Andy and I have been fortunate to travel extensively over the past 20 years since we met, both with work (I worked in luxury travel) and recreationally.  The travel and hospitality industry are certainly one sector you can easily fall in love with and never want to leave.  

Our travels have allowed us to experience stays in luxury hotels around the world, guesthouses, luxury cruises, Airbnb’s and even river boats throughout Asia, Australia, North America and Europe.  Along the way we have been inspired by unparalleled levels of service where anything you could possibly ask for is delivered, through to subtle touches and the most exquisite attention to detail that others may overlook.  

As well as all the amazing experiences, that clearly was not reality all of the time.  Having collected a bible full of fabulous ideas that could inspire us and that we could adapt and apply when managing our own holiday home, we quite quickly created a Volume 2 full of what NOT to do! 

The Red House, Chester

Our debut in the world of hosting was in Chester, a converted grade II listed warehouse in the very heart of the city, quite literally seconds from the main high streets and tourist attractions. 

We lived there when we first met 20 years ago, without kids, carefree, sampling the delights that the city offered. After 7 happy years we decided to move towards the outskirts of the city and managed to keep hold of the gorgeous property that we were so keen on with a view of coming back one day when we were older. And so, the opportunity to run The Red House as our first holiday home came upon us. Idealistic and having never done this before, we took some photos, uploaded them on to the Airbnb website and overnight became hosts. 

I’ll never forget that first night, my phone pinging through the night in my half-sleep registering only in the morning that we had our first guests; couple from Canada. Quickly followed by a family from Melbourne, then a solo traveller from Japan. We were up and running.

We went about our business with (in hindsight) a wonderful naivety and an overwhelming urge to impress and to make the stay of each guest something we could be proud of, meeting guests when they arrived, sharing our best restaurants and bar choices, cleaning the place ourselves to ensure our standards were kept high, fixing things that inevitably went wrong. It was a baptism of fire. And we loved it. And we soon realised we were doing something right. 

Our guests loved it. We asked for honest feedback, and they gave it. Don’t pull any punches. And they didn’t. We’re not sensitive types. We wanted this to be the best version of ourselves. The 5 Stars reviews began to land. People said lovely things. People started to rebook. We had our first repeaters. We were fully booked. We could have booked two times over. We realised we were pretty ok at this hosting lark. It whetted our appetite for more. 

Ty Deryn Y Mor and The Annexe, Anglesey

So, we saved. And we saved. And then we had a baby in 2017. Baby Ianto Gryff joined the family. Not ones for resting on our laurels, we then set about fulfilling our life ambition of owning a house by the sea, preferably on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey.  In our search for the perfect beach front property (and having been gazumped on one we’d found) the details of Ty Deryn Y Mor found its way to us.  Fast forward a few months and we were the proud owners of this unique bolthole by the sea, with uninterrupted views of the Irish sea and some of the most magical sunsets you’ll ever see. Over the coming years, we made significant improvements to Ty Deryn Y Mor, also converting the adjoining Annexe and added both properties to our holiday home collection.

Then, Iolo Bera joined our growing family in 2020. Having moved to Anglesey to enjoy my maternity leave, as everyone is acutely aware, Covid happened.  We feel so fortunate that we were able to be isolated at Ty Deryn Y Mor keeping our family safe like the rest of the world was trying to do. 

Frogg Cottage, Rhuddlan

Once the world was able to start moving around again, our thoughts turned to searching for one more quirky property to add to our portfolio, and in 2021 Frogg Cottage joined the collection.  It’s such a cosy stone cottage in the heart of Rhuddlan village, situated opposite the majestic 13th century castle, which incidentally is the view from your lounge and bedroom window! 

How Many Reviews?!

And that brings us to today, 2024. We have amassed over 600 reviews on Airbnb since we started almost a decade ago, and more importantly have met some truly wonderful guests along the way. We feel we have played a small part in making our guest’s holidays luxurious, a home away from home and allowed them to focus on enjoying themselves on their well earned break away from reality.

And here’s to many more years of holiday home hosting.