Looking back on the year that was...2021!
Looking back on the year that was…2021!
Cast your mind back to simpler times, ok so you have to go back to 2019, or at least early 2020! Remember when booking a holiday and actually going on it was on the cards? Yes well, at Great North Lodges we have had a lot to navigate through but thankfully we have a strong team who steered the ship with grace, humour and most importantly, patience!
In January we were knee deep in snow here in the Cairngorms, and also in a country wide lockdown. The immediate future looked uncertain but our truly amazing guests stuck with us allowing us to re-arrange their bookings and help to create memories for when families could meet together again.
Busy we most definitely were! Behind the scenes there was a lot going on with our newly formed team now working hard on our new website and filtering through all things GNL. Information was changing daily and working through this was challenging to say the least, however FINALLY we got the date we had waited for and on the 30th April we reopened.
Was it all plain sailing? Nope, sadly not. We still had restrictions and the biggest obstacle was household numbers, but again, we persevered and by the summer we had come out the other side. We heard lots of stories from our guests including the first time friends and families had been together for months, these were special and heart-warming times, we were back on track.
The summer months also saw more brilliant properties being added to the Great North Lodges family, Ptarmigan Lodge in Kincraig landed with us in early July with Cairngorm Cottage, Glenmore Lodge and Speyside Suite all at Muckrach Country House Estate joining us in late July. It was a summer like no other with staycations becoming the norm and the Highlands became a haven for the discerning traveller. Another beautiful property that came to us in August was Coorie Lodge in Aviemore.
Then, the luxury and splendour of Muckrach Country House joined us in October.
We also changed our Corporate identity during 2021 to take us forward with Escape, Explore and Enjoy being our new motto.
Other words that we became accustomed to using during 2021 were face masks, sanitising, jabs, isolating, social distancing…to name but a few. How long we will have to continue with these no one knows, what we do know is that our loyal and wonderful guests have made 2021 pretty special and we would like to thank you all for making 2021 a year to remember!
Whether making New Year’s resolutions is your thing or not, this is the time of year for reflection and also looking ahead. Visualise where you want to be in 2022 and take the steps to make it happen!
We will be waiting for you, to help you make memories and most importantly to encourage you to keep Escaping, Exploring and Enjoying!
