The Big Barn – Property Manual

Cottage owners

If your  friends and relatives can not get in touch with you whilst your staying with us, please feel free to pass on our contact information and will will pass on any messages to you.

Emergencies

To call the police, ambulance or fire service: 999 or 112

Non-emergency police number 101
(if you don’t require an urgent response because there is no immediate threat).

If you smell gas or the carbon monoxide alarm sounds call the gas emergency line
0800 111 999

Doctor — NHS Direct

They will arrange for a nurse or doctor to call you back to give advice or arrange an appointment for you at a nearby hospital.  111

Vets

W T Pritchard Vets
The Veterinary Centre, Colomendy Ind Estate
Denbigh
Denbighshire
LL16 5TA
Telephone: 01745 812047
reception@pritchard-vets.co.uk
https://www.pritchardthevet.com/

Dentist

Ruthin Dental Practice – Clydfan,
Market Street
Ruthin
Denbighshire
LL15 1AU
Tel: 01824 703 201

Local taxi firms

M&C Taxi: – 07545 180 729 / 07933 725 770

Joes taxis: – 01745 815 095

Harveys taxis: – 07979 442 806

Prompt taxis: – 01824 790 485

City cabs: – 01745 582 277

Stanway: – 01352 756 669

Looking after your house keys

You will have found one set of keys in the door when you arrived. This is the only set of front door keys in the house so please keep track of them! If you need a second set or if you misplace them, please get in touch using the contact information provided and we will organise another set to be got to you.

Fire precautions

Because you’re staying in an unfamiliar house please take a couple of minutes to read these notes as our fire precautions may be different from the things that you would do if you were at home.

There is a fire extinguisher by the doors in both the Kitchen and The living room. This is for small fires only.

There is a fire blanket next to the fire extinguisher. by the back door This is suitable for small pan fires.

At night your main escape route is downstairs through one of the back doors these are indicated above the door as a fire escape. Alternatively if your escape route is block please head to one of the nearest bedrooms with a window and call for help. With this in mind, we ask you to:

Do not leave the front door locked with the key on the inside. Remember that someone may have to open it in a hurry and in the dark.

Do not leave luggage or any other obstructions in the hallway, or on the stairs.

Please use your common sense, as you would do in your own home. For example:

• Don’t leave lit candles unattended.
• Please only use candles downstairs and in the yard.
• If you light the fire always close the stove door when you leave the room.
• Do not leave children alone in a room with lit candles or an open fire.
• Always use the metal bucket for clearing ashes from the fire as they stay hot for a long time (even into the following day). The bucket is usually by the one of the fire places, if it is missing please let us know nad we will get it replaced.
• Do not tamper with the smoke alarm! It is there for your safety and that of future guests.
• Remember that the cottage is non-smoking throughout.

In the event of a fire or the smoke alarm sounding leave the house immediately and raise the alarm with the neighbours. Call 999 and ask for the fire service.

Power cuts and emergency lighting

It can be hard to find your way around an unfamiliar house in the dark, in the unlikely event of a fire, in smoky rooms. To make getting around easier we have left SafeTlight plugged into wall sockets. These work as emergency lights and as torches and will last for up to 4 hours if they are fully charged.

To make sure that they are working when you need them we ask that you follow a few simple precautions:

Please leave the sockets switched on so that the lights are always fully charged,

Make sure that the lights stay firmly in their holders when they’re not in use so that they can keep charging.

We recommend that you keep the switch on the light in the on position so that they come on in night light mode at dusk and turn off at dawn. If there is a power cut they will light up on full beam automatically. (If you leave them switched off you may have to find them in the dark and manually switch them on if you need them).

Please discourage children from playing with them.

The LED torchlight is very bright so please make sure that children know not to shine it in their eyes.

There is also a torch in the kitchen base unit next to the front door.

Heating & Hot water

There is a Hot water Cylinder and System boiler in a separate room accessed from outside its the door with a number 2 on it. It is generally trouble-free, but if you have any problems please get in touch.  If you want to turn the heating on use the nest thermostat located on the sideboard below the pictures of the dogs. It is simple to use just turn the stainless steel ring clockwise to turn it on to your desired temperature and anticlockwise to turn it off. We (and the planet) would appreciate it if you could turn the heating down if you are going out. We reserve the right o turn the heating down if it is accidentally left on high whilst you are out.

LAUNDRY ARRANGEMENTS

We have provided fresh bed linen, towels and tea towels for your use.

Please feel free to use the washing machine under the stairs in the kitchen if you need to during your stay. The user guide for which is below.

BATHROOM TOWELS

Please don’t use the towels with bathroom cleaning products as they tend to discolour them – you will find cleaning cloths under the kitchen sink, if you need more during you stay please let us now and we will get them replaced.

ELECTRICAL – Light bulbs and fuses

There are spare bulbs and fuses on the top drawer of the sideboard opposite the fridge. If you need some more during your stay please get in touch using the contact information provided or let someone know if they are around.

Re-setting a circuit breaker

Sometimes when a lamp blows it also trips the circuit breaker so all the lights or sockets go out on that floor. The circuit breakers are in the boiler room located outside with a number 2 on the door. The boiler is also located in this room. you will find a key for this room hanging on the wall next to the oven.

To reset the circuit look for a switch that is pointing a different way from the others and then flick it back.

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU RUBBISH

We appreciate that you may not want to think about mundane things like rubbish when you are on holiday.

The Big Barn bins are located under the sink in the kitchen,

Always put all your general rubbish in black bin bags – there is a supply under the kitchen sink.

When your property’s bin becomes full, please use the main farm bins, which are located by the car parking spots, see the plan below.

• Black wheelie bins – All general waste (if you find these full please you the green wheelie  bins as an alternative, we will sort this out when the bin me come)
• Blue wheelie bins – All Recycling waste goes in this one.
• Small Orange Bin – Food Waste

As you can see Glan Clwyd Isa in a very quite and remote property. We ask you to kindly respect the neighboring holiday cottages and to keep noise within reasonable limits, particularly if you have the back doors open on warm summer evenings. If you are finding the noise of the neighboring cottages a nuisance, please get in touch immediately and the management can contact the relevant cottage to sort the situation out.

The appliances you will find when you arrive at The Big Barn are

Kitchen

• Washing Machine
• Dishwasher
• Gas Range
• Extractor
• American Fridge Freezer & Ice maker
• Microwave
• Toaster
• Kettle
• Iron

Living Room

• 65″ Smart TV
• Woodburning stove
• Google Smart speaker
• Nest Thermostat

Bedroom

• Hairdryer

Store room

• System Boiler

Bathrooms

Electric shower mixer

Departure time

Your booking ends at 10:00am on departure day to allow our housekeeper time to prepare for our next guests.

What to do with the house keys

Please lock the front door and leave the key in the door. Alternatively, your welcome to bring the keys over to the main house and leave in the porch if no one is about.

Before you leave

In the spirit of self-catering holidays we ask you to kindly leave the house in a clean and tidy state.

We would appreciate it if you could:

• Let us know of any breakages. Please note that we won’t charge you for minor breakages, we just want to know whether we need to replace anything before the next guests arrive.
• Leave the kitchen tidy, with alt washing up done.
• Put all your rubbish and recycling in the relevant wheelie bins located by the car parking spots. (see Housekeeping notes for more information on what goes in where)
• Make sure all the windows are closed.
• Leave used towels in the bathroom for the cleaner to collect.
• Leave, fridge freezer, oven and boiler all switched on at the wall.

We have found our guests feedback invaluable over the years so please let us know what you think of the cottage so that we can continue to improve it. You will receive by email a short feedback questionnaire the day after you depart.

If you think you’ve lost something please let us know straight away so we can ask the cleaners to keep an eye out for it. The sooner you tell us the more likely we are to find it.

Our cleaners will let us know if they find any significant personal belongings. If nobody’s reported anything missing then we’ll contact all our recent guests to find out who the items belong to. If nobody claims lost items within a few weeks then we’ll recycle them as appropriate.

WIFI

We have a very good broadband service for wireless access which you are welcome to use if you have a laptop or suitable mobile device.

Network name and password:
On your laptop or mobile device look for this network:   The Big Barn Wifi
When prompted enter this key (password):    thebigbarn2000

Trouble shooting

We do check to check to see if the broadband is working in your cottage during the changeover, but during your stay.
If you have any problems, here are some things to try if you have problems finding the network or connecting:

First of all the router is on the small table by the back door which leads out to your patio.
The lights on the router have been turned off, so it might look like the router has no power, but this is not the case. As long as you follow the steps below, you should get online with out any further problems.

• Make sure the router power cable is plugged in to the back of the unit and switched on at the wall socket behind the side table.
• Make sure the ethernet  cables are firmly pushed in place both in the back of the router and also in to the Ethernet port which is on the wall behind the wall.
• You can re-start the router by pressing the little button on its bottom right edge. Wait for 2 Min then it should be ready for you to use your laptop or mobile device to find the Wi-Fi network.

If you having problems finding the Wifi network above or you are connected but it is not working as it should please contact Ben Crossley on 07557093274 and he will do some further walk you through connecting to the network. This can all be done remotely and hopefully quickly.

OUTDOOR SWIMMING POOL GUIDENCE

Before guests can use the Swimming pool or Hot tubs, every adult must sign a waiver; This can ben done online by clicking this link or a paper copy left with your welcome note inside the properties on arrival.

Please be considerate of other guests and do not monopolise the pool when others may wish to use it. (or you are welcome to swim all together) As a rough rule of thumb, we suggest that each party keeps their use of the pool to an hour or so at busy times.

Please shower – please ensure you shower thoroughly before entering the pool. Always encourage children to use the toilet and shower before they swim. For warm showers, please use the showers within your Holiday property.

We also ask that guests leave the pool in a clean and tidy condition at the end of their swim.

To conserve energy, please try replacing the pool cover at the end of your swim. If you struggle to do this independently, please don’t worry about this.

Pool Rules:

All children 16 years and under must be accompanied by an adult responsible for their pool supervision and safety whilst in the swimming pool areas.

Children under three must wear a swim nappy to enter the pool. These can be purchased online before your arrival. We do keep a few on hand, so please head over to the main house if you require one.

Take care, swimming pools can be hazardous. Water presents a risk of drowning, and injuries can occur from hitting the hard surroundings or from misuse of the equipment.

• Every pool is different, so ensure you know how deep the water is and check for other hazards.
• All non-swimmers to be accompanied by an adult in the water;
• Always swim within your ability:
• No Diving or jumping;
• No running on the poolside;
• Glan Clwyd Isa is not responsible for any personal belongings left by the pool during your stay;
• No animals in the pool area;
• Never swim after a heavy meal or after alcohol.
•  Avoid holding your breath and swimming for long distances underwater.
•  Be especially careful if you have a medical condition such as asthma, diabetes or heart problems.

Recent illness – Please do not enter the pool areas if you are feeling unwell, have a high temperature or think you may have been diagnosed with Covid -19 positive. Do not enter the pool areas if you have had a stomach upset in the last 14 days.

Should you have any issues when using the pool facilities, please get in touch with a member of Glan Clwyd Isa management.