What is Swan Upping?

Posted: Wed 12 July 2023 at 16:21

Each year in the third week in July all along the River Thames, the annual ceremony of Swan Upping takes place.

Swan Upping is the annual census of the swan population up and down the River Thames in the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The purpose is to collect data of the number of mute swans along the river, in addition to assessing the health of the cygnets (young swans) as they are prevalent at this time of year.

This historic ceremony dates from the twelfth century, when the ownership of all mute swans belonged to the Crown. The reason behind the ceremony was to ensure plentiful supplies of swans for royal banquets and feasts, as swans were historically a luxury staple of royal feasts. Of course, this tradition no longer prevails today, and mute swans are a protected species.

The King’s Swan Marker and the accompanying Swan Uppers of the Vintners’ and Dyers’ Livery Companies use six traditional Thames rowing skiffs in their five-day journey upstream to Abingdon. By tradition, scarlet uniforms are worn by The King’s Swan Marker and Swan Uppers, and each boat flies the appropriate flag and pennant.

Swans can live up to 30 years old, so some of the swan uppers may be saying hello to old friends along the river.

Be sure to keep an eye out for this historical event, securing a spot on Windsor and Eton Bridge as the team row past.

Strangest Business Travel Expenses Revealed

Posted: Mon 7 January 2019 at 11:09

As a business traveller, claiming back your expenses can sometimes be a headache. You may have to wait a while to see the cash appear back in your account, or you may feel slightly guilty about that expensive dinner you enjoyed. However, some business travel expenses really take the biscuit.

Expense management software firm Certify has put together a list of the strangest business expenses it has dealt with over the past five years – and it makes for fascinating reading. Some of these were approved, while others were seen as simply too lavish or too ludicrous for the business in question to cover.

Towards the top of the list is a massive claim for a helicopter ride to a business meeting. The claim was for around £5,000 and, rather unsurprisingly, it was not approved. Another rather questionable expense was for a cost of a Rolex watch, purchased for ‘customer appreciation’. This claim was approved by the business  – must be nice being one of their customers!

While some of the expense claims on the list are lavish, others suggest a rather irresponsible approach to business travel. One claim involved the repair of a hotel room wall after the employee punched a hole in it. To make matters worse, he also then expensed the cost of rebooking his airfare as he was in jail when his original flight was scheduled.

Another irresponsible employee successfully expensed the cost of towing his vehicle after he illegally parked.

So what can you expense as a business traveller?

Each business will have its own clear guidelines on what is expensable while on a business trip. However, here’s a quick list of some of the items that are usually expensable:

 

  • Any food and drink consumed up to a reasonable limit
  • Accommodation
  • Travel and transport costs (trains, cabs, flights, car hire etc.)
  • Costs involved with entertaining clients
  • Calls and wifi costs etc.

Basically, if you are having to purchase items when travelling for work that you not have needed to buy at home, you will usually be able to expense them. As a business traveller, you will not be expected to be out of pocket as a result of your business trip.

You must keep all your receipts for any business travel expenses to ensure you can prove how much each item cost and when and where the money was spent. You will also usually be required to make the expense claim within a certain period of time following the trip, so don’t sit on those receipts for too long! If you have a business credit card, which you can use for any business expenses you incur during your work trip, the whole process of business expenses is made much simpler.

If you decide to enjoy some extra leisure activities that are not related to your work, you will usually have to cover the costs yourself.

Private Investors Spend Big on Serviced Apartment Industry

Posted: Wed 19 September 2018 at 09:17

Private equity investors are ploughing more cash into the short-term letting and serviced apartment industry than they are investing in the hotel market.

This is according to the latest report by commercial property research firm JLL. It found that in the year to May 2018, some £486m was invested in the serviced apartment industry in the UK alone. This is up from just £89m back in 2010, showing how rapidly the demand for this kind of accommodation is growing.

The researchers said that the investment in the industry will outpace investment in hotels. Eva Chan, a researcher at JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality EMEA team explained why serviced apartments are so appealing to investors: “With lower running costs than a staffed hotel, the serviced apartment sector also offers the opportunity to redevelop and to renovate to deliver higher returns.”

She added that portfolios of executive apartments are now attracting a large number of bids when they are sold, suggesting that the industry is increasingly seen as a viable asset class from which to make money.

All this investment is good for the guests who enjoy staying in serviced apartments as quality is likely to continue to improve as a result. There will also be more executive apartments available to choose from in towns and cities across the UK.

Ryanair Changes Baggage Policy To Reduce Delays

Posted: Sat 8 September 2018 at 16:09

Ryaniar is attempting to reduce delays on its flights to and from the UK by making further changes to its baggage policy.

The low-cost airline is a favourite option for a huge number of business travellers and tourists who go on to stay in serviced apartments in Windsor and other popular locations in the UK. However, it has suffered from a reputation for complicated baggage allowance rules and delayed flights. To address at least one of these problems, Ryanair has announced some new rules for non-priority travellers.

 

For all bookings made from 1 September, and at airports from 1 November, non-priority passengers will be allowed to carry only one small item of hand luggage. The size limits for this small piece of luggage have increased slightly to 40cm x 20cm x 25cm.

 

The new policy replaces a previous rule brought in earlier in the year, which saw non-priority passengers being asked to check-in their larger pieces of hand luggage at the gate for free. Although this previous rule change was also intended to reduce delays it was actually causing hold-ups, according to the airline.

 

Ryanair says it hopes the new rules will result in passengers either paying to upgrade to priority tickets or spending a little extra on a 10kg carry-on limit if they want to take an extra piece of hand luggage with them.

 

The airline claims that the new rules will only actually impact some 40 percent of passengers as 60 percent of travellers already either pay for priority tickets or happily travel just with one small carry-on bag.

What makes Windsor so special…?

Posted: Sun 16 March 2014 at 10:35

signsWith Windsor Castle as a backdrop and within 20 miles of London it ticks a lot of boxes location wise.  Add in the history, charm, Royal connections, fabulous shopping, tourist attractions, rail and road links, high employment, low-crime, great schools (both state and private) and you start to build up a picture of what draws people to this unique area.

Windsor has a thriving social scene with bars, restaurants and clubs for all age groups.  It’s big on families too so really easy to make new friends and settle the kids in.  There are lots of local attractions including a Leisure Centre with swimming pool, fabulous National Trust properties, Royal Parks, its own Theatre, International Racing and Legoland theme park and all just a hop and a skip from London with all of its shopping, activity and employment opportunities.

The town centre is delightful, nestling on the River Thames with stunning swans, summer boating, kayaking, river trips and a Duck Tour – it’s fun to live in a tourist town and never have to leave.  The pavements can get a little congested in the peak season, but equally there is a vibrancy and excitement to living in Windsor; and knowing people travel from all over the world to visit your town.

15CC-sofa-englandLots of clients use Accommodation Windsor as a stop gap, whether relocating from overseas or closer to home, its a chance to settle in and have a look around the area before taking the plunge and buying or renting something longer term.  With prices from just £595 pw for a 2-bed town centre apartment, properties are available to let from a minimum of one week for as long as you want to stay. 

Our stylish and well-located Properties are fully furnished right down to the garlic press and prices are inclusive of all utilities meaning that you can move on when you’re ready to do so.

Our helpful and knowledgeable team can also advise on schools, doctors’ surgeries and all the essential local amenities that you need to know about to make life a little simpler.  Windsor is a relatively small town and a hugely welcoming community and you will find lots of networks and support groups to help you and your family settle in.

Let us know what you think makes Windsor so special…

Last Minute Availability

Posted: Mon 10 March 2014 at 15:51

Check out these incredible last minute deals on one of our most popular apartments. 

1EC-STYLISHThis great two bedroom apartment has had a complete makeover by an interior designer, with new solid oak flooring and funky new furniture including this great trunk that doubles up as a coffee table. Put your feet up and relax in comfort and enjoy the first signs of spring in the delightful patio garden.  This property also benefits from off street parking yet is superbly located just minutes walk from Windsor town centre.

1EC-DESKThis stunning property is suitable for both executives and small families and is offered at GBP595 per week during March (was GBP700) including all bills and council tax.  (Minimum one week stay, Terms & Conditions apply).

If you would like to book this or any of our other properties please call Lisa in Lettings on + 44 (0)1753 833747 or email lisa@almahouse.co.uk

Meet the Team Video

Posted: Wed 15 February 2012 at 15:59

Recently the team at Accommodation Windsor enjoyed a taste of Hollywood during the making of our first ever “Meet the Team” video filmed and edited by Sam Taylor, the winner of our recent video competition “Destination Windsor”.  We started with an initial brain-storming session, which got us all buzzing with ideas.  After this, we decided to introduce each member of staff by giving a small glimpse of what they do each day, for me this meant a lot of answering the phone, greeting people at the door, doing check-ins and check-outs and taking payments.  It was tiring work but also a lot of fun which reflects exactly what a normal day at Accommodation Windsor Limited is really like.

It was tricky to get all our ideas into such a short, two and a half minute video. We wanted to show all aspects of what we do at work including taking bookings, checking in guests, fighting our way through a mountain of paper work, meeting landlords and purchasing fabulous home furnishings.  Luckily a number of our landlords are also close friends so were happy to help to get stuck in with the filming.

The completed video will be shown to the world via our website and various social media sites.  It was therefore not surprising then that we all came to work on the first day of filming looking our absolute best! The team at Accommodation Windsor Limited have never looked so glamorous.  The filming itself lasted just a few days and was a lot of fun and turned into a great team-building exercise.  The Meet the Team video is a great way to show potential  clients, Landlords and guests how we work together and what kind of a company we are.  We recently used the video to advertise a job vacancy and had such a positive response from candidates who all felt we would be a great company to work for!

Working with Sam on this video has been a pleasure for all of us, he has a very professional and creative attitude which filled us all with energy and enthusiasm. We can’t wait to see the rest of the videos he will be creating for us in the future which will feature a number of our apartments as well as videos on where to eat, drink and shop in Windsor.

Swans

Posted: Sat 31 December 2011 at 10:52

Swans by johnbailey1
Swans, a photo by johnbailey1 on Flickr.

Lovely shot from River Thames of the swans.

The Making of a Christmas Card

Posted: Wed 14 December 2011 at 16:40

The idea began in 2009, with an eye on world events and a dread of signing hundreds of Christmas cards, we decided to donate our budget for printing corporate cards to charity and send out an E-card instead.  Together with the girls in the office, we donned our sparkliest outfits and popped open some bubbly.  Charles Nicholls – friend, Landlord and keen photographer volunteered to come and take the pics for us. 

The following year we asked the Housekeeping Team to join in with the photo, even dressing up Ruby with a big red ribbon.  This year, the team has grown again and some of our Landlords managed to gatecrash the photoshoot too.  We decided to host at our home as a way of saying Thank You to the Team for all their hard efforts throughout the year.

Add in some nibbles and fizzy stuff and the evening took on quite a lively flavour.

As is becoming the trend when we all get together, the Team are keen to share their unique party tricks with their colleagues.  Who knew Rosie (an ex-gymnast and trampolinist) could pick up a Champagne cork from the floor using only her mouth?  Or that several of her colleagues would then be inspired to see if they could too… Or that together, with Nigel leading on the drums, we would so enjoy “performing” (and I use this term loosely) Stevie Wonder tracks in Nigel’s new music studio, despite none of us being able to sing or play any instruments.  (Video footage of this event is currently on lockdown!!)

So the donation we are making this year is to El Rohi Community School in Uganda (the school name comes from the Hebrew for Good Shepherd).  We hope that our small contribution will make a difference to the lives of children much less fortunate than our own.  A friend at our daughter’s school is an airline pilot and she has become involved with the school over in Kampala, dropping off spare clothing and stationery each time she visits.  Food is exhorbitantly expensive in Uganda and  it is a constant dilemma for the Headmistress there to juggle the finances and provide a nutritious meal for the pupils – often the only meal that they will have each day.  We would like to support the school on an ongoing basis so more info to follow in the New Year.

We hope you enjoy our Christmas e-card  and approve of our nominated charity.  We’ve had a lot of fun putting it together and feel proud to have contributed in some small way to help others.

We would like to wish all our Friends, Customers, Landlords and Suppliers the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years!  Visit our Facebook page to see more pics of our photoshoot.