Large Georgian style Guest House offering Bed and Breakfast Accommodation. Set in a quiet location just a short walk from historical Dorchester’s  town centre and its amenities

Comprising of 7 letting bedrooms:

One 2-roomed suite on the ground floor with full disabled access and facilities for less able guests and wheelchair users

Six further bedrooms on the first floor comprising of:

Two Superior Super-king size Double or Twin bedrooms with ‘zip and link’ beds. Both with shower room en suite

One Double bedroom with shower room en suite

One Twin bedroom with shower room en suite

Two Single bedrooms, each with its own private shower room nearby for which a wrapped dressing gown is provided

New Grundig LCD Television with integrated DVD and Freeview in every bedroom - please bring your favourite DVD

Full further information and current tariff etc can be found on our website:  www.aquilaheights.co.uk                                                             email:     enquiries@aquilaheights.co.uk

Pre-Arrival at Aquila Heights Guest House

•Telephone and email enquiries are welcomed                      

• Full Travel Information available on request

Holiday Care: Professional HomeCare and Nursing Services can be arranged in advance of your stay. www.prestige-nursing.co.uk / Tel: 01935412633

• Links for location, directions and route planning can be found on the 'News & Availability' page of our main website: www.aquilaheights.co.uk with web links to most visitor attractions. Places to go; Sights to see: Venues to visit. etc. etc.

• Full Hyperlinked version is available for advanced planning by email on request

• Guests with visual or aural impairment are welcome but we prefer guests with serious impairment to be accompanied to ensure their safety

Arrival & Car Parking Facilities

• Our L shaped tarmac surfaced Car Park is adjacent to the house

• Some areas of the car park do slope towards the road at the front

• Assistance with luggage is offered to every guest on arrival 

• Approach to entrance is tarmac changing to concrete

• Contact details are prominently displayed on outside signage

• Day and late night doorbells are both in the vestibule

• A lower doorbell is positioned on the fire escape door adjacent to our car park

• Distance from car park to main entrance: 8 metres

Main Entrance & Reception

• The main entrance is at the front of the house

• The main front entrance has one step up plus a door frame lip leading into the vestibule entrance then one step at the main door into the house

• A second entrance side door leads to a long low sturdy metal ramp for wheelchair users. 80cm wide with a framed edge and fixed hand rail. 4cm original concrete door lip - no steps

• Doors open inwards leading to an original polished pine boarded floor hall with a door mat followed by a large central Chinese rug at the base of the stairs ahead

• A pad and pen is always available on request

• Front entrance hall is shaped around the main stairs leading left to Bedroom 1 and right to the cloakroom

• The guest fridge has chilled fresh local milk for lounge and bedroom use available 24/7

Public Areas - General (Internal)

• All public areas are on the ground floor

• All doors and frames are white in contrast to the hallways’ creamy yellow walls

• New sage green fitted carpeting throughout the house

• Lighting throughout is bright but lowered during the night

• We have no lift

• Ground floor WC cloakroom with a lift and drop-down hand rail to the left of the toilet - facing

 
Breakfast Room and Guest Lounge

• Both are situated with facing doors on either side of the hall on the ground floor

• There are five tables of varying size and shape, two carvers and 14 fiddleback beech chairs with seat pads in the Breakfast Room  . Two are of the tables are of a different height

• Special dietary requirements are available or can also be arranged prior to arrival

• In addition to our waitress service there is a buffet area for cereals, fresh fruit, fruit juices, yoghurts etc

• Our extensive Breakfast Menu is also available in German

Door Widths:

• Front door:                                            81cm

• All other rooms:                                     77cm

• Disabled en suite door:                           90cm

• All other en suites and shower rooms:      67cm

Main Stairs: 

15 steps in total - 12 stairs up followed by a 180 degree turn half landing then 3 more 

• Width:                                   81cm

• Tread depth:                         25cm

• Step height:                          16cm

2^nd Fire Escape Stairs: 

14 steps in total - 4 stairs down followed by a 90 degree turn half landing then 10 stairs to fire escape door adjacent to our car park

• Width:                                 77cm

• Tread depth:                       21cm

• Step height:                        19cm

Bedrooms:

 • All bedrooms have new fitted carpet

• With the exception of the double bed on the ground floor all beds are 54cm high

• There is a central light with bedside and task lights in each bedroom

• A generous Tea, Coffee and biscuits hospitality tray with a cordless kettle in each bedroom

• Herbal and Fruit tea sachets are for self selection from a large jar on the landing

• New Grundig LCD Television with integrated DVD and Freeview in each bedroom

• We do not provide telephones in the bedrooms

Bedroom 1 – Our Garden Room Suite

Because of the flexibility of this room we endeavour to re-arrange the furniture to suit individual guests’ requirement. One single bed in the Garden Room can be removed to allow a larger seating area if not needed for sleeping

Moving the double bed into the adjacent Garden Room offers a much wider space on both sides of the bed but unfortunately as this is a purpose made bed it is extra heavy and a major upheaval that cannot be done single handed

* Regrettably, due to the weight and difficulty, moving the double bed IS NOT POSSIBLE without notice and prior arrangement.

• Special carpet underlay for ease of wheelchair movement

• Higher than normal and firm edged double bed for easy wheelchair transfer.

• Space under the double bed to facilitate a hoist.  Height:  58cm.

• Single bed height:   54cm 

En suites and Shower Rooms

To enable guests to travel light our shower rooms are fully equipped with more than the essentials.

Spacious, powerful showers are complimented by a good selection of shower gels, bathroom-size shampoos, each with matching conditioner and toiletries etc. with large, good quality bath sheets, towels and flannels

Room 1 en suite:

• En suite shower room with safety flooring plus an additional hand basin in the         

adjoining carpeted dressing room

• En suite door width: 90cm

• Level-deck wheel-in shower with a fixed fold down seat with sturdy, rubber-cupped legs at the front

• Disabled height toilet with no seat lid.  Toilet height: 48cm

• Hand rails are strategically position in the shower and on both sides of the toilet:

1. Fixed to wall on the left and parallel to the toilet (facing)

2. Fixed but movable to Lift and drop-down when needed to the right and parallel to the toilet (facing)        

• Hand basin is small and at the required height for wheelchair accessibility

En suites and Shower Rooms - First floor

• Rooms 2, 3, 5 and 5 each have an en-suite shower room with a walk in shower and vinyl flooring

• Rooms 4 and 7 (singles) each have their own private shower room just across the landing with walk in shower cubicles. A wrapped dressing gown is also provided

• Room 4 has vinyl flooring and a walk-in shower cubicle

• Room 7 has safety flooring and a walk-in shower cubicle with a shower seat (identical to Room 1)

Fire Security and Safety

• Full house fire alarm system fitted

• The fire alarm is a warbler

• Sprinkler system to ground floor

• Second stairway leading down to fire escape door

• Hallways, stairs and both sides of the four external doors have emergency lighting

• All external bedroom and communal room doors are half-hour fire doors

• Hand rails line both sides of both stairways between ground and first floors

• An un-latched fire door / smoke barrier door is positioned in the first floor hallway mid-way between Shower room 4 and Shower room 7.  This door is designed to close automatically in the event of an emergency or power cut

Laundry and Shoe Cleaning facilities

• 24 hour-return laundry service is available on request – There is no charge  for laundry if guests are staying 5 days or more. 

• Irons and ironing boards are kept in our ground floor cloakroom

• Wet clothing and boots can be dried overnight in our utility room on request

• Shoe & boot cleaning materials, brushes, polish, dubbin etc are also kept in our ground floor cloakroom

Mobility

• Accessible taxis can be arranged and booked by telephone

• All information can be sent or e mailed for your own advanced arrangements

• Shop-Mobility is located in Charles Street, Dorchester

• Wheelchairs and disabled equipment can be temporarily loaned from the Red Cross office behind Agricultural House in Acland Road

With prior arrangement and agreement between yourself and the Red Cross we would be able to collect and return the equipment for use during your stay.                 

Grounds and Gardens

• Flower beds line the path from our car park to the entrance and beyond

• Our enclosed, secluded garden and patio can be reached via the concrete ramp by the front entrance

• Central lawn with flower beds of flowering shrubs and trees

• Garden furniture is usually out ready to use and additional available

• Front hedge provides shelter for the birds and privacy for breakfasting in the dining room

Additional Information

• In compliance with the law, we are a totally non smoking establishment but guests are welcome to smoke outside, on the patio and in our secluded enclosed garden,

• All guest rooms can receive FREE wireless internet access using our NETGEAR wireless system.

• New Grundig LCD Television with integrated DVD and Freeview in every bedroom - Please bring your own DVD  

Contact Information  

Environment & Green Policy  

• At Aquila Heights Guest House we are concerned about our impact on the local environment and endeavour to operate as efficiently as possible, reduce our waste and pollution and lower our carbon and environmental footprints Very Friendly Local Shops: sub-post office, baker, chemist, butcher, hairdressers are just a few are just a few minutes walk away in Maud Road where two local mini-markets (Londis and Nisa) offer excellent choices including local produce and open from 6am and 7am for newspapers etc until 10pm, 7 days a week

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• Our breakfast ingredients are sourced as locally as possible. We buy local produce from the local shops to help the local economy and reduce the environmental impact. Wednesday morning Farmers Markets are held at Dorchester’s Market Fairfield. Friday morning’s Local Producers Market is held at the Corn Exchange in Dorchester from 8.30am except Good Friday

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• The Guest House has been fully insulated and double glazed throughout
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• Water is heated in energy efficient boilers and your laundry is washed in new energy efficient AA machines
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• We use low energy light bulbs and daylight activated sockets to reduce our carbon impact
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• Our beds are dressed with cosy insulating Portuguese cotton bedspreads and we change our tog rated duvets according to the seasons and temperature. 
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• The bedroom blinds are also heat/cold/light reflecting
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• Guests are invited to leave their towels hanging or on the towel rail if they would like to re-use them again for another day
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• We try to organise our daily routine so that we are not wasteful of energy and we use machines efficiently
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•  We actively encourage wildlife into our garden, collect rain water  for the flowers, tubs and hanging baskets and invite our guests to use water with care
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• We have two compost bins for peelings and garden waste plus a ‘Green Cone’ buried in the ground for kitchen food scraps
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• We recycle everything that we are able to and offer recycling facilities for our guests to add their own car collection to our bulk recycling containers
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• We re-use our packaging and containers as much as possible before recycling them and return egg trays to the farm for re-use
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• We strive to make efficient use of paper and provide local visitor information folders. Our website is paperless advertising, and promotes communication by email
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• We invite guests to turn televisions off at the wall socket when not in use so that the red standby light is off and to switch off their room lights and TV when leaving their rooms 
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• Guests are very welcome to leave cars in our car park throughout the day and for the duration of their stay.
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• Train and bus timetables, local maps, books and leaflets for circular walks and cycle routes etc are provided in guest room folders and in the main hall downstairs.
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• Local knowledge and advice is freely available
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• We offer secure overnight storage for cycles and overnight drying of wet clothes and boots for walkers, cyclists and motor cyclists during inclement weather