Access Statement for Sea Tang Guest House, 67 Berry Head Road, Brixham TQ5 9AA
Introduction
Sea Tang is a family run Guest House aiming to provide our guests with a welcoming, relaxing and comfortable environment in which to enjoy their stay. We have six guests rooms, all with en-suite shower rooms. Four of the guest rooms have the fabulous uninterrupted sea views over the Marina, Brixham harbour, Torbay and beyond. Sea Tang is a totally non-smoking establishment.
Pre-arrival
Sea Tang Guest House was built in the late 1800’s and may not be suitable for guests with limited mobility owing to the large flight of steps from the pavement up to the front door. The property also has several flights of stairs between floors. We do not have ground floor bedrooms but there are toilet facilities on the ground floor.
Sea Tang Guest House is situated approximately three quarters of a mile from Brixham Town Centre Bus Station and the local number 17 bus runs past our door. Trains arrive at either Paignton or Newton Abbott stations from where the very reliable and regular number 12 bus service will bring you into Brixham Bus station. Alternatively we can arrange a taxi to bring you to the Guest House.
The South West Coast Path passes the Guest House and can be accessed down a set of steps immediately across the road from the front door of the Guest House. Guests can then enjoy a traffic free environment and flat stroll into town along the harbour-front.
Arrival and parking facilities.
Please advise us of your arrival time so that we can be sure that we are here to welcome you.
To ensure that we have your accommodation ready for you we ask that you do not check in before 3pm unless we have agreed for you to do so beforehand. Luggage may be dropped off earlier and left with us whilst guests enjoy the area until the rooms are ready for check in. Guests arriving by car may park in the residents bay or on the yellow lines outside to unload but must then move their vehicle to the nearby Car Park.
On arrival, come up the steps and ring the door bell. If you need assistance with your luggage, we will be pleased to help you.
Guests arriving by car will then be issued with a permit valid for use in the Brixham Marina Car Park which is approximately 100m along the road from the guesthouse. The permit is normally valid from 13.00 hrs on the day of arrival until 13.00 hrs on the day of departure unless agreed otherwise before you arrive. The permit is complimentary but must be returned to the guesthouse at the end of your stay. The Brixham Marina Car Park has CCTV and number plate recognition cameras, is monitored 24 hours per day and is very safe.
Main Entrance and Reception.
From the pavement outside the house, there is one step (approximately 12cm) through the old gateway, then a flight of 14 stone steps (average height 20 cm)with a handrail on the right hand side onto an outside landing. There are then 2 further steps (14cm and 20cm) through the porch into the reception hall. Guests will then be welcomed, shown to their rooms and have the facilities explained to them.
Public Areas – Hall, Stairs, Landings, Corridors etc.
From the ground floor hallway, there is a flight of 13 stairs (average height 15cms) to a small landing and then a further flight of 4 stairs (average height 15cms) to the first floor bedrooms.
There is then a flight of 10 stairs (average height 18cms) up to another small landing with another flight of 5 stairs (average height 18cms) to the second floor bedrooms. There is a handrail alongside all main stairs inside the building.
Public areas – Lounge, Dining room, lobbies etc,
The lounge and dining areas are accessible through the lounge door off the main ground floor hallway.
Guests are welcome to use the lounge area at any time during their stay unless it is clearly in use for a private meeting or other pre-booked function. The dining area is generally only available for use during breakfast times, but guests may help themselves to specialist teas and hot chocolate sachets etc from the dining room display at any time during their stay.
There are separate dining tables for each room but these may be grouped together to accommodate guests staying together.
Special dietary requirements are routinely catered for if they are notified to us in advance – including Gluten and Dairy free, Vegetarian and Vegan. Unpackaged foods in hygienic containers (cereals etc) have allergen advice clearly displayed and full allergen details for the foods we provide can be made available upon request.
We encourage and request guests to give prior notice of any special catering requirements.
Public WCs
WC’s are provided in the en-suite facilities of each guest bedroom. We also have a ground floor WC available for guests and visitors to use.
Laundry
Laundry facilities are not available for guest use on the premises, but there is a laundrette within walking distance in Bolton Street.
If you go to the top end of the pedestrianised main street in the town centre (Fore Street) turn left into Bolton street and the laundrette is a short way along Bolton Street on the right hand side.
Bedrooms and En-suite facilities.
We currently have 6 available guest bedrooms, all of which have en-suite shower, toilet and wash-basin facilities. Both the hot and cold water supplies in each bathroom are mains pressure.
There are no water tanks in the property and the cold water is drinking water, direct from the main supply.
Each bedroom is equipped with storage – generally consisting of wardrobe, chest of drawers, bedside cabinet and all have Freeview TV with remote control, DVD player, clock, hairdryer, small fridge and hospitality tray and kettle.
There is (normally) also a guest information folder containing useful local information and our fire safety notice which guests are required to read.
(The folders have been removed from the rooms whilst the Covid pandemic situation exists. Please ask for any information you may require)
There is central heating throughout the house, thermostatically controlled valves on the radiators in each room allow guests to control the temperature to suit their personal comfort.
However, additional heaters and blankets, if required, are available during any really cold spells and fans can be provided during very hot weather.
Beds are routinely made up with duvets. However, if notified in advance, these can be replaced with sheets and blankets if required.
On the first floor level, there are currently three guest bedrooms, rooms 2, 3 & 4.
Room 2 – A large double / twin room faces the rear of the property. The room can be configured either as a twin bedded room with 2x 3ft single beds or as a double room with a Superking-sized double bed.
It has an en-suite shower room with washbasin and WC.
Room 3 – A King-sized double room faces the front looking out over the Marina, Brixham Harbour, Torbay and beyond.
It has a small table and chairs in the bay window so that guests can enjoy the view.
It has an en-suite shower room with washbasin and WC.
Room 4 – A single room again faces the front looking out over the Marina, Brixham Harbour, Torbay and beyond and it has a 3ft single bed.
It has an en-suite shower room with basin and WC.
On the second floor level, there are also currently three guest bedrooms, rooms 6, 7 & 8.
Room 6 – A large double / twin room faces the front looking out over the Marina, Brixham Harbour, Torbay and beyond.
It has a small table and chairs in the bay window so that guests can enjoy the view. The room can be configured either as a twin bedded room with 2x 3ft single beds or as a double room with a Superking-sized double bed.
It has an en-suite shower room with washbasin and WC.
Room 7 – A single room again faces the front looking out over the Marina, Brixham Harbour, Torbay and beyond and it has a 3ft single bed.
It has an en-suite shower room with basin and WC.
Room 8 – A double aspect family room faces the rear of the property. It has additional storage, and two chairs.
There is a set of adult size bunk beds (each 3ft x 6ft3in) with the other bedding configured either as twin 3ft single beds or as a Super-king-sized double bed.
It has an en-suite shower room with washbasin and WC.
Additional Information.
Just inside the front door there is a rack of leaflets giving ideas for local attractions and things for everyone to do in the local area. These things to do, and more, plus details of many local places to dine out can be found on our web-site www.seatang-guesthouse.com
We would be pleased to make reservations at local restaurants for guest should they so wish.
No Smoking Policy.
Sea Tang Guest House is a non smoking establishment and – for the comfort of all of our guests – this includes vaping devices.
We do not permit smoking or the use of vaping devices anywhere on the premises. There is a small garden area across the road should you wish to smoke.
Contravention of this policy may result in the guest’s booking being terminated.
Fire Safety.
There is a fire extinguisher on each floor and call points on each landing to facilitate safe egress for guests during any fire incident.
There are smoke detectors in each room and these are sensitive to aerosol and vapour devices as well as smoke and steam from the showers!
In the event of a fire alarm activation, a sounder in each room will operate which is very loud (90+ dB) which should be audible to all people with reasonable hearing ability.
Please advise us on arrival if you may not be able to hear this.
As stated earlier, guests are notified of the Fire Safety Notices in their rooms and are encouraged to read them and to be aware of the evacuation procedure should the fire alarm be activated.
We will advise guests when the fire alarm is to be routinely tested. (Normally once per week )
Pets / Assistance animals.
In the interests of hygiene, guest comfort and consideration for all guests, we do not allow guests to bring pets into the premises.
Guests who depend upon assistance animals can be accommodated, but this requirement must be made known to us when the original booking is made.
All guests are reminded that the guest house was built in the late 1800’s and has many steps , both externally and internally and the suitability of this accommodation should be considered when booking.
Ongoing works and Future Plans.
The current owners purchased the Sea Tang Guest House at the end of 2014 having identified the urgent need for significant refurbishment and upgrading work to be carried out.
A ten year plan was put in place including 5 years of ongoing refurbishment and upgrading.
All works have now been completed and – apart from ongoing routine maintenance – there are no further internal works planned at this time likely to cause inconvenience to guests.
Between 2015 and 2019, a phased major refurbishment was undertaken.
This involved a total electrical re-wire of the premises, a new fire alarm and emergency lighting system installed, the installation of a new water main and a new mains pressure hot water supply to each room.
All 8 bedrooms were refurbished and re-decorated with brand new en-suite shower rooms – where any steps within the floor areas were removed – and new fitted cupboards, new carpets and new beds and furniture installed.
A new downstairs WC was created, the kitchen and laundry area fully refurbished with all new fittings and appliances, as was the lounge dining area.
The common parts hallway and staircases were also redecorated and new carpets installed in most parts.
The roof was repaired and rotten timberwork around the eaves all replaced with new hardwoods.
The flat roof at the rear of the property was replaced and a new energy-efficient skylight installed whilst the Mains drainage to the rear of the property also upgraded.
The exterior of the property was fully redecorated and lighting installed to the entrance steps, which were also repaired and a new full length handrail installed.
Not forgetting – of course – our live webcam on the front of the property which was re-activated in 2015 and has since been upgraded with a better quality camera too!
In total, over £300,000 has been invested into the building over 5 years to ensure our guests have the safest, most comfortable and enjoyable stay possible.
Almost all of this investment has been with local tradespersons, suppliers and labour as we also do our bit to support the local community of Brixham.
In 2020 and 2021, like everyone else we coped with the Covid Pandemic and all that entailed and just managed to complete some ongoing maintenance works.
In 2022 we plan to plan to start a scheduled re-decoration programme re-painting individual rooms on a rolling programme to ensure that the standard the guests now enjoy will be maintained.
We also plan to re-dcorate the front of the building exterior again.
Chris and Claire Toghill
January 2022
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Created 12 February 2016.