Flybe / July 18

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Travel
40 / Flight Time / JULY 2018
“Our vision was to create an
oasis of peace and calm, basically a
‘retreat’ as it’s such a wonderfully
peaceful location, which is rare to
find these days.
“We have 12 rooms, eight suites
inside the hotel and two ‘cosy’
rooms. We also have two woodland suites, too,
which I love. They are cabins which are a two-
minute walk from the main hotel but they feel as
if you are totally isolated. They have their own
gardens and terraces which are lovely for sitting
out on a warmer evening and watch the sunsets,
which are wonderful and very romantic!”
They have also added a large outdoor pool
and completely refurbished the indoor pool
and spa rooms. Terry and Yvette are especially
proud of the restaurant they have created,
which allows for al fresco dining on the terrace.
The kitchen is headed by Michelin-star trained
chef Darren Bunn, who they recruited from one
of their favourite restaurants on the coast. The
menu includes simple tapas and Mediterranean
dishes, using fruit, vegetables and herbs from La
Escondida’s garden.
For guests who tire of the pool and spa, the
hotel’s rural location means walking, fishing,
mountain-biking, horse-riding and even
shooting can all be arranged. There is also a
selection of golf courses a short drive away, but
Terry won’t be joining you. “I never had time
for golf,” he says. “I like to walk, read and relax
when I’m away from the hotel.”
So what makes La Escondida special? “You
have to visit to appreciate the tranquillity here,”
says Terry. “It’s so quiet, you can completely
switch off and recharge the batteries. It’s an
oasis of calm in a mad, mad world!
“Our saying here is ‘Happiness is not
readymade, but we try and make it here’. That’s
why we named it La Escondida as it translates
to ‘The Hideaway’, which is exactly what it is.
We wanted guests to arrive and feel at home
and in no way feel that we were pretentious but
to make them feel immediately comfortable,
which I believe we have achieved.”
The running of the hotel is down to Yvette,
while Terry is front of house. “Yvette runs it,”
confirmed Terry. “I am obviously involved to
a huge extent too, but she is the one who deals
with the managerial side.
“Since we opened three years ago, we have had
to do hardly any advertising. We work on word
of mouth and also repeat guests,
as once people have visited us they
want to return, which is exactly
what we had hoped for. Each year
we increase our occupancy and you
can’t ask for more than that.”
So what have been the main
challenges the couple have faced? “Not being
hoteliers, a lot of it, like anything, is to use your
commonsense. As we’ve been lucky enough
to have travelled all over the world and have
stayed at some wonderful hotels, we took little
bits of each of our favourites and brought them
here. Getting it all to run smoothly and how we
wanted it took time and a lot of effort. We have
a great team with us and many of our staff have
been with us since we opened.”
After the success of La Escondida, you might
think that Terry and Yvette would have plans
to open another hotel, but you’d be wrong.
Smiles Terry: “Not at our age... maybe if we
were 20 years younger!”
“Our vision was to create an oasis of
peace and calm, basically a ‘retreat’ as
it’s such a peaceful location which is
rare to find these days”
F L I G H T D E TA I L S
Flybe has flights to Alicante from
Doncaster Sheffield, Exeter, Norwich
and Southampton.