Saltings on Porthmeor

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Sleep to the sound of waves.

As soon as we stepped into Upper and Old Saltings we instantly knew the properties were special, a true hidden secret in amongst St Ives busy Downalong area. Full of character, just like the owners, these properties needed a bespoke proposal.

A very personal, friendly and welcoming approach to guests was critical. After all the owner had been letting the properties themselves for 25 years and there was a strong rapport with lots of guests. Ensuring repeat guests had the opportunity to book the peak weeks was very important to the owners Lady Clare and Sir Eric.

We established a new brand, website, dedicated email and telephone number. Social channels set-up, housekeeping teams recruited, maintenance contacts sought and linen suppliers changed to ensure better rates were achieved alongside better quality linens.

Creative Inspiration.

Although the properties sleep 6-10 people in each they are most certainly not for parties or large raucous groups, families and friends are welcome of course. One of the main challenges for us was attracting the right sets of guests that would look after these stunning properties like they were their own home.

The same applied for the housekeeping, they need to treat it like their own. Strictly no contract cleaners, consistency of staff was the approach to take and someone local to the town, all at the request of the owner. In a market currently favouring housekeepers due to strong demand finding a good person took time, after several interviews, adverts, and trials we struck gold. Challenge met.

Next up was to improve performance. High occupancy wasn’t the aim nor was over charging our long serving loyal guests. Striking the balance between fair pricing and a return for the owners was key.

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"I should never have had any doubts. They know what they're doing and it shows, we've never been so busy. It's been our best year by far."
Brad Trethewey

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"We just keep coming back as we love Praa Sands. Wood burner, beach, dog friendly and all the good bits too, nothing not to like"
Nick B, Guest

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Capturing a niche

We delved into the guest database, it wasn’t huge, a few hundred names, telling of the number of repeat guests each year. We found some interesting information i.e. over 40% of guests were from Twickenham and served as a corporate director/professional.

From owner managed to Zenia

It can be a tough decision to transition your operations to a third party, especially if you have been heavily involved. We at Zenia can help to make this as smooth as possible. You have a genuine influence. We have pride and return customers to retain, we’ll make it work like we have for Saltings on Porthmeor.

Utmost Care

The two properties require a lot of care. Our team are well briefed on how to take care, for these properties we have extensive instructions, check-lists and maintenance/cleaning programs.

Magic Marketing

For these properties the regular’s return year after year but we knew we needed to increase the number of new customers through the doors. We took a slightly different approach and whilst we do use some 3rd party online travel agents we take most of our bookings through our own website.

Homes

Guests from 3 miles of Twickenham

Steps to the beach

Repeat Guests