Lealholm. By the time we've finished, Dunsley guests will have access to a garden with a view over the river and cliffs to the sea, enjoyed in evening and morning sunshine from strategically placed benches. Ah, the plans! In the meantime, the private parking is now available... it's a real rarity in Staithes, and saves our guests £35 per week public car park charges, plus it's a shorter distance to walk from the cottage. Enjoy!

Private parking in Staithes

Parking in Staithes is at a premium. Very few cottages have access to beach-level parking, and the vast majority of guests pay to park at the 'top of the bank', at a cost of £35 per week. Last year, we bought a patch of land by the village lookout, on the lip of the bank, to create a private parking platform for guests at Dunsley holiday cottage (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk). For months we have been jumping through planning permission hoops with the North York Moors national park and the Highways Authority. Imagine our relief when we finally acquired all necessary permits for the parking and garden shed, which our guests can use to store bikes, surfboards or other items that need security. Work started this week and we hope it will be finished within 10 days. Here are pictures of our wonderful contractor, Nobles of Whitby, hard at work... we will update all our guests with details of how to access the parking, as soon as we have the barriers installed and a padlock code. Parking with a view: at last!

Parking platform in raw state! It will be finished with rolled stone

 Nobles men unloading local stone for the gabion baskets

Stone gabion baskets support the platform on the sloping site

Lowest point of the site, below shed platform and gabions

Digging the shed platform

Eggs: not just for Easter

Great news for egg lovers: they are not just for Easter. While chocolate and fancy designs rule the roost this month, guests at Dunsley holiday cottage (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) can enjoy the real thing. Our neighbour Sonia, at Fossil Cottage, now has a brood of six happy hens in her allotment (near the car park). These free-range lovelies are also terrific egg producers, so Sonia regularly fills the egg box in Fossil Cottage's front yard. It's an honesty system, and the eggs are gorgeous! It's the ultimate breakfast treat: wander down to the butcher for fresh bread from Danby's Stonehouse bakery (meat lovers will also appreciate the excellent Staithes bacon and sausages), and an egg or two from Sonia's supply. Then enjoy the meal in Dunsley's private front yard or, if it's too cool, in the cottage with the stable door top open so you can take in the outside, from the inside. Heaven - and not a chocolate in sight.

Mystery TV drama in Staithes

Hot news: Drama at Dunsley! Our early February guests at Dunsley holiday cottage in Staithes (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) report that a TV crew was filming on the footpath, directly outside Dunsley's gate. Hilary took this picture from Dunsley's bedroom window. But what were they shooting? She says: "It was definitely drama not documentary  - after about 8 takes we knew the script - also definitely not Old Jack's Boat!"
 If anyone can shed any light on this, we'd love to hear from you! Please email us: dunsley.staithes@gmail.com . Meanwhile I have my feelers out and will update this if I learn anything new.

TV drama at Dunsley.. photo taken from Dunsley's bedroom window by our guest Hilary

 

Staithes weathers storm suge

Staithes emerged relatively unscathed from the storm that battered Britain over December 5 and 6. The biggest effect was from the East Coast tidal surge, which created massively high tides, including surfable waves in the river! The lifeboat station was flooded, along with the 'lower' cottages alongside it; some houses near the river were also awash. Luckily for us, Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk), which sits a fair few metres above the river, was unaffected.
 Guests report tiles flying off roof-tops, howling wind and plenty of action in the harbour. Our weekend guests Keith and Suzanne took this picture of the Cod & Lobster pub, at around 6.30pm on Friday night. It was about an hour after high tide, yet the water and spray, which are normally well below the sea wall, were very close to flooding the pub. The Cod closed early on the Thursday night, just in case...
 Thanks to Keith for this cracking shot; hopefully he didn't get too cold or wet in the process! You have to wonder about the driver who parked a car within inches of the ocean...

Flowers, champagne, action!

Since we opened Dunsley in Staithes to guests in 2011, we have been delighted to host many romantic occasions including wedding anniversaries, birthdays, reunions and honeymoons. But this month, Dunsley saw its first marriage proposal... From the very start, Eddie was eager to create the perfect environment for popping the question to Mariola. So, on his request, we brought champagne from France, and ordered a gorgeous bouquet of flowers in Mariola's favourite colours (our fabulous florist, Liz Wood of Buzy Liz's Floral Design in Kirkbymoorside specialises in weddings).
 When the day came, Duncan dashed over to Dunsley with the freshly-arranged flowers, hid the champagne in the fridge so it was perfectly chilled, and we waited, on tenterhooks...
 After their weekend break, Eddie dropped us a note. "We had a really, really special weekend, I can't thank you enough for all your help. The flowers were beautiful and the champagne went down a treat.
  Staithes is a magical little place and Dunsley was absolutely perfect for what I had planned. We will definitely be back. Again, thank you Judy and Duncan for everything.
Oh, you might want to know what the answer was.....................
She said yes!!!!!! :)

Congratulations, Eddie and Mariola! We couldn't be happier for you both.

Picture: the ceramic heart, modelled on a New Zealand 'kina' or sea urchin, above the bed at Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk)