From the start of our journey to create The Velveteen Bath House we wanted to ensure that guests could enjoy the outdoors as much as inside the house. We are so fortunate to own a holiday home within the beautiful North York Moors, and we take our responsibility to this landscape and our community very seriously.

We completely renovated and refurbished the house to create a 5 Star luxury retreat and have incorporated as many features and elements as we can to reduce wastage and energy output whilst still maintaining a high level of luxury.

The SPA Garden

We spent a huge amount of time designing and creating a garden which celebrates nature and encourages our guests to spend time outdoors enjoying the natural world.

We use no fertilizers other than our own natural compost and we keep pesticide use to an absolute minimum in our gardens. We sensitively maintain our hedgerows and trees to promote wildlife and have chosen garden plants that encourage insects, particularly our lavender path which comes alive with bees and butterflies in the summer months. All of the planting was sourced from a local Yorkshire nursery.

Energy efficient lighting has been installed in the rear of the garden which uses a timer and sensor to provide lighting at dusk.

We use the grass cuttings in our compost pile at home, which in turn is re-used at Velveteen.

Recycling

We provide two indoor bins to encourage recycling and provide our guests with full instructions on how to make use of our local authorities excellent recycling wheelie bin system. We ensure that all glass, cardboard, paper and other recyclable materials are disposed of correctly at every changeover.

We do not provide single use toiletries in our bathrooms and encourage guests to bring their own products. Spares are available for any guests who need them. All of our complimentary handwash and hand creams are provided in re-usable dispensers.

Energy Efficiency

When we refurbished the house to create The Velveteen Bath House we invested time and money to ensure the property is as energy efficient as possible. We installed new double-glazed windows throughout and fully insulated the property and extension to minimise the energy required to heat it. We’ve provided an open fire with locally sourced wood to encourage guests to use this to heat the sitting room and not rely on the boiler for winter evenings.

We installed underfloor heating throughout the ground floor – the most efficient & low energy method to heat the house in the colder months.

All of the lightbulbs throughout the house are low energy LED bulbs.

Keeping it local

The vast majority of our suppliers are within a 10-mile radius; we want to support the local economy, promote employment, and help money to stay in Helmsley and the North York Moors. Our welcome hamper is sourced from Hunters of Helmsley just around the corner and we support many local businesses like the fantastic Homeworks store in the town for household / maintenance items.

Our House Book is packed with local recommendations on where to visit, eat and shop to help support the local economy and discourage buying in from big supermarkets further away.

Minimising Travel

Almost all of our guests visit us from the UK, and whilst we welcome guests from all over the world, we love to see people choosing Velveteen for a staycation over a holiday abroad.

We feel a large part of this is our dog-friendly ethos – we actively encourage guests to bring their dogs on holiday with them and have incorporated many features and extras so doggies feel as comfortable as possible.

Where possible, we encourage our guests to leave the car and explore on foot or by bike. We are proud of the fact that many guests specifically contact us to say they haven’t used the car once during their stay.

We provide lots of information on local walks, hikes and cycle routes which can be accessed from the house and are proud to be a member of the North York Moors ‘Walking Friendly’ scheme.

Information on local transport including bus routes and trains are provided to encourage guests to make use of these.

We use local services for all of our maintenance and repairs, many of our contractors live in Helmsley including our decorator and electrician.