Stay Eco Chic

Today is the beginning of a new journey with stay eco chic, a journey which I have been promising myself  I will embark on for quite some time. It begins with a couple of basic questions, What did we set out to achieve when we first decided to step out of the norm with our Holiday rentals website? What have we learned from the feedback so far, from the guests? Also from the professionals we have met in the media field? What do our visitors want to know about the island before they arrive?

So far We have touched on Cesar Manrique, we have touched on local knowledge. We have more than touched on good quality locations and properties in Lanzarote, not forgetting that our simple aim is to set the bar on this island first before we fully concentrate on any other Canary Island location.

It’s fair to say that our database of beautiful properties from chic penthouse apartments to funky eco bedwin huts, luxury boutique hotels to shabby chic apartments and cottages ideally located for fun loving water sports enthusiasts is not lacking in variety. From locations to price bracket, and from eco chic twist to simply chic with a twist of eco, we have pretty much something for everyone.

There comes a time when you sit back and look at your product and think, well this grew to where it is today in what seemed like the blink of an eye. What comes next?  We can keep growing quickly, adding property after property, or we can start to fine tune. The journey since October 2009 has been about one thing – to set an example, to simplify sustainable and responsible travel to a realistic non judgemental level. Mission number one was to build a website and database of quality eco and chic properties in prime and mainly alternative locations, mission number one has been accomplished.

It’s now time to delve into the centre of that last question again and begin mission number two. What do our visitors want to know about this island before they arrive? Lets join that up to the professional media people I also mentioned earlier, and this will lead us to present time ‘The new journey’. It started around two weeks ago, we had been researching journalists and inviting various media contacts to visit us in preparation for our November Health week. We received various positive replies and interest, when along an email from Alex Wade, writer, freelance journalist and occasional media lawyer.

It didn’t take long to know for sure that Alex and his family would fit the hand of stay eco chic like a glove. We had a long telephone conversation and from there I started to research Alex Wade, his work as an award winning writer for Surf Nation and Huck, and as a journalist for the newspapers including  The Times , his books including Wrecking Machine (now firmly planted on my ‘to read’ list.) Alex has a massive passion for surfing & sports, and such a versatile working background. It was obvious that this guy would have plenty in common with plenty of people in our circle of friends including of course, Michele and Tila Braddock, co founders of stay eco chic my dear friends and co pilots rolled into one.

So, yesterday Alex and his Clan finally arrived here in Lanzarote and within no time the glove was comfortably placed on the stay eco chic hand. Already there are two new pages on surf nation taking Alex’s loyal readers through his trip to experience surf life in Lanzarote, and also to check out what we are doing here on the S.E.C groovy train. 

I was keen to show Alex an authenticity at the Poniente which is part of the 250 year old reformed Canarian manor house Finca La Corona, I knew it would be very important to offer Alex the true stay eco chic experience and there is nowhere better for that than the eco resort owned by Michelle and Tila, therefore, on the 11^th of May ‘The clan’ will head down to spend three nights at the eco villa.

From this will come the first and most important answer to that question, Beaches and Surfing. What did Alex want to know about the island before he arrived, he wanted to know about the beaches and surfing (for his son Harry of course!) Did we have a surf page to point him to? No we didn’t, is that about to change? without a doubt in fact in this very moment I know that Alex is out there somewhere, probably La Santa with our very own surf guru and good friend Dennis Smith, owner of centre point surf Lanzarote. Tomorrow Harry wade will be joining the Group with our children to take part in centre point weekly surf camp, and he will be writing about his groms eye view for The Twisted Pit Pilot.

I spend many a day watching my children body boarding and surfing, and at the ripe old age of seven and twelve both of our boys have already taken part in competitions and it’s clear that surfing will always be a part of their life in one way or another. What better way to start this next phase in the making of stay eco chic than to build a page which can contain all of this knowledge we all have, to share our fun, and what better person to help us than Alex Wade and his lovely family. Welcome!

 P.s my head still hurts from the late night last night.