Let's take a at the year behind us...

Our fantastic location by the beach has seen us play a part in several TV series, films and music videos over the years and this year was no exception. Filming for series two of Netflix's smash hit Witcher took place on our favourite North Devon beach. Some locals were shocked to see actors dressed as knights on horseback being filmed galloping along Saunton Sands this February, but we were very happy to be a part of it. We were also fortunate enough to be a part of one of ITV’s new crime dramas The Long Call, as some of the filming took place on our grounds.

We are over the moon to have made the top 3 of the Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence 2022 in the 'Best for Families' category as well as in the Muddy Stilettos final in the ‘Best Spa Day’ category. Although we didn’t win on this occasion, it’s amazing to be recognised for our hotel offering by two prestigious awards. We are incredibly proud and grateful for the support from our lovely guests voting for us on these occasions.

We are lucky enough to be situated in a world class environment. It’s extremely important to us to preserve this natural wonder so it can be enjoyed by generations to come. We were proud to become a Biosphere Business Partner this year, part of a sustainable business network that looks after the very assets that attract 80% of our visitors, as well as each other. 

Our Environmental Team drives initiatives and continually monitors our action plan. We have made a commitment to conservation, local development and raising awareness in numerous ways including having electric car charging points in our carpark, promoting the use of our Hay Straws which are 100% compostable, providing wooden belly boards to our guests free of charge to discourage buying single-use plastic belly boards to use during your stay and continuing to support local businesses and farmers in any way that we can.

Local artist Justine from Jagoart was commissioned by us to draw Saunton Sands Hotel, following the popularity of our Becky Bettesworth print - you might have already spotted it on the front cover of our brand new 2022 brochure! The commission took Justine more than 80 hours to draw from scratch on her iPad (yes, 80 hours!), and we are over the moon with how it's turned out! You can read more about the commission and Justine’s story here. 

As you know we pride ourselves on providing luxury family holidays, and offering entertainment and facilities for children of every age. This festive season, our in-house maintenance team and interior designer have been hard at work building a fantastic grotto inside our Children’s playroom. If you visited us for a Festive Family Day, you will have been lucky enough to see it this Christmas. If you’ve not seen it yet, don’t worry our fabulous new grotto will be returning in 2022. 

On top of that, we have of course continued to provide incredible entertainment throughout every season, which has included arts and crafts, Merlin’s science show, Ranger Russ and of course Captain Coconut. All of these exciting activities will be returning in 2022 for your little ones to enjoy throughout the school holidays.

We now have Dryrobes available at the hotel which are free for guests to borrow for spa days, when using the outdoor pool or even if you need a bit of extra warmth to wrap up for a beach walk. There are available from Guest Relations throughout the year.