You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘environmentally friendly’ tag.
As owners, we are being told endlessly that reviews by guests are more and more essential to our success. We do explain to past guests how to leave reviews and leave it up to them to be honest in their review of their stay with us, good and bad (thankfully mainly good!).
But suddenly we have realised that there is another online area where we are being mentioned, through no action of ours – and therefore all the more warming when they are complimentary: blogs. In the last week, our accommodation has been spontaneously mentioned on 2 blogs, one by a guest while actually staying in one of our apartments:
‘insanely impressive’: http://nutztoyou.blogspot.com/2011/05/whew.html
and one written by a guest who came 2 years ago:
‘I don’t think I have so far had a better holiday’:
http://floor-to-ceiling-books.blogspot.com/2011/05/10-best-reading-holidays.html
One of these has been referred to in another blog: the hugely respected and experienced ‘cottage blogger’
Apart from the occasional press release, we are not much good at blowing our own trumpets – we love what we do and the best reward is to see our guests enjoying their holiday and looking forward to returning to their accommodation at the end of the day. But we couldn’t resist sharing the warm feeling that these mentions gave us. Thank you bloggers!
British couple Margaret Leach and Martin Holborow have seen off competition from all over Germany to take the Fahrtziel Natur (Destination Nature) special award for 2010.
(GERMANY) 3rd September 2010 – The Fahrtziel Natur (Destination Nature) special award is for the accommodation provider doing the most to encourage guests to use public transport to travel to and within a nature area in Germany, in this case the Bavarian Forest. The couple own and manage 9 holiday apartments in the Bavarian village of Bayerisch Eisenstein, under the name of Bavarian Forest Holidays (http://www.bavarian-forest-holidays.com/).
Guests in their apartments have free use of buses and trains on more than 1,000 km of routes in the Bavarian Forest. Guests are given a specially written tourist information book containing details of travel to numerous destinations in the area and region by public transport. Guests from the UK and other European countries are also encouraged to make the whole journey from their homes by train by providing cheaper tickets than are available to the general public.
The village can be reached from most major cities in Europe within one day. Since the first guests made their way to the village by train from the UK in autumn 2007, the travel time from London and Kent has been reduced to 11 hours – “breakfast in London, dinner in Bayerisch Eisenstein”. A further reduction in travel time is expected when the Deutsche Bahn starts running trains through the Channel Tunnel, hopefully by 2012.
On arrival, by whatever means of transport, guests find accommodation which is of a very high standard – most apartments have been awarded 5 stars by the German Tourism Association – but also eco friendly. Three of the four houses have solar panels and two have wood pellet heating. The houses have the latest double glazed windows and other insulation. Guests are asked to place their rubbish into specially marked boxes for recycling and the small on-site guest shop stocks organic food wherever possible.
The couple, whose UK home is in Knighton in the Welsh borders, bought their first property in the village, 1km from the Czech border, in 2004. The other three houses were added in 2006 and 2008 and in total now offer 9 holiday apartments with 1-3 bedrooms, central guest facilities with shop, free book and DVD library, coffee lounge with home made cakes and meeting room, all open to guests 24/7.
More than 2,000 guests have come to the apartments in Bayerisch Eisenstein since the first one was opened in April 2005. Nearly 50% are from the UK, 25% from Germany and 12% from the US and the remainder from 25 other countries. The apartments are open all year, for sightseeing in Germany, Czech Republic and Austria, walking and cycling in the National Parks on both sides of the border and boat trips on the Danube, Christmas Markets, Christmas/New Year, winter sports and activities. Since autumn 2009, Bavarian Forest Holidays has been a Partner of the Bavarian Forest National Park.
Fahrtziel Natur is a cooperative project between the major Germen environmental organisatons BUND, NABU, VCD and Deutsche Bahn (German railways) which has been actively promoting eco-friendly sustainable travel together with experiencing nature, since 2001.
For more information see http://www.bavarian-forest-holidays.com/ or email info@bavarian-forest-holidays.com or call Margaret Leach on +49 (0)9925 90 32 04 (UK) 07976 403434
Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25231786@N08/sets/72157624875934456/
with our permission to use in conjunction with this press release.
From May 2010, the village of Bayerisch Eisenstein on the Bavarian-Czech border will be offering free bus and train travel on more than 1,000 kilometres of routes in the Bavarian Forest area to guests staying in the village The area covered stretches nearly 100 kilometres to the south to close to the Austrian border, 50 kilometres to the north to Furth im Wald and nearly 50 kilometres to the West, to close to the Danube river, including the whole of the Bavarian Forest National Park. The scheme is being financed by a levy on each guest night in the village, paid for by the hotels, guest houses and holiday apartment providers. Margaret Leach of Bavarian Forest Holidays, owner of 5 star holiday apartments in the village, has warmly welcomed this additional service for guests: “We already have increasing numbers of guests making the 11 hour train journey from the UK to Bayerisch Eisenstein or flying to Munich or Prague and taking the train to get here for their holiday. Free bus and train travel once they are here is a major added bonus and will hopefully also encourage guests who arrive by car to make more use of public transport, with huge benefit for the environment.” As well as free bus and train travel, the new guest card for visitors will also provide free use of the special ski bus in the winter for travel to the nearby Arber ski slopes, free mini golf in the village and discounts on a range of tourist attractions in the area.
bavarian forest holidays 