The Isle of Wight rakes in tourism awards!

Wightstay offer their huge congratulations to businesses and events on the Isle of Wight, following their success at the Tourism South East ExSELlence Awards 2009!

The awards ceremony took place at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, and the Isle of Wight was without a doubt the winner, with nominations in nearly every category!!

The results are as follows...

Silver Award Winners

Tourism Event of the Year - Isle of Wight Walking Festival
Best Tourism Experience Award - Seaview Wildlife Encounter
Caravan/Holiday Park of the Year - Old Mill Holiday Park
Self Catering Holiday of the Year - Mersley Farm

Highly Commended Award Winners

Access for All - Sunny Bay Apartments
Caravan/Holiday Park of the Year - The Orchards Holiday Park
Flavour of the South East - The Garlic Farm
Sustainable Tourism Award - Bedford Lodge

Proof positive that the Isle of Wight is tops when it comes to places to visit in the UK - and for places to stay on the Isle of Wight, take a look at the rest of the Wightstay - with hotels, bed and breakfasts, camping, touring and holiday parks, great attractions, the Isle of Wight really is the best place to visit - especially this half term!

Catch the tail-end of an indian summer on the Isle of Wight this half-term

Occasionally the Isle of Wight feels just like the rest of the UK, but on so many days it feels genuinely special.

This morning was one of those days, despite the clocks having done their thing on Sunday.  First day of half-term and walking to the office was warm enough without a jacket - it's shirt-sleeves for us!  We have a light wind, very little cloud and beautiful sun.

Given the weather, we just couldn't resist a couple of photos on the way in to the office.  Here's the view across Cowes Harbour:

With the Solent pretty much flat calm and the Red Funnel boats coming and going.

Here's the view up-river, past the Cowes Ferry (or Floating Bridge), the listed Hammerhead crane, towards UKSA:

If you're still thinking about taking the kids somewhere this week then you might be able to pick up a last minute deal on self-catering from our friends at Wight Farm Holidays.  Or maybe one of the hotels on Wightstay, such as Luccumbe Manor Country House Hotel or Melville Hall Hotel would suit your needs better?

Not only is the weather good, but the sea is still warm enough to enjoy a bracing dip from one of the Blue-Flag approved beaches on the south coast.  Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor all hold the Blue Flag for cleanliness - that's three out of a total of only 40 beaches across the whole of the south and south-west England which reach the Blue Flag standard.  All of the Island's beaches are also currently testing above the higher recommended water quality standards, as well as getting 10/10 from us for the stunning views from them!

If you have any photos of the Island's beaches you'd like to share, do mail them in to us here at Wightstay and we'll be sure to show the best ones in a future post!

Another busy weekend on the Isle of Wight, OR Something for the kids to do over half-term!

It' such a busy weekend on the Isle of Wight I'm not sure I know where to begin!

There's Isle of Wight Walking Festival Weekend - I said about that a couple of days ago - and of course on Saturday there is the Friendship Walk supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month - expect to see a whole host of people dressed up at the Western Yar on Saturday 24 October. This four mile walk around the estuary offers a wealth of heritage and wildlife sights and ends in a pink party with tea and cake, so remember to bring your party hats and pink outfits. Wightlink are also offering mainland participants free foot passenger travel from Lymington to Yarmouth making it the perfect event to invite all your family and friends along to. day, as we try to turn the entire place into the Isle of Pink!

There are plenty of Isle of Pink events taking place over the half-term holidays too! Pink fundraising activities will be taking place at Havenstreet Steam Railway during their wizard week, Blackgang Chine will become Pinkgang Chine as everyone is invited to dress up in pink witches and wizards outifts to take part in ther fancy dress competition and pink tresaure hunt on 29th Ocotober and Isle of Wight Zoo at Sandown will be holding a pink Halloween event on saturday 31st October. All the money raised from the Isle of Pink will help Breast Cancer Campaign get a step closer to beating breast cancer!

This weekend also see the V-Bay Festival - and if you haven't heard of it before, let me explain!

Dubbed the hippest resort, Ventnor is a vibrant place, filled with cultural history, great bars, stunning coastal views - I could go on, but the best way to find out is to visit yourself!

The V-Bay Festival hass been called the finale to a great Isle of Wight summer - and they're right! WIth so much going on, the town is filled with sights and sounds - from the Speakeasy Night with cabaret, jazz, casino and cocktails, a celebration of 50 years of Motown, pirate fancy dress parties, real ale festival and seafood festival, fun for kids and adults!

So much going on this week-end and through into half term week! The Island is a great place to visit for a week-end or even the whole week - so stop the kids getting bored this half-term and bring them to the Isle of Wight - with so many great hotels, guesthouses and B&B's, camping and touring sites to choose from, WightStay is the best place to look for your fun on the Isle of Wight!

The Isle of Wight - or Pink - or Red - and now even Yellow!

Autumn on the Isle of Wight is all about the colours - the sky goes from bright blue to a range of dramatic shades; the leaves on the trees take on their autumn hues - from green to red, to yellow, to brown; the scarves come out around the necks of schoolchildren, dazzling in their array of colours...

All very poetic - but the Isle of Wight itself? We know that it is National RED Squirrel week, and there are plenty of opportunities to see these cute and increasingly rare creatures; and that this month the Isle of Wight aims to become the Isle of PINK to help raise awareness and support for the Breast Cancer Campaign; but did you know that this Friday it is Go YELLOW Day here on the Isle of Wight?

Go Yellow Day is in support of the Earl Mounbatten Hospice - and anybody who has come to visit the Isle of Wight during the Isle of Wight Festival or Bestival will have seen the Earl Mountbatten Hospice collecting money by selling huge sunflowers (now the must-have addition for any festival-goer of style and taste)

Across the Island, people are wearing yellow, selling yellow cakes, even climbing the equivalent height of Mount Everest - all to support the Island's only hospice which needs every penny of support it can generate to provide hospice care to the patients with life-limiting conditions and their families on the Isle of Wight.

If you are coming to the Isle of Wight this week, perhaps you might like to take part in the fun and raise money for this worthwhile cause!

Come and stay at one of our many hotels on the Isle of Wight, our camping and touring sites on the Isle of Wight, or our bed and breakfasts in Shanklin, Sandown, Freshwater, Cowes - everywhere on the Isle of Wight!

What are WightStay doing on Go Yellow Day? I'll let you know later in the week!
(Notice I resisted the urge to mis-spell the Isle of Wight to Isle of WHITE...)

National Red Squirrel Week on the Isle of Wight

What a beautiful day on the Isle of Wight! The sun is shining, people are still walking around in shorts and t-shirts - Indian summer? No - on Isle of Wight the summer just lasts longer!

This month, the name is changing to the Isle of Pink - but this week coming on the Isle of Wight is a chance to see something that very few places in the UK can boast... The Island is a desingated grey squirrel free area - we only have the red squirrel here and this week is the Wildlife Trusts' National Red Squirrel Week.

If you are interested in the red squirrel - perhaps you've never seen one - then visit the Isle of Wight this week! The red squirrel is the only squirrel native to the UK - contact Helen Butler who runs the Wight Squirrel Project to book on one of her walks, or take part in the workshop which shows you how to spot the signs of these shy creatures - and you may even see one yourself! Give her a call on 01983 611003 or email wightsquirrels@hotmail.com .

If you need somewhere to stay whilst out spotting squirrels, then WightStay is here to help - we have many hotels, camping sites, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts to choose from Shanklin to Totland, Ryde to Ventnor and all points between!

Come and see these rare and beuatiful creatures, whose numbers have been declining on the UK mainland for many years, but thrive on the Isle of Wight - we look forward to seeing you soon!