Meet Tammy and family, owners of Longlands, an award-winning, sustainable, dog and child friendly luxury camping site in North Devon, featuring five fully-equipped safari lodges.
What first inspired you to create Longlands as a retreat?
We bought Longlands a couple of years ago and it was already a Glamping business with 5 Safari Tents. We’re at the edge of the Exmoor National Park in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty so it was a ‘no-brainer’ to keep the business going as the perfect space to relax and unwind.
Have you always been in hospitality? If not, what else did / do you do?
We side-stepped into hospitality from Travel & Tourism. We used to run a holiday cottage agency in Dorset called Dorset Coastal Cottages. We loved speaking to guests about their holidays, but we wanted to accommodate them ourselves. Longlands ticked all the boxes – luxury safari tents located in acres of meadow and woodland. Plenty of room to play ball or just laze around in your very own hammock!
What’s the best thing about being the owner of Longlands?
Living on site is the very best thing! Our home is at Longlands so we’re on hand to welcome our guests as they arrive. This also means that we get to enjoy the sweeping views down the valley and our children have a lot of space to play in.
What’s your favourite feature of the retreat?
We think it depends on the time of year! We can’t choose between the warmth of the private hot tub with views of the sea or the cool waters of the lake which is perfect for a dip in the heat of summer.
What do you love about the local area?
We love being so near to the sea. One of our favourite beaches is at Woolacombe where our kids can swim in the sea or take surf lessons.
What’s next for Longlands?
We have a dream for the future that we could open Longlands up to site-wide bookings as a Yoga Retreat. We have a yoga meditation circle at Longlands in a clearing near the lake. We can imagine yoga mats on it as the sun rises and sets. The setting lends itself to that sort of retreat – it’s idyllic.
If you couldn’t stay at your place, where would your ideal holiday be?
Any where our children are happy!
Sum up Longlands in three words.
Rural. Restorative. Relaxing.
If you were visiting, how would you spend a day at Longlands?
I’d wake up listening to birdsong and wait for my warm croissants to be delivered whilst reading my book. Then I’d head to the meditation circle and do some Pilates in front of the lake. Next up a game of Giant Chess with the kids and some messing about on the lake in our boat, Little Bird. Off to the beach at Woolacombe for the afternoon before heading back to Longlands for a BBQ with locally sourced meat from the local farm shop. With the sun setting there’s just time for an hour in the hot tub looking at the stars twinkle before tumbling back into bed for a sound night’s sleep.
Find out more about Longlands via their Host Unusual listing below!
