Windsor in 2023

Posted: Sat 24 December 2022 at 11:46

Merry Christmas 2023 from Accommodation Windsor Ltd

As we step into 2023 we look back at 2022 and the many great new contacts we’ve made this year. New clients, new landlords, even a celebrity or two, and along the way some great new friends of Accommodation Windsor Ltd. We’ve enjoyed meeting you, assisting you or helping you to keep your property in tip top condition whilst ensuring a stead flow of great longer-stay bookings. We always aim to ensure we continue provide quality properties, great service and at a reassuring price that is not (and never will be) “cheap” but will always be good value when comparing our offering to a hotel or perhaps a property listed on AirBnB. Whilst we utilise AirBnB to fill in the gaps between some great corporate lets, we are well aware that AirBnB marks up our price and therefore it is always best to book direct if you want a better price.

Thanks to all of the fabulous people we’ve met on our journey so far – you’ve helped us to make 2022 the 18th year we have traded in one incarnation or another and we hope you all enjoy the festive break as much as we aim to! Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, we look forward to continuing our business relationship into 2023 and beyond.

Above is a photo of all of the staff just before our Christmas party in December 2022.

Windsor Link Railways Heathrow Plans Boost Tourism and Reduce Traffic

Posted: Mon 24 September 2018 at 09:30

Those staying in Windsor accommodation who want to travel to and from Heathrow easily and quickly will welcome news that a local rail firm wants to help them do just that.

Windsor Link Railway (WLR) hopes to become a Heathrow innovation partner and has submitted several ideas to the airport that could greatly benefit those visiting Windsor.

More than 35 firms have been shortlisted by Heathrow to become partners in helping to deliver the third runway at the airport. WLR hopes that its interesting ideas might be selected as part of the project.

The innovations include operating driverless, automated vehicles that travel in pods on part of the current Southern rail line, which could be purchased from Network Rail. Other ideas include extending park and ride facilities in Windsor or Slough to help people get to and from the airport, and dedicated check-in facilities in Windsor for those flying in and out of Heathrow but staying in Windsor.

The plans put forward by WLR are all intended to help Heathrow deal with some of the challenges arising from opening a third runway, such as traffic and air pollution concerns.

The early check-in and park and ride ideas are intended to allow tourists to check in early and then visit Windsor as part of their day, increasing tourism in Windsor, but reducing traffic to and from both Windsor and Heathrow.

Photo Exhibition and Book Celebrate Windsor’s Special Residents

Posted: Fri 21 September 2018 at 09:34

Local photographer, Derek Reay, is behind a fantastic exhibition of pictures featuring some of the more notable faces around Windsor.

The exhibition, which is part of the Windsor Fringe Festival, is being held at the Old Court art centre on St Leonard’s Rd. The photographs will make a fantastic backdrop for anyone visiting the Old Court bar to sample some Windsor and Eton Brewery beer or even some live music at the Old Court’s Windsor Festival Community Stage over the coming few weeks.

Derek Reay’s pictures will fill his latest book, Windsor People Revisited, which is to be published ten years after his book, Windsor People. Many of his subjects from the first book are back to be photographed once more for the new edition. There are also a number of new faces featured, including everyone from Peascod Street Florist Martyn Crossley to the Windsor Festival Director Martin Denney.

Councillor Samantha Rayner commented: “Derek’s excellent book captures the people who help make Windsor such a fantastic community.

“The portraits recognise the hugely valued and unassuming heroes who make Windsor a fabulous place to live, work and enjoy.

Some copies of the hardback edition of the book will be available to buy with profits being donated to charity. The exhibition will run until 12 October and is completely free, so get yourself along!

Hotel Prices Continue to Rise Throughout Europe

Posted: Wed 12 September 2018 at 12:32

Hotels are enjoying huge profits thanks to soaring prices, according to the latest survey by hotel insight business Hotstats.

Throughout Europe hotels reported an overall increase in achieved room rates of 11.3 percent in July, leaving holidaymakers and businesses sending their staff on business trips out of pocket. Profits at hotels are also increasing in line with the rise in room costs, with hotels reporting a 16.9 percent year-on-year increase in profits for the month.

The report stated: “Profit levels remained heady in July at €83.70 per available room, which was equivalent to a profit conversion of 41.8 percent of total revenue.”

In addition, the latest Global Travel Forecast Report by Carlson Wagonlit travel predicts further hotel price rises in 2019.

The news that hotels are continuing to reap the benefits of sky-high prices is driving more and more people to book serviced accommodation in Windsor and elsewhere, as they realise that self-catering apartments often offer far better value for money.

“It’s no surprise to us that hotels are continuing to charge higher and higher rates for their rooms,” commented Accommodation Windsor’s Managing Director Nigel Holder. “That’s why we offer a genuine alternative for business traveller and tourists who want a quality, spacious stay in Windsor without paying through the nose.”

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 cant 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.

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.

“Windsor as a Destination” Video Competition

Posted: Mon 5 December 2011 at 14:46

Accommodation Windsor Limited is proud to announce Sam Taylor as the winner of our “Windsor as a Destination” video competition. The competition was launched back in September to the BTEC media students at East Berkshire College to provide a 90 second video representing Windsor and everything it has to offer. We launched the project in partnership with the College in the hope of finding some raw talent to showcase Accommodation Windsor Ltd, our Executive short-let Properties and Windsor to its best advantage on film. The idea was initially thought up by Managing Director Nigel Holder, recognising the benefits of video footage on various social media, he thought it would be great to invite local cinematographers to enter our competition; a great experience for the students and what fantastic results! The videos were judged by a team at AWL who were blown away by the level of talent on their doorstep.

After vigorous viewing of all the submissions, it quickly became apparent that Sam’s video was the clear favourite, but the standard of entries was so high that we ended up creating two runners’ up prizes for Cory Thompson and Jack Smith to recognise their efforts.

Sam wins £250 together with a contract worth £2000 with Accommodation Windsor Limited to produce further videos of our short-let apartments and houses. This week Sam has completed filming the first video “Meet the Team” and a photoshoot for our Xmas Charity E-card. The video in itself has been a great team-building exercise and we are all really excited to see the results… more details to follow.

Sam shared his thoughts about winning first prize, “Nigel from Accommodation Windsor approached my college to produce a ninety second video entitled Windsor as a Destination. It was a fantastic opportunity for me and my peers as aspiring videographers to enter this competition and extremely beneficial to be given a chance at a corporate brief from a real client.

I was extremely nervous on the day Nigel came to announce the winner. I wanted to win so badly as the possibility of working on similar professional briefs was just too great a prize to miss out on. When Nigel announced that I had won I could barely speak! It was such a mixture of emotions; I was happy, excited, nervous and relieved all at the same time. Im so excited about working with Accommodation Windsor in the future and really thankful for the opportunity that they have given me.”

We have been delighted with the feedback from Sam’s prize-winning video “Windsor as a Destination”, it really does show Windsor at its finest and amazingly was completed in just three days! Sam is 18 years old and has already won a Young Bafta Award, he hopes to attend University when he finishes his course in Windsor and we think that he has a very bright future ahead.

Visit our Website to view Sam’s video “Windsor as a Destination” https://accommodation-windsor.co.uk/Windsor-Berkshire-Destination-Video.htm and let us know your thoughts.