Jonathan Thomas (00:12) Welcome back to the Anglotopia podcast, the podcast for people who love British travel, history, and culture. I'm your host, Jonathan Thomas. And today we're exploring one of England's most enchanting regions through the eyes of someone who knows it better than almost anyone else. I'm joined by Tom Burdett, owner and director of Stay Cotswold, a premier self catering holiday cottage company operating in the heart of the beautiful Cotswolds. Tom is truly a Cotswolds born and bred. Tom (00:18) Thank you. Jonathan Thomas (00:38) He spent his entire career in the region's property market, working his way up through 14 years in the estate agency before transitioning into holiday lettings. In 2021, he joined the board of Stay Cotswolds with an ambitious vision to evolve this well-established and much loved brand into the leading independent holiday letting agent in the Cotswolds. What makes Tom's perspective so valuable is his unique combination of deep local roots, extensive property expertise, and intimate understanding of what draws visitors from around the world to this area of outstanding natural beauty. Tom (00:41) . Jonathan Thomas (01:08) Today, we're diving into why international travelers are so captivated by the Cotswolds, how film and television have transformed local tourism, and why self-catering cottages remain the perfect base for exploring honey-colored villages, rolling hills, and centuries of English heritage. Whether you're planning your first visit to the Cotswolds or you're a seasoned traveler looking for insider tips, Tom's gonna share everything from hidden gems to practical advice to making the most of your stay. Welcome, Tom. Thank you for being here. Tom (01:35) Thank you very much. No problem, thanks for having me. Jonathan Thomas (01:40) So at risk of having already done it in the introduction, can you give us the elevator pitch for Stay Cotswold Tom (01:45) I mean we're an independent firm, we are based in the Cotswolds, we only market properties in the Cotswolds and we have two sides of it. For our owners we look after their properties, we make sure that they perform as they should and that they have the right numbers of people in them and for our guests we make sure that they have a typical Cotswold experience and can access all the information that they need to have a lovely stay here. Jonathan Thomas (02:12) That sounds nice and we encourage people to deal locally when they visit places in England because sometimes it feels like TripAdvisor and Airbnb ate the travel industry but there's still many, many, many smaller operations that are just as good or better. Tom (02:28) Absolutely, exactly. Jonathan Thomas (02:30) So you've been in Cotswolds property for your entire career. What originally drew you to this industry and how has the region changed since you started? Tom (02:39) Well, I love property. I love cottages. love, you know, period pretty houses. So I actually got into a Stay agency originally and I did that for 14 years, sold a lot of houses, both to people that wanted to use them as main homes and holiday homes as well. And then after 14 years, it was time for something new and I moved on to holiday letting. I was approached by another holiday letting company to work for them and subsequently then we moved over to stay Cotswold. I just enjoy, it's twofold, estate agency and holiday letting. There's some similarities in a way, know, with estate agency you're finding someone's dream home and in holiday letting you're finding them, you know, their dream holiday home or their, you know, their property to have a dream holiday within. So yeah, that's what first drew me to it. And the region, it's, I mean, the beauty of the region is it hasn't changed. I mean, that's basically why people want to come here. It's, you I grew up, in the 90s and ⁓ early 2000s in the area and it certainly wasn't as touristy at that point but it was still very much the same as it is now. I suppose the only things that have changed, certainly changed for the good in my opinion, is that there's just a lot more to do. There's beautiful places to eat, great things to see, wonderful activities to do and it's all kind of just a little bit more joined up. Jonathan Thomas (04:03) So what was it like moving from selling houses to people to live in permanently to selling houses for holiday lettings? What was surprised you the most about the vacation rental business? Tom (04:15) I suppose, well, for me, the thing I really enjoy about it is kind of the instant gratification that you get because when you are an estate agent, a house sale in England takes a long time to go through. So it takes a long time to find a buyer sometimes. So you can be working on something for months and months and months, and then you get that kind of gratification at the end, months later when it goes through. Whereas with holiday cottages, if we list a holiday cottage and it goes live on the website today, it'll usually get a booking quite often by the end of the day. And someone will be arriving and enjoying that house within a week. that's what I really love about it. And I guess what surprised me, I don't know why it surprises me because it makes sense, but how generally how happy and positive the people that we deal with in holiday letting are. In selling houses, it's a stressful time. So people, don't always see the best of them, whereas with holiday letting, people are going on holiday, what's not to like? Jonathan Thomas (05:14) Yeah, and everything's turnkey and ready to be beautiful, right? Tom (05:16) Exactly. ⁓ Jonathan Thomas (05:18) So when you joined Stay Cotswold in 2021, what was your vision for evolving this well-established brand? Tom (05:25) I think when we joined we wanted to make it and we wanted to be the best holiday letting company. We don't want to be the biggest because I don't think that always makes you the best. We want to be the best in terms of the experience that we offer to guests, in terms of the service we offer to owners and I feel that we've absolutely achieved that. Jonathan Thomas (05:47) And so as somebody who's Cotswolds born and bred, how do you balance preserving the area's authentic character with meeting the demands of modern tourism? Tom (05:56) tricky one. ⁓ think the good thing about the Cotswolds is that generally speaking the locals are very supportive of the people that come here and the people that have holiday lets here. There are areas where locals are slightly less welcoming of that but in the Cotswolds they absolutely see the importance of it and I think they're quite proud to show off where they live. So firstly, people are very welcome in which is very, very good. I think it's important to have visitors and have people spending money in the area. So by just bringing people to the area that want to enjoy it and can support these lovely small local businesses, then it's doing wonders for the area. So that's ultimately it. We support it by bringing people here. Jonathan Thomas (06:46) Yeah, it's a nice little virtuous cycle. It keeps people coming to the area and keeps it from being abandoned or economically deprived because there's always an injection of new money and as people visit. Tom (06:58) It does. It does. And if you come here now, I mean, it was always the case that the summer was a really busy time and you could go to Stel on the Wold or Borton on the Water in January or February or March and it would be really quiet. And actually now it's become a year round kind of destination where it won't be as busy in January and February, but you'll certainly still see people wandering around, spending money in shops and cafes and restaurants. Jonathan Thomas (07:20) Well, and that's that we're big advocates of off season travel in England and such with the Cotswolds. We my first visit to the Cotswolds, it was in between Christmas and New Year's and it was, you know, a comparatively dead time for tourism, but we had the places to ourselves and that was it was was enjoyable. Tom (07:38) Yeah, and places don't shut down. mean, this is the thing, you know, because there is a there's a lot of people that live here. It's it's I've lived here my whole life. There's a huge amount of people that actually live here. So it's not sort of so much that when the tourists leave, things close down and it's less enjoyable in the winter. I mean, everything's still going in the same way as it does in the summer. So you can have an experience of both ends of the year. Jonathan Thomas (07:40) Yeah. I'm going to ask you a controversial question. It's not on my list. So I'm sorry. ⁓ is how do you define the geographic area of the Cotswolds? Because there is a lot of debate over where the Cotswolds begins and ends. And I got a few months ago, I made the mistake of saying in a video that, ⁓ that Gloucester is in the Cotswolds. And I was corrected by the social media commentary very quickly that it's actually not it's next to the Cotswolds. Tom (08:26) Yeah, it is. Technically, typically and incorrectly, it's the area of outstanding natural beauty, which is defined by a border on a map. And you can see if you type in the AONB of the Cotswolds, you'll see exactly what is and what isn't. And generally speaking, you know, certainly on the west side, you know, the Cotswold hills define where it it starts and ends. Jonathan Thomas (08:36) Okay. Tom (08:54) becomes a little bit more tricky when you get out to the east and north and south and so on but yeah there is a well-defined AONB that covers it. Jonathan Thomas (09:02) It's like Bath, mean it's built of Cotswold stone but it's not really in the Cotswolds but it's near the Cotswolds, it's Tom (09:12) It depends what you what because there's the Cotswolds there are places on the very edges of the Cotswolds that are the Cotswolds that perhaps don't feel so much like the Cotswolds So I think when people say Cotswolds what they're thinking of Generally speaking is that honey stoned? typical cottage with a little old centuries old village pub and You know a village green and all of that and and you can find that right across the region, but I think you know most people Jonathan Thomas (09:16) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tom (09:41) When they're thinking of the Cotswolds, they're thinking of Borton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wald and that kind of North Cotswold little area. Jonathan Thomas (09:46) Yeah. And a lot of people don't realize the consoles are big. Um, and you know, it's, I've, uh, I've made the mistake a couple of times of driving from, from north to south or south to north. And it takes a long time. There's a lot there and it's, it's wide east to west. So you can, and I've been there probably a dozen times and I still haven't seen everything. Tom (10:07) Yeah, absolutely. you know, you can have a different experience depending on where you go. You know, the North Cotswolds now, there are a lot of things that are geared towards tourism, which is good. You know, I live in the North Cotswolds and I like the fact that there are these wonderful pubs that are very smart and you can have these kind of, you know, gastronomic experiences that you couldn't have 10 or 15 years ago. You can head down slightly more south and still get those experiences. But you can see a, you said just a different side to the Cotswolds, less well trodden. path I suppose. And actually if you go down towards Stroud and the Slad Valley and around there the scenery is actually more spectacular than you see in the North Cotswolds. You know have rolling hills in the North Cotswolds and then you have some deep steep valleys as you get down further south so there's all sorts to see. Jonathan Thomas (10:53) I will agree with you there having just spent last year I was in that part of the Cotswolds of it. It is incredible around Struud and Newark Park and all that. was gorgeous. So, you know, as people are trying to spend their travel dollars here in America, when we think of self cater, actually we don't even call it self catering. ⁓ I don't know what we will call it, but renting a house or, you know, and. Airbnb actually we would call Airbnb and that's that's really the they've kind of taken the brand and made it a generic term. So what for Americans planning? Why why what sets costs stay cut sold apart from Airbnb and the trip and TripAdvisor and all the big big operations owned by Expedia? Tom (11:40) Yeah, I mean we all market property so that's the similarity. We're all pushing holiday homes in front of people but that's about where the similarities end really. We're local people and we're on the ground. We have an office in Stow-on-the-Wold and if you're visiting then we would love it if people popped in and said hello. We can give them an insider's ⁓ insight into what to do, where to go. If people have got kind of any concerns about things then clearly they can... they can get answers and support from us as well. So realistically, the main difference is we're local and we live and breathe the Cotswolds and that's what we're about. Jonathan Thomas (12:18) Well, and if there's a problem, can pick up the phone and call you, whereas you can't get a hold of Airbnb for the life of anything. Tom (12:25) Exactly. They can pick up the phone and call us and they can actually come and speak to us face to face. And, you know, that's a wonderful thing as well. Jonathan Thomas (12:34) So how do you curate your property portfolio? What makes a cottage stay Cotswold worthy? I mean, I'm assuming you do you have like a particular look and feel or a particular size requirement or location? Tom (12:49) Yeah, mean, interestingly, so it's me that does that. And so we have 270 cottages across the Cotswolds and I do take them all on. I'm the first kind of I have the first contact with that owner and with that property. And generally speaking, there's no strict formula. It's about quality. It's about look and feel and clearly geographically, certainly about being in the Cotswolds. So that's that's a key part of it as well. But What we tend to market is anything from apartments in old period buildings all the way through to country homes and farmhouses and everything in between. And ultimately we want something generally that's stone, but it doesn't have to be. Something that is actually still quite usable inside as well, contemporary to a degree, but with a Cotswold knob towards it. The ideal property is a double-fronted period cottage. with roses around the door and a nice little gate that leads up the pathway to it with some lavender in the front garden and you walk through the front door and then you've got a traditional shaker style kitchen but it's beautifully painted and smart and usable with fridges and dishwashers and all the things that you'd expect from a modern house and good sized rooms and plenty of bathrooms. that's the ideal and we're flexible on it but we just want to know that whoever stays with us in whichever property it is. going to have a good time and they're going to be pleased that they chose that one and that as long as I feel it ticks that box it comes on board. Jonathan Thomas (14:20) Are the properties you list, they traditionally exclusively holiday lets or do people still like live in them or do they, how does that work? Tom (14:30) So many, many of them are just pure holiday flats, so they are used for that purpose. But I would say a large portion of them are used to some degree by the owner as well. So some of them more than others. But generally speaking, that is one of the attractions of buying a holiday cottage in the Cotswolds. It's the fact that you can use it actually with us as often as you want to use it as an owner. There's no restrictions on that. you can enjoy it, but then when you're not enjoying it, someone else can enjoy it. Jonathan Thomas (14:57) That sounds nice. Best of both worlds, right? So tell us about some of the properties in your portfolio because they range from cottages to castles to manor houses. Like what are some of the most unique ones? Tom (15:08) I mean, we've got some beautiful places, I mean, just off the top of my head. So down near Straub, we've got a mini castle. It's actually a gatehouse. It's called the gatehouse, in fact, and it's a lodge house to a large country ⁓ house, basically. And back in Victorian times, it was styled into, with little castleettes on it. ⁓ styled into a sort of mini castle back in Victorian times and yeah, and that's it. It's a one bed castle basically, which is pretty special, which is really nice. Slightly larger ones. So we, in the grounds of a place called Ebrington Manor, we've got a Queen Anne property in the grounds there. It's called the Garden House on our website and it's a Sleep Six, but it was built as a summer house. in this manor house and so it wasn't actually lived in originally and then it was eventually converted into a property but it's very very pretty and it's a Queen Anne style so it's quite unique for the Cotswolds and as I say occupies a position in the grounds of a 14th century manor so it's pretty special. Jonathan Thomas (16:18) I'm already looking them up trying to... When's it available? So ⁓ any other really unique ones that are that you know people American that would really appeal to Americans? Tom (16:24) Yeah. ⁓ I you know, I would say that the vast majority, they appeal to a lot of people, certainly would appeal to Americans, I'm sure. So the vast majority of what we've got would appeal to Americans. I think if you're looking for a stay whereby you have access to lots of amenities on the doorstep, then choosing something in one of the main sort of what we would call towns, but I they're large villages really, would make sense. So we have some beautiful properties in Chippencamden and Broadway and Stowe and Borton on the Water, Chippenorton and places like that. yes, we've got some lovely ones, but too many to talk about on the individual basis. Jonathan Thomas (17:15) So moving on to sort of international visitors. ⁓ What specifically draws international visitors to the Cotswolds over other UK destinations, do you think? Tom (17:26) think it's the unspoilt nature of it, firstly. think film and television has put it on a lot of people's radars. There's quite a romantic sort of feeling about the Cotswolds generally. I think if you've watched films like The Holiday back in the day, it promotes this kind of feeling that you're going to this kind of almost magical sort of place. And I think it is for a lot of people. It's what people assume is traditional. and typical England, I think, and that's why people go there. Jonathan Thomas (17:58) How has the Downton Abbey effect and other TV film productions impacted ⁓ patterns in your area? Is there specific places that fans of these shows like to go? Tom (18:08) Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Down around Bempton, you can go down and see where they filmed Downton Abbey. And if you go down to Tepbury, you can see where they filmed Rivals, which was recently out. And yeah, I mean, so, so many of them now. So I think people like that. I mean, I think people like to visit some of these places because they've seen them on the telly. But there's probably many, many more things that are actually filmed here. then maybe your audience would be aware of. I mean, don't know whether, for example, anybody watches a program called Father Brown, which was very, very popular here and certainly I know was very popular in Asia. I don't know about in America, but that's filmed in a little village called Blockley. And lots of people do go there to see that. And in fact, I think, I don't know if they still film it there, but I've certainly seen them filming it there. it's, yeah. Jonathan Thomas (19:01) Yeah. father Brown has been very popular on our public broadcasting network that, uh, it's where a lot of our, that's where a lot of British TV is aired because it's cheap to import. So they aired on public television. Um, father Brown is, is usually on at some point today, every day in this country. Yeah. Tom (19:18) Alright, okay. Well, there you go. Well, yeah, so I think, yeah, these sorts of things do draw people here. And I think the biggest one, which you may be going to talk about a bit later on, is Clarkson's Farm, which ⁓ is a huge, huge show. And when I go on holiday and I meet people and I talk to them and they say, well, where are you from? And I'll say, a little place near Chipping Norton called Churchill. And they'll say, never heard of it. I'll say, Jonathan Thomas (19:31) Yeah. Tom (19:45) Do know where Clarkson's Farm is? Diddley Squat. And I yes. And I say well I live two miles from that. that puts it on the map. They know exactly where I'm talking about then. Jonathan Thomas (19:54) So yeah, we're going to get to that. So ⁓ what seasonal patterns do you see with international visitors? And do you see them wanting to avoid weather or plan around weather or local events or anything like that? Tom (19:55) Yeah. think, I mean as we said earlier, the Cotswolds has something to offer all year round and ultimately if you come in the winter you'll have a different but just as good of experience as if you visit in the summer. So we do see international tourism peaking through the summer months but then we see domestic tourism peaking through the summer months as well. But the weather, in honesty, terms of extreme weather is not a huge factor. in the Cotswolds. We do get some snow in the winter sometimes, but not every year. If we do get snow, it's very rare that it would disrupt travel plans for more than a few hours. So there shouldn't be any concerns over anything like that. But yeah, I mean, if you come to the Cotswolds in the summer, you'll see lovely long rolling hills that are green and beautiful and luscious. If you come in the winter, you'll see everything a little bit damper and a bit muddier. but you'll still get to go back to your cottage and sit in front of a nice warm log fire or in a pub having a pint next to a fire and that's something to experience as well. Jonathan Thomas (21:12) Sounds nice. Yeah. we, that's what we tell people is that even, even, know, England does have winter, but it doesn't have the extremes that, ⁓ that American winters have, at least in the Midwest or the Northeast. So while it may be cold, it's not like cold, cold as Americans would perceive it. ⁓ you know, you're not bundling up and head to toe and goose down, stay warm. You know, the weather is very mild. I, you you mentioned Clarkson's farm Clarkson's farm kind of gives a television version of the weather. Cause yeah, it gets wet, it gets cold, but it's they, they play it up for dramatic purposes. I think at least. Tom (21:54) It's interesting, mean, because as I say, we experienced the weather and then a year later Clarkson's farm comes out and then you think, yeah, it was quite wet last year. But he's been quite unfortunate because it seems like he's either had torrential downfalls for a whole season or drought for a whole season every time. And it is a little like that, but it doesn't necessarily feel like that when you hear, you know, there's good days and bad days. you're right, it's certainly not. not as cold as what you would experience ⁓ in certain parts of America, you know, it's fairly mild. Jonathan Thomas (22:24) So why do you think self-catering remains so popular when there are so many luxury hotels in the Katzwalds now? Tom (22:31) Well, I mean, one of it is cost. Typically for ⁓ if you're comparing a holiday cottage with the price of staying in a luxury hotel for the same amount of time. And certainly if you're coming, you know, as a group of four or six or more, you would have to get multiple hotel rooms. So from a cost perspective, holiday cottages cost less for sure. And you get more for your money. You know, you've got so much more space and Just because you're there, doesn't mean that you have to cook for yourself and you can't go out for meals and still experience all that sort of stuff because you can. I suppose the only thing you don't get, someone doesn't come into your room and make your bed in the morning. But if you can get over that, then holiday cottages are, they give you more freedom, they give you more space and generally at a better price point as well. Jonathan Thomas (23:20) One of people's biggest complaints about Airbnb is that when you rent one of those, you get a laundry list of do's and don'ts and tasks usually from the owner. Is it like that with Stakotswald or do you kind of just handle everything? Tom (23:37) Yeah, it's pretty much all handled. mean, okay, there might be some do's and don'ts. For example, some houses won't allow pets, so you can't bring your pet with you. It's just reasonable. But there aren't too many do's and don'ts. No, I mean, every property has a property manager, somebody that knows the house, knows the area, knows the intricacies of that property. So you have somebody on call that if you've got a problem, you can speak to somebody and they will help you. ⁓ Jonathan Thomas (23:44) That's reasonable, yeah. Tom (24:01) And when you leave, generally as long as you're leaving the house nicely, we're not expecting you to clean it top to bottom and hand it back better than it was handed to you. It's just, as long as it's handed back in a nice condition, as you found it, then somebody comes in and deals with everything after you've gone. Jonathan Thomas (24:18) You don't have to remember Binday, right? Tom (24:20) No, no, not bin day. No, we've, ⁓ probably managed to look after the bins. Jonathan Thomas (24:25) Yeah, I remember we say to self catering once and we we had to manage the bins and in America ⁓ the bins are very simple. There's one for garbage. There's one for recycling. That's all. That's it. Like you don't have to sort it or anything. It just all goes in one or the other. And so I've having to figure out which bin for what it was. was it was a cultural experience. Yeah. Tom (24:53) It depends where you go. It is a horrible experience even for me. I live in West Oxfordshire. So this side, we have a simple bin solution, which is, yeah, you have two different recycling options, which is basically glass and then everything else and normal waste. That's pretty much it. Yeah, if you go to other counties, then perhaps you have to start separating your cardboard as well and plastics and things. So depends where you are. Jonathan Thomas (25:16) Not going on holiday to work. So ⁓ what advantage does having a cottage base offer for exploring the consoles compared to being in a big hotel or elsewhere? Tom (25:18) Yes, exactly. I think you typically get a more Cotswolds experience by being in a cottage because it's like you're living there. You're on a street surrounded by other people that do live there. So you get to interact with people a lot more. And people generally in the Cotswolds are very friendly as well, which, you know, I have friends and people that come out of London to come and visit the Cotswolds. And it's one of the things that even they say that people are generally in the countryside are a lot more friendly. Jonathan Thomas (25:39) Yeah. Tom (25:58) Not that people in London are unfriendly, they just won't interact with you so much as they will when you're in the Cotswolds. So I think by staying in a cottage you get a much more traditional and typical experience, an authentic experience really. And there's nothing that you can't do from a cottage that you can do from a hotel. If you don't want to drive, which you don't have to, I mean it's very useful to have a car in the Cotswolds because there's lots of places to go and see. As tourism has continued to take off, there are more taxis around. There's a great company called Rural Rides that we work quite closely with and part of their same company called Cotswold Tours. If you pre-arrange it, they'll take you all over the Cotswolds to see things and you can do that from a hotel or you can do it from a holiday cottage. Jonathan Thomas (26:49) Yeah. And so, uh, how that kind of feeds into my next question actually is how do you, how do you help guests make the most of their cottage stay, especially first time visitors? Tom (26:58) Well, the information that they're provided in their pre-arrival information is important because it tells them about the house, but it tells them about the areas. And typically it also includes some recommendations from the owner. So the owner spends a lot of time at the house, or has done, and therefore they have their own personal recommendations of things to do. So we certainly, that is just a standard that everybody that stays in our cottages gets this information prior to them coming down so that they can start to decide what they want to do. We also have a steak hot-sourced club, so everybody that stays with us gets access to special offers and deals through lots of local businesses, whether that be farm parks to certain restaurants and pubs and all sorts of different things. So we provide that sort of information, but also people can, as I say, pop into the office or call us or speak to the property manager of the property and get information about what they want to do. And if they need a taxi number, we can supply it or the property manager can supply it. we're there to allow people to enjoy their time, you know, as efficiently as possible. So they don't have to be working lots of things out before they come. Jonathan Thomas (28:07) I'm a big fan of those pre-travel packets from property companies because I read them at least half a dozen times before I arrive. I'm an local expert by the time I get there. Tom (28:16) Yeah. Yeah, and that's what we want. We want people to hit the ground running. You don't want to arrive and then have to start Googling and working out what we're going to do. You want to get excited about your holiday before you get there. So we send this information out prior to arrival. Jonathan Thomas (28:31) Speaking of Internet, ⁓ generally what's, ⁓ as someone who runs an Internet business, this information is particularly relevant for me. How's the Internet connectivity in a lot of these cottages? Tom (28:44) All of our houses have Wi-Fi and internet is good here really now. A lot of our properties are on what's called we have giga clear here. don't know if it's basically it's fiber. So a lot of houses nowadays have very fast internet, much faster than when I was growing up. And quite interestingly, you would suspect that the smaller villages would have the slower internet. And in actual fact, the giga clear was introduced to the smaller villages first in most cases. Jonathan Thomas (28:55) nice. Tom (29:12) So they're even better connected. So yeah, no problem with that. Jonathan Thomas (29:16) and watching your file up reload right here, I can confirm you have very fast Wi-Fi. So you mentioned, you touched on this a little bit, but I wanna go, I wanna kind of deep dive into this. Staying in self catering is a different type of travel than staying in hotels. And most Americans, they kind of need a car when they do it, and especially in the Katzwald. So how do you encourage Americans to put aside their fears for driving in the UK? Tom (29:20) Absolutely, yeah. I do know that Americans, some are fearful of it. I've driven in America and it's a very different experience. So I get that and I can understand why it could be daunting, particularly because of the narrower roads. it's one of those things. I encourage people to give it a go because it's not that difficult once you've experienced it. mean, top tips are stay on the left hand side for sure. Jonathan Thomas (30:05) Yeah. Tom (30:08) Go steady around the country lanes because there are tractors and horses and cyclists and people mooching around. But the speed limit is pretty low, 20 to 30 miles an hour in most cases, so you're not expected to be driving too fast around those sorts of narrow roads. So yeah, I say give it a go, you know. And and the other thing is if you're faced at a red light, stop. I know in America you sort of feed right onto certain turnings even if you're at red. You don't do that in England. Jonathan Thomas (30:34) Yeah. Tom (30:35) That's probably my top 10. Jonathan Thomas (30:37) Yeah, we really try to encourage our fellow Americans to drive because once you've done it, it's actually not that difficult. of the rules are very similar. Just read the AA Road Manual before you go and you're fine. Learn all the signs and keep to the speed limit. Never speed, never speed because they will find you in America and give you a ticket. So not that I know that from firsthand experience. Tom (30:56) Yeah. Yeah. That's No, I would say give it a go. I mean, it just unlocks so much of the area that you otherwise wouldn't see. And if you come and stay in a hotel and you don't drive, you'll see some key sites, you you might might well do, but it's very difficult there to explore the sort of the smaller places, the off the beaten track little places. And there's so much to the Cotswolds. Almost every village has a little pub. Some of them are kind of Jonathan Thomas (31:05) You Yeah. Tom (31:29) offer this gastronomic experience and they're really well known but some of them are just traditional little, almost little inns that sell beer that's brewed just down the road and you don't necessarily see that if you haven't got a car. Jonathan Thomas (31:44) Well, and we'd like to tell the visitors that, you know, you can take the train to the Cotswolds, but getting around the Cotswolds on the train is really kind of impractical. It's not, it's not well served by train internally. And then trying to rely on buses is not ideal because the schedules are very unreliable. So your, your best bet is to either drive or to rely on taxis. And we, we love local taxis. They're great. They're also great. use of local tourist information and they're usually very flexible but to have the best experience we just get a car and drive it's not that bad. Tom (32:12) Get it girl, absolutely. Jonathan Thomas (32:19) So if you were, if let's say you moved away from the Cotswolds and you had been away for many years and you were coming back for a long weekend, what would be your, on your must-see Cotswolds itinerary? Tom (32:32) ⁓ well if I only had a short period of time, where would I go? I mean, I think you've got to experience some of the main hubs. So I think you've got to visit Stow on the Wold. It's a traditional town with a lot of history. The Battle of Stow was there back in the English Civil War. know, there's some history to it. It's interesting. I would ⁓ look to, well, I would say it's probably quite a nice thing to visit Diddley Squat, seeing as most people have... seen it online and read about it and watched the programs. quite, suppose, quite interesting, but there's not too much to see there. So it's only a couple of hour job. Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace is pretty, pretty special over in Woodstock. So it's out towards Oxford, but not far from here. It's a Baroque palace, beautiful place, amazing grounds. Highclere, you know. interesting. You can go and see where King Charles resides and you can go to Arboretum's down in that area as well. So there's lots to see. If you're looking for a slightly larger town experience but not too large then Cyro-Incestor is a nice place to visit as well. It's a town but it's a traditional more Cotswold town and there's quite a Roman influence in places there as well which of course there is throughout the area. And then I think you've got to go to some smaller villages as well. Off the beaten track ones like Snowshill, beautiful village. It's actually where they filmed Bridget Jones, a part of Bridget Jones' diary all those years ago. But you know, Snowshill, Stanton, beautiful. Broadway, lovely. Chippincampden, lovely. I mean, there's so many places to go, but yeah. think visit a main hub, like a stow on the wall and a borden on the water. absolutely Borton on the Water. I actually grew up in Borton on the Water and although again it's is touristy it's so so pretty with the river that runs through and the lovely little bridges and you know it is amazing quite unique. Jonathan Thomas (34:37) Venice of the Cotswolds as they call it. Tom (34:40) That's right, the Venice of the Cotswolds yeah. But it's definitely worth a visit. actually, Borton on the Water in my view is really worth a visit if you go out of season because it's so much quieter and it is a lovely, lovely place. Jonathan Thomas (34:55) Well, there's just a lot to see and do there. There's the Car Museum, there's plenty of tea rooms. There's just looking at it because it's gorgeous. There's plenty of walks around the area, especially walking the upper or lower slaughter. There's just lots to do. Tom (35:10) Yeah, absolutely. There's, you know, there is so much to do in that respect. if anybody's visiting and they're interested in, ⁓ you know, things going back a bit further, Iron Age settlements and roundhouses and that sort of thing, there's a huge amount of history around of that. And there are some walks that you can do out across the water meadows that ⁓ loop around to an old Iron Age settlement. And there's some kind of interesting boards about it and, you know, things to see. So It depends, there's something for everybody to be honest. Jonathan Thomas (35:40) So as most of the listeners to this podcast are Americans, ⁓ is there any specific advice you give Americans on dining or cultural differences that they should expect in the Katzwalds that may be different from the rest of England? Tom (35:54) I don't know about different from the rest of England, but the differences I think between America and England, know, dining experiences, well firstly, tips are generally included as a service charge already, so whilst tipping can be encouraged if you've had a particularly good meal, it's generally included anyway. But I think it's worth exploring the higher end of the dining spectrum in the Cotswolds, and there are some wonderful pubs that have some fantastic chefs at them, which is great. But I think it's also worth experiencing the more traditional ones as well. There's a brewery nearby that dates back many, many, many years called Donington Brewery. And they own a lot of pubs. think it must be 18 or 19 pubs in Little Villages. And they tend to offer a much more kind of traditional experience with Yeah, not that they don't do fine dining in some of them, or not fine dining, but lovely dining in some of them, but there's certainly a more traditional experience, traditional ales brewed locally. I think you've got to experience it all. Jonathan Thomas (37:01) So what are some myths that you find Americans kind of believe about? Tom (37:04) ⁓ I don't know. ⁓ I think a lot of the time people think that everybody that lives here are kind of country bumpkins. We do get that impression sometimes, but we're really not now. We are well connected to the Western world, so we're not quite like that. Yeah, I don't know. mean, think myths is a difficult one because everybody that comes here are always so polite. Jonathan Thomas (37:20) You're practically 11 suburb at this point. Tom (37:34) ⁓ and they would never say that we think that you're all country bumpkins or walk around in Wellingtons all the time but I do think that perhaps that is the way that some people think about it. But no, I don't know, it's difficult one. Jonathan Thomas (37:47) So we've mentioned it a couple times already, but the popularity of Clarkson's farm has introduced a whole new interest in the Cotswolds in America. Have you guys capitalized on that at all? Tom (37:59) We have, yes, yeah, we've certainly seen an uptake in bookings in that sort of area. I think, you know, we are on our website, there are some blogs about it and some connections with it. And in fact, I mentioned earlier on one of our steak, well, our steak hotswap club, we get a special deal. Well, one of those deals is with Hawxton Brewery, which is of course his beer. So we have some connections there. In fact, where you're speaking to me from now is the village with the Checkers pub in it. And the Checkers is the pub that is always featured on Clarkson's Farm. And that's where I live. So I'm fortunate enough to see them quite regularly, all of them. In fact, would class Gerald as a bit of an acquaintance and have known him for a while. yeah, just about. Jonathan Thomas (38:49) Can you understand him? Have you been to the farmer's dog, the new pub? Tom (38:56) I've not been yet, no, no, we were actually talking about this a couple of days ago and I really must do. I've just not found the time at the moment and I think I'll wait for the popularity to die down and sometimes I'll drive past and it looks quite busy and I think I'll wait another day before I do that. Jonathan Thomas (39:15) just remember your own ketchup because they don't have any. Apparently that's going to change though some guy on social media claims he hasn't made a hundred percent British ketchup so we'll see if he succeeds and get it into the pub. Do you have any specific tips for people who want to visit Diddley Squat because I know the roads can get quite busy and it's very popular and you can end up waiting in line a lot there. Tom (39:18) Of course they don't know, that's right. Right? Well, hopefully. Yeah, I mean they now have got parking there, so they're not queuing up down the sides of the road as they were and parking on the verges. So actually that's alleviated a lot of the problems there and it was definitely the right way to go. So the parking is not so much of a problem and the queue is not so much of a problem, but you still will queue to get in, but you know it's still all part of the experience isn't it? You're in the area, it's nice. And I would say that once you've been, do pop down into Chadlington and go down to the... ⁓ Jonathan Thomas (39:46) Yay! Tom (40:10) there's a farm shop or a village shop there called Chadlington Quality Foods which featured on one of the early shows and you can get some actual useful items from there if you need any and there's a butchers next door as well so yeah certainly would experience that whilst you're there. Jonathan Thomas (40:26) Well, that's the nice thing about self catering is when you can cook for yourself, you can go to all these lovely little farmers markets and get fresh meat and fresh produce and cook an amazing meal that you can't necessarily get in a restaurant. that's. Tom (40:40) That's right. mean, you know, there are so many farm shops that have opened up around here now selling produce from the land around them. Lots of the towns around and even some of the small villages have butchers with again locally produced meat and some vegetables and things. So yeah, again, another reason to self cater because yes, you can still go out and you can go to the pubs and the restaurants and experience that but it's still nice to buy some local produce and create your own meal, even barbecue. Most of our properties have barbecues if they've got a garden. Jonathan Thomas (41:16) Americans love a good barbecue. So that's there you go guys you can Grill your own steaks and burgers to your heart's content in the heart of the Cotswolds So and so finally for my last question If you could only recommend one place or one experience in the Cotswolds that everybody visit, what would it be? Tom (41:24) You can. You got to go to Borton on the Water, I think. ⁓ I grew up there, perhaps I'm biased, but it's such a pretty village with the river and the little bridges and things to do and lovely little cottages. And yes, it is quite touristy and there are a lot of people around there, particularly in the summer, and it will be busy. I would certainly say you've got to experience, ⁓ you've got to see Borton on the Water. I used to go on holiday when I was younger, I still do, but when I was younger and people asked where you're from and I would say Borton on the Water and nine times out of ten people knew what Borton on the Water was and knew where it was so I think it's very well known for good reason. Alternatively, you want a slightly quieter experience, go to Bybury. Bybury is like a mini Borton on the Water with fewer tourists. and you've got some pretty things to see, some nice little walks around and you've got Arlington Row there which actually features I think on the British passport. Jonathan Thomas (42:36) Well, I couldn't agree more. So Americans go to Portland on the water, go to Bybury, go to the whole Cotswolds. You'll love it. So what a fantastic conversation that was. Thank you for joining us on the Anglotopia podcast. Tom will link to stay Cotswolds website in the show notes along with Tom's top recommendations for exploring the Cotswolds from musty villages to hidden gems off the beaten path. Whether you're dreaming of a cozy cottage retreat or already planning your next British adventure. Tom (42:45) Come here. Jonathan Thomas (43:05) Tom's insider knowledge gives you everything you need to experience the Cotswolds like a local. If you enjoyed this episode of the Anglotopia podcast, please subscribe, like, or comment. It really helps us reach more British enthusiasts like you. And if you love the Anglotopia podcast, please consider joining the Friends of Anglotopia Club, where you can get early access to new episodes and connect with fellow travelers who share your passion for all things British. Join us next time as we continue discovering the people, places, and stories that make Britain such an endlessly captivating destination to explore. Thank you so much, Tom. Tom (43:36) Thank you.