What an ‘accidental hotel’ can teach about staying independent for 65 years

Not every hotel begins with a business plan and for farmers Peter and Zan Clifford, Blunsdon House Hotel, BW Premier Collection began, quite literally, by accident. The business started life as a chicken and pig farm, gradually evolving into a bed and breakfast to accommodate overflow visitors from a local agricultural show.

65 years later and Blunsdon House has evolved into a four-star, family-run independent hotel on the edge of the Cotswolds. For 50 of those years it has partnered with BWH Hotels GB.

Now in its third generation, Blunsdon House has expanded into weddings, conferences, leisure and spa, but still retains the DNA of an independent family-run business.

As general manager, balancing growth with identity is often the hardest part. We’ve never stopped adapting. What began as a farm diversification has become a multi-faceted hospitality business. Our principle remains the same: respond to demand, reinvest where it matters, and never lose sight of who we are.

That evolution has not been without pressure. Through more than six decades, the hotel has had to navigate shifting travel behaviour, the rise of online booking and repeated economic shocks that reshaped staffing and revenue models across the sector.

Today, the hotel is a busy, year-round operation with a mix of weddings, conferences, leisure stays and spa breaks. While the way we operate has evolved, the standards of service and consistency on site are still central to how the business runs day to day. It’s a hands-on operation for everyone in the hotel, and that hasn’t changed.

That consistency was particularly tested during the pandemic. That period forced us to move quickly. We had to understand what demand would return first and how to keep the business balanced in the meantime. There was a lot of trial and error, but it has shaped who we are today.

During that time, group and leisure demand became critical. Through BWH Hotels’ Venues Desk, the hotel was able to secure consistent group bookings, including coach tours and club stays, helping to stabilise occupancy when other segments were uncertain.

Since then strong trading and sustained year-on-year revenue growth has enabled continuous reinvestment across the property.

Strong trading has given us the ability to keep investing back into the hotel. That has meant more refurbished bedrooms, additional event space and the gradual expansion of our leisure offering. Before investing in any refurbishments, we ensured every decision would directly enhance the guest experience and secure the future of our business.

Over the past 50 years, each stage of our journey has been a collaboration BWH Hotels GB, helping us to capitalise on new market segments. Investment has increasingly been directed towards sustainability and experience rather than expansion alone.

More recently, we’ve focused on how guests experience the site and how we operate more sustainably. Following the successful installation of roof-mounted solar panels, we have expanded our sustainability initiatives to our grounds. This includes the recent introduction of on-site beehives, which are now established and thriving.

We’ve never seen the hotel as a finished product. We constantly adapt to the evolving expectations of our guests, using every phase of development to refresh our spaces and strengthen our future.

That ability to evolve without losing character is what has allowed the business to grow while remaining independent in practice as well as ownership.

While much of the industry continues to move towards automation, Blunsdon House has held firm on a more traditional approach at key touchpoints.

We still believe in the power of a proper welcome. When guests arrive, they should be greeted by a friendly face, not a screen. That first impression is everything.

Internally, that same continuity is reflected in its people. Some staff have spent their entire careers at the hotel, contributing to a level of consistency that is increasingly rare in the sector.

This is mirrored within the hotel’s partnership with BWH Hotels GB, where commercial account manager Bruce Adams has supported the property for more than 20 years.

Blunsdon House’s experience shows that a well-run independent hotel can achieve long-term growth and resilience while staying true to its identity and values.