Here’s Little Story 6 of 13. Each considers (some of) why, I think, Old Post Office Riverside Holiday Cottages have spiking occupancy and 95% perfect 10/10 reviews.
6. Visual shorthand.
The brand essence of Old Post office is:
“You create rare and precious space in your life for us. So we create rare and precious spaces – for you.”
‘Rare’ and ‘Special’ are important words. ‘Rare’ means we we won’t settle for ordinary, and neither should you. ‘Precious’ means, we’ll prove we value your downtime.
As part of the ‘creating spaces for you’ part – I have a thing about signs. I don’t like signs. It’s hard to create a special, homely and relaxing space that also has ‘rules’ on the wall. Or wayfinder signage. Or instructions to learn.
So how do we help guests to ‘just know’ things? Well, where possible, we choose Visual Shorthand.
Here are examples of signs I’ve seen in other cottages and hotels:
– No dogs on the furniture.
– Bins this way, and recycling policy.
– No loud music.
– We have Sky TV.
– Please tidy up before you leave.
– Please wash your dog before allowing them back in the cottage.
I wanted to address these things, without sign or instruction. Here’s what we did.
– No dogs on the furniture. We actually don’t mind dogs on the furniture. But a neat, plentiful pile of throws means guests almost always protect beds and settees from mucky dogs.
– Bins this way, and recycling policy. One big black bin, and one little green bin for each cottage. It’s instinctive.
– No loud music. The record players are those wee Goodmans ones. A fun focal point with a built-in maximum volume control.
– We have Sky TV. We place a popcorn box containing the remote controls and microwaveable popcorn next to the TV. Visual shorthand for, ‘watch a film!’
– Please tidy up before you leave. When we got some good quality, aesthetically pleasing, always-on-charge, visible handheld vacuum cleaners, it was transformational. Guests – automatically – buzz it around a few times during each stay.
– Please wash your dog before allowing them back in the cottage. There’s a doggy demuddification station and dog shampoo outside every cottage.
ENDNOTE.
This is not an exhaustive list. And the solutions are imperfect. But, I think, taking on the challenge of saying things without saying them really does create a more homely and relaxing space. We’ll keep trying to improve this, as-we-go.
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I’ll post 10 times throughout November 2026, about Old Post Office Riverside Holiday Cottages.
Because occupancy is spiking, the first 30-odd reviews in 2026 were a perfect 10/10 and 95% of ALL reviews (500+) are a perfect 10/10.
If you have holiday cottages, or want to have holiday cottages, this might help.
Please repost and tag if anyone you know might want to read the series throughout November 2026.
Thank you. And Merry Christmas.
Mychael.
Website: www.oldpostoffice.co.uk