In 2006, Angela and Bill Whittleworth traded North Wales for the pretty Portuguese village of Venda Nova. Here, Angela tells how she and her husband handle the million and one tasks involved in running a B&B
My name is Angela Whittleworth and I’m 47. I run a B&B in Venda Nova, northern Portugal, with my husband Bill, who’s 48.
We’ve both worked in catering and hospitality for many years. Bill was a chef, then he moved over to work as a craft and design technician in schools. I worked in several hotels as a housekeeper before becoming a pâtissière, setting up a workshop at home to make wedding and celebration cakes.
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Bill and I always wanted to put our skills to good use by setting up a B&B, but it’s taken us 20 years to achieve our dream. We first visited the Algarve over 15 years ago, and fell in love with Portugal.
We started searching the Internet for properties in 2003, and flew out for a week’s viewing trip in 2005. We spent two days in the city of Coimbra and knew immediately that we wanted to live nearby. After selling our home in North Wales, we returned to the area for five weeks in 2006. That’s when we found our house in Venda Nova.
It’s a two-bedroom property with four connected outbuildings, which cost €92,500 (£73,500). So far we’ve spent between £15,000 and £20,000 converting the outbuildings into bed and breakfast accommodation.
Venda Nova is a beautiful little village with a real community spirit. We named our place Casa Lavanda, which means Lavender House. Lavender is the national flower of Portugal, and it’s also one of my favourite flowers.
All our friends and family are in the UK, but they love coming out here to see us. Our daughter Laverne visits at least twice a year with her partner Rick, and Bill’s sister Delia has been to stay every year. They like to explore the local area on foot and picnic by the rivers nearby.
The first year of business was very hard. We only had a few guests, who were mainly friends that wanted to support us, and we had to work in Switzerland and the UK during the winter to earn some money.
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Our second year here has got off to a much better start. We’ve had some lovely guests, many of whom we now call friends. One couple came for two days and stayed for nearly fi ve weeks, so we must be doing something right! We’ve had a lot of compliments from guests about the evening meals, so I’m working on a Casa Lavanda cookery book at the moment.
Bill and I share the day-to-day tasks between us. He serves the evening meals, as he’s very good at chatting to the guests and playing host. I cook all the meals and look after the rooms. We spend a lot of time working on the garden and renovating the guest areas. There are always things to be done, but we really enjoy what we do – it doesn’t feel like work at all.
Our time in Portugal has made us realise how much effort it takes to achieve a dream. We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs along the way, and have learned a lot through experience. We wouldn’t change a thing, though. Life is a lot simpler here, and everything moves at a gentler pace than in the UK.
Want to find out more about Casa Lavanda? Call 00351 239 428 156 or visit www.casalavanda.net
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This article is taken from issue 59 of A Place In The Sun magazine, on sale now, or to subscribe click here...
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