Christmas Thoughts

It is that time of the year again- the weather gets colder but somehow the hearts get warmer and the longing to spend time with good friends and family gets greater. Time continues to reveal itself as the most important thing to be spent wisely.

I have fond memories of the little joys in the various periods of lockdown - lovely little surprises and precious moments spent with neighbours, friends and strangers who brought smiles to my days. I’m so grateful for my family and that I was able to spend so much of 2020 with them. Time, we otherwise would not have shared together. The community spirit in our wee village was another incredible experience. Everybody looked out for each other and gave a helping hand whenever needed. Food deliveries were organised, items in short supply shared and news and gossip posted on the famous "Bowden Banter" - a great way to get to know your community. Keeping a positive outlook was difficult at times but focusing on the little wonders in life brightened up even the dullest winter days.

Against all odds, Bowden House B&B enjoyed a very short summer season with returning guests and delightful new visitors who made it worthwhile to open our doors again. New rules and regulations challenged us to find ways to make their stay as enjoyable as possible, but lovely reviews and two new rewards were a great thank you for all of us. We were very lucky to not experience the Covid virus in our house but our thoughts are with everybody who has lost a family member or friend or suffered terribly by losing their job.

As much as I am ready to welcome in the new year, I am grateful for this crazy one and we are all looking forward to a better, more normal 2021.

We wish everybody a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year and we hope to welcome you again in 2021.

Big hugs

Uta & Jason

Happy Days

In the midst of a rather curtailed and difficult season due to the Covid 19 pandemic, we were very pleasantly surprised when this recognition of our efforts came through the post.

A huge " thank you" to all our lovely guests who bothered to leave a review on TripAdvisor!

Our wee B&B was awarded the "Traveller Choice 2020" which puts us in the top 10% of all accommodation providers worldwide!

As the beautiful Scottish Borders seem to be overlooked by most tourists (a result of inadequate marketing of our region), we, as all other accommodation providers, suffered huge losses due to the lock down and current government restrictions. The additional workload to keep our guests safe and not to compromise on our service has paid off. Happy days :-)

Light on the horizon

It seems that after almost 2 months of lockdown, we will be able to open our doors again for more lovely guests, come July!

The past eight weeks have been filled with endless reports of terrible news, financial and economic worries and just far too little toilet paper ..........but there finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel as death rates are decreasing and lockdown regulations are slowly loosening. The beautiful weather has helped kept spirits up and has given many a much needed (though perhaps not very welcome) break. I truly hope that all of you are safe and well and were still able to enjoy some of the aspects that quarantine brought along.

So what did we do here in our little heaven in the Scottish Borders?

Oh so much planting! With the girls home from school and uni we relished in some lovely family time and starting re-vamping the front garden together which is now full of colour and provides the most gorgeous welcome on driving through the gates. Also on the rota were virtual pub quiz and line dancing nights, family meal preparation, LOTS of bread baking, acro-yoga, sunbathing and relaxing in the garden. In addition to that, my paint order came in just in time before the lockdown and with 60 litres of paint lying around and 4 pairs of helping hands we got to work on the outside walls which are now gleaming white and super clean. (Also for anyone trying this at home it's surprisingly harder than it looks and goodness does it take long!;)).

We also added solar lighting for nighttime and can't wait to greet our first guests again with our flowers quickly coming into bloom!

On reopening our BnB we will still be abiding to and implementing government health and safety guidelines to make sure our guests can feel as safe and comfortable as possible. We've also altered our cancellation policy for this summer to take the worry out of booking a break away. You can cancel your booking until 24 hours before arrival free of charge to account for sudden illnesses or difficulties.

We hope to welcome you to our award winning Boutique B&B from July onwards and send you warm wishes and lots of sunshine from the Scottish Borders.

Uta

P.S.: On another note, Bowden House B&B was recently awarded with the following:

- Booking.com Traveller Review Award 2020 with a 9.9. rating out of 10

- CorporateLifeWire: Innovation and Excellence Awards 2020: Winner Boutique B&B of the Year

Bowden House B&B Awards

Bowden House B&B Awards