Monday, 4 January 2010

Luxury Holiday Cottages

The English Lake District is acknowledged for its splendid landscapes. Its views and scenery is a feast for the senses and the list of activities to be enjoyed by the outdoor types is a plenty. For those of you who are more inclined to settle in for the day, next to a roaring fire, with a good book and a grazing schedule where better to relax but in a luxury holiday cottage – or is it? Do they exist?

Yes of cause they do, they are hard to find and then, define the word luxury. My personal opinion on the meaning of luxury is the meeting of elegance and quality with usability, married perfectly with its canvass and surrounding. This may not be the opinion of everyone or in fact anyone else, but if you compare it with what is on offer and the modern day definition of a ‘luxury holiday cottage’, I think you’ll find (if your human that is) that my version is far more inviting and relaxing. Today’s standard and this is not in all cases, appears to be a concoction of loud wall paper which would happily make you vomit, should you spend too much time invested in looking at it, furniture so crass even the designer must have had a laugh whilst pricing it and all on the advice of a cheap magazine, probably being sponsored by a cheap department store.

The character seems to have been literally knocked out of the unassuming cottages, and the only redeeming feature is probably the chimney stack or the front door, giving the illusion of a cosy interior and warm comfort. Instead you are greeted by an urban open plan north side apartment block interior, clean but so impersonal and with about as much personality of a tooth brush and happily replicated throughout many ‘newly renovated luxury holiday cottages’.

It’s a shame, there are some truly beautiful cottages out there, that should stand out as leading pioneers of how to decorate and dress your luxury holiday cottage, but quite rightly, the retain their charm by keeping themselves exclusive, quietly tucked away and probably never available due to their outstanding reputation as ‘it is what it says on the box’. So the majority of holiday makers, looking for that exclusive haven are met by shelf full of alternatives, but then again, if you’re out walking all day – do you really care? I would.

Cottages Lake District

Recently the English Lake District has been hit with some of the worst rain falls in over 100 years, making many locals homeless and taking the life of a hero police officer. Our thoughts are for them all as they attempt normality, if that’s possible with Gordon Brown’s kind donation – oh please!

But the community, as with all in a crisis, has pulled together and with a cheery face the affected areas battle forward and work together to rectify and rebuild their lives. But what of the tourist industry, will it be affected by this local disaster? Will people stop visiting our lovely cottages in the Lake District? No of cause not! Some of the cottages near the effect areas may be full, as these are being offered as temporary accommodation (well we hope), but surrounding areas will be ‘business as usual’, someone’s got to keep the cogs turning.

Realistically, let’s face it, visitors and tourists love a good sight-seeing tour and great – just make sure you pop a donation in the local collecting boxes before you go back to your lovely warm holiday cottage. The Lake District is a major attraction in its own right, throw in a couple of disasters and people will love it even more, that’s life – folk can’t help being curious, they will want to see the left over residue of real life drama and why not, let’s make more money out of it, every little bit helps!

This isn’t a TV production though and people’s lives have seriously been affected, lifetime memories have been washed away and the period of mourning needs to be given time. So when booking your holiday cottage in the Lake District and when planning your day trips, please have consideration. This is the Lake District after all and one thing is guaranteed on your visit… rain.