Journeys of discovery

“Like many I’m sure, Jane and I wish we’d become Bondholders earlier. But for us it’s not regret at lost holiday opportunities, so much as realising how much of what was ‘on our doorstep’ was undiscovered – by us, anyway. Everywhere we go with HPB is a revelation of just what’s out there to enjoy.” – David Phipps

David Phipps and wife Jane live in Bexley, Kent. The couple, in their 60s, are retired: David from a career in the city, Jane from administrative roles in various institutions. The Phippses became Bondholders 12 years ago.

“I’d been retired about three years by then,” David recalls, “and we were both looking for something a bit different. We’d been holidaying in New England year after year – a lovely part of the world, but after a while you need a change, don’t you? An HPB leaflet fell out of a magazine, we read it, and we liked the idea of having access to a growing variety of locations, in the UK and overseas. We took a private tour at Sibton Park, the nearest HPB site to our home, liked what we saw, and that was it: sold.”

“What we particularly liked was the Pointsfree element of HPB,” adds Jane, “the fact that, if you can holiday at relatively short notice, you can do so without using any of your Holiday Points, particularly in the less busy seasons. As retirees, with time to spare and few demands on it, we could well see ourselves taking advantage of short-notice Points-free holiday opportunities.”

“And so it has proved,” says David. “To date we’ve enjoyed about 30-plus HPB holidays (five in the first year, and some three a year since), and 18 of them have been Points-free. But it’s the fact that the Bond has taken us to places we’ve never been before, and really never even thought of visiting, that’s been the real, unexpected, benefit. We’ve enjoyed holidays at all three of HPB’s French sites: Le Manoir du Hilguy in Brittany, Constant in the Dordogne and Le Mont de Saint Siméon in Île de France; Lower Knapp Farm in Devon; Encosta Cabo Girão in Madeira; Tigh Mor Trossachs in Perthshire; Duloe Manor in Cornwall; El Pueblito de Alfaix in Andalucia; St Brides Castle in Pembrokeshire; Blore Hall in Derbyshire; Barnham Broom in Norfolk and Henllys in Anglesey, both great for golf (I’m a keen golfer); La Reserva de Biniorella in Majorca – our first HPB holiday location and very much a favourite; and Buckland Court in the Cotswolds [where these pictures were taken].”

Any other locations on the wishlist?

“Well obviously, yes – as HPB keeps developing sites, we look at each other and go: hmmm, that looks interesting... But in the short to medium term, we’d love to check out the Italian ones. Stigliano in Tuscany, or the trulli in Coreggia – no particular preference; but one of our granddaughters is keen to go to Italy, and we’d love to be the ones to make that happen. That – or those – aside, we seem to be gravitating more towards the UK sites. Whether that’s to do with age, or less-than favourable exchange rates (though those go up and down) or the fact that air travel is not the fun it used to be – who knows? Probably a mixture of all three, plus something else besides. But there’s so much to discover and enjoy right here in Britain, I can’t say we’re feeling much of a loss.”

Jane and David have a daughter, Nicola, with three daughters of her own. “Nicola uses our Bond, independently of us,” says Jane. “She and her partner and the girls have been to Lower Knapp, Biniorella and St Siméon – and I’m sure there will be more; though Nicola works in education, and is thus tied in to school holidays. Makes booking a little more of a challenge...” 

“...but by no means impossible,” interjects David. “And Nicola will inherit our Bond, when the time comes. But right now, this is our time – there is so much more out there: to see, to do, to discover and to savour.”