Staycations, our new business, help and feedback appreciated

[sidekickdmr]

Taita said:

I'm keen

pidsy said:

I'll take 2 nights.

, thanks guys, appreciate the support, ill let you know as soon as we are up!

RM said:

Have you looked at Innstyle for bookings?

No I have not come across them, ill take a look now, thanks

[sidekickdmr]

Thankyou4calling said:

sidekickdmr said:

Heya

Yes, all systems go here, I’ve had video production companies flying drones around, interior designers doing their thing, website being built and most importantly, the treehouse build starts in the next week or two, can’t wait to see it take shape!

It’s a quick build, Hoping to launch for Valentine’s Day!

We are aiming to do a big website and social media launch at the beginning of December, and we will have the booking software live at this time to take prebookings!

For people willing to take the leap of faith and pre book, will get a discount, plus the PH discount of course

FANTASTIC stuff.

Genuinely well done.

I would definitely be an "Early adopter" and book, no issue with that at all.

Let me/us know how and when.

All over it mate.

Yes its all very exciting and interesting seeing it start to take shape now, just cant wait for them to break ground!

Thanks for the encouragement and support TY4C

[sidekickdmr]

Taita said:

Any updates

The missus is pestering me!

Heya Taita,

Updates wise, its all going well, the building structure is finished, doing staircases, doors and windows etc now, then onto the flooring, kitchens and bathrooms first week of Jan, its going to be special, thats for sure!

Booking/website wise, we were hoping to be live before xmas but looking like the start of Jan now, still aiming to be up and running in Feb though!

Apologies about the delay, there will be a pre booking discount and a PH discount, so I'll be sure to let you all know when its live

Keep an eye out for this going live in the meantime https://ravendere.co.uk/

[sidekickdmr]

Thanks for the support and encouragement all, I'll upload some pics later this week.

Flat-6 said:

I don't do these sort of holidays for a few reasons, money and other commitments being one, but the fact im painfully single mostly...

However, I do like the idea, and this is what would be important for me and potential Mrs:

- Parking AT the lodge for a car.
- "Stuff to do" locally (ie the sea-side / pubs / nice little towns etc)
- A proper supermarket close-ish, I don't want to have to rely on an on-site mini-market as it WONT have what i want.
- INTERNET! - as much as it's a holiday, sometimes we just need to do stuff, or get bored of each-other.

You dont need a mrs to enjoy it, to be honest, the idea of chilling in a treehouse for the weekend, fire on, drink in hand and a good book sounds bliss to me!

Well the good news is, lots of stuff to do (we are walking distance to beach, pub, restaurant etc and lots of things to do around here), got a Tesco and a Lidl in a 10 min drive and fibre optic wifi in the treehouse too!

Bad news is, you cant park at the treehouse, but its only a 2 min stroll

[sidekickdmr]

dmsims said:

You should make the email address a clickable link!

To be honest I didn't think anyone would even see it, its only a temp holding page, however the full web page is all singing

[sidekickdmr]

Taita said:

Bump for more info!

Update below

hairyben said:

we're almost your target (no kids or pooch) and love the idea of secluded but with ready access to pub/restaurant, keeping my eye on ya, but we did a couple of days in a cottage in beer last year (similar idea with breakfast basket etc) so devons out till maybe 2019; if the mrs clocks you though who knows...

What's the actual locality or is that part of the reveal?

Great, would be great to gave you Ben, lets hope the Mrs finds our website sooner than later lol

Lord.Vader said:

Is the location on google maps correct?

I wouldn’t mind a couple of nights on the way back from Le Mans Classic this year, PH discount naturally!

Feel free to email me if you have anything up and running we can take a look at, photobucket have killed all the photo links in the thread.

Yes, I think the location is correct, assuming thats showing Lee bay! Assume you must be Cornwall, if its the way back, or does the ferry to laharve bring you down this way?


Update wise, we have hit a bit of a delay again unfortunately, I wont bore you with the details just yet, but still on track for an opening in the next few months, will keep the thread up to date along the way

[sidekickdmr]

Sorry for the delays, to keep things brief, we were scammed by a rouge builder and lost a fair chunk of our lifes savings, we are going through the solicitors and courts as we speak and its going to be a painful and log process, probably ending in him walking away scot free.

Anyway, the good news is, we have a new crew on site as they were willing to pick up the pieces and act quickly, so with a lot of hope, a bit of goodwill, some borrowed money and some determination, we are back in the game!

The new builders (A proper treehouse building firm) have been here since Monday, not much to show yet as its all been foundations and groundworks, but will keep the thread upto date, or start one in HGADIY.

Post photobucket screw up, where is the best place to host pics now?

We are planning to be open for business by the end of May, so quite a quick build!

4 treehouse builders, 2 electricians, 2 groundworks guys, 2 dumpers, one digger and a telehandler all here today, so its all go!

[sidekickdmr]

Here is my Flikr attempt:

unnamed by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Treehouse Colour floorplans by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

[sidekickdmr]

Just the one!

We have planning for one treehouse, and one subterranean hobbit home, then in the future will look to add another glamping pod and develop the ruins of an old cottage we have in the woods.

[sidekickdmr]

Build thread in progress!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[sidekickdmr]

Heya guys

Build almost finished now and website live and taking bookings 🙂

www.ravendere.co.uk

Would be great to get your thoughts

[sidekickdmr]

dmsims said:

For the website

Cannot click on phone numbers (a lot of visitors will be on phones!)

No immediate visual clue on home page

Clicking Our retreats draws a box around the menu item

To the right of "Local area" a You are here type map migh be a good idea

ReverendCounter said:

I understand this is probably the last thing you want to throw money at but regarding your vid (and to be perhaps overly critical?):

Consider removing the percussion (only) from the audio, and have more birdsong - my thoughts are this would give a slightly more tranquil vibe; what about mixing the sound of a gentle stream in?

In addition (and personally) I think I might try to achieve a more naturally 'ethereal' soundtrack by using non-electronic instruments like bell tree, chimes and harp - maybe underpinned with some strings like violin/voila.

If there's a PHer with an audio production background in your location, maybe you could do a deal - new soundtrack+ social media review in exchange for a couple of nights in the lodge.

Again, just my opinions and nothing else. Regardless of the above, very well done on your achievements!

Thanks both, some good points, will meet with my website designer (the wife) and chat through them later

[sidekickdmr]

pidsy said:

What’s the PH discount code?

:laughs:

There genuinely is a 10% off PH discount code, PM me/email me ([e-mail]) for it

[sidekickdmr]

Just been through this thread and sent some PM's to the people that asked for them, hope thats ok!

Thank you so much for your support for the last couple of years, its honestly been great, and Sometimes think that this thread, and the positive/we will book updates kept us going and made us think it would be worth it.

Had quite a few bookings in already, so it's going to be a busy few months!

Remember PH members get a 10% Discount and a bottle of something special on arrival too pop in PH18 at the checkout (www.ravendere.co.uk)

Outside 1 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Outside Decking 6 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Outside 2 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Bathroom 4 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

lounge 4 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Kitchen 1 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Kitchen 2 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Lounge 2 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Treehouse bedroom 2 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

Treehouse bedroom 1 by Kieran Fisher, on Flickr

And the video to go along with it!

I’m waiting for the drones to come back and do the initial fly through the trees into the treehouse (it was too windy last time), and a couple of other small tweaks apart from that, any feedback?

https://vimeo.com/276910301/aa267615c1

[sidekickdmr]

Junior Bianno said:

Congrats - that treehouse is really amazing. The design inside and out is outstanding

...but I'm mystified by the website. You've got some really great pics but none on the home page. No Calls to Action, phone numbers/contact links/social links above the fold. No properly structured headlines. It's strange because the basic layout of the site is decent - you've got SSL, an XML sitemap, good header tags, favicon etc - all good foundations. It just need some design flair and few fundamentals sorting out.

You don't seem to be using analytics so I'm guessing you don't know your bounce rate. I would guess it's high, but then at this stage I guess overall traffic is low as well.

As an aside, are you on AirBNB? With a product like that I think you probably wouldn't even need a website - AirBNB bookings would be almost certainly be high. This treehouse in Atlanta being a good example of that https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1415908?location=At...

Heya Junior,

Thanks for the kind words, and the feedback on the website.

We are just waiting for the final images and video from the drones to arrive this morning then the home page will be set up, like you say a large here image is missing and pretty key.

How could we improve "No properly structured headlines.", what would you suggest?

Re: Air bnb, the listing goes live today, Mrs has been working on it yesterday and this morning.

Thanks

[sidekickdmr]

CAPP0 said:

Just confirmed with Mr Sidekick that MrsC and I will be welcoming in 2019 from the top of a beech tree in Devon

Indeed you have, and we are excited to have you here for such an occasion!

Bottle of bubbly on me, it's the one time of the year it seems more fitting than a beer

Thanks so much for the business Cappo

[sidekickdmr]

sleepezy said:

Fame at last? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/arti...

Looks good, nice advert for the place.

Thanks for the heads up, wasn't even aware this was happening till you just linked to it

Was on the phone to the telegraph yesterday too

And we have been featured in house beautiful:

https://www.housebeautiful.com/…/g22…/...

[sidekickdmr]

AB said:

I commented on your build thread but this is exactly the sort of thing that my wife and I enjoy doing, and we try and do 2 nights away somewhere like this each month to escape busy lives. It was only this weekend we were in a lovely little cottage on the top of a valley in Wales looking out at some horses in the next field with a glass of wine in our hands that we were discussing how the owner was living the dream.

We spend a lot of time on RightMove seeing what we could get for our money if we sold our modest 4-bed semi. Then 2 days later we're back to reality!

You're quite a distance from me and it's quite a drive for 2 nights but we'll definitely look at doing 3 or 4 nights later on in the year, just hope there's some availability left.

You did mention hot tubs originally, is this still a plan? This is one thing that features high on the list of priorities, although not essential.

Good luck for the future although doesn't look like you'll need it!

Hi AB,

Its not the walk in the Park you might think, to maintain such high standards i now spend my time polishing glasses and re-arranging bookshelves, however it is very fulfilling seeing people expressions when they first see it, everyone is overwhelmingly positive about it all.

In regards to your question about the hot tub, we want to make various improvements over the years to stay fresh and relevant, so the hot tub will probably come in 2019, as well as various other features over the years

We would love to have you come stay, dont forget the ph18 code too

[sidekickdmr]

Thank you Cappo, it was a pleasure to have you, hope you had a great New Year’s Eve 🙂

Sorry I wasn’t about this morning to say goodbye properly