As a family and as a business, long-term relationships are what we ‘do’ – and that’s something we’re celebrating this year (2012).

Over the years, Gilpin has been home to 5 generations of the Cunliffe family: my father-in-law John’s grandparents, Joseph and Harriet, moved here back in 1919 to escape the smog of Manchester, and John spent many happy childhood holidays playing in the grounds, fishing and picnicking at their nearby lakeside fishing lodge, where his dad Tony later lived. After Harriet’s death in the 1960s, Gilpin was sold and turned into a B&B, but in 1987 it came back on the market and John and Christine, who were running The Hole in the Wall in Bath, jumped at the chance to buy it and return to the Lakes.

25 years on, family is still central to life at Gilpin. I’m married to John and Christine’s son Barney, and we live here with our daughter Xia and work alongside them. Barney’s brother Ben is an architect and works with us on all our developments, the latest being the transformation of the lakeside fishing lodge into the Lake House, our fab six-bedroom hotel-within-a-hotel.

Now, to mark Gilpin’s 25th Anniversary as an hotel, we’re looking for 25 special couples to share the secrets of their long-term relationship success – and enjoy some amazing prizes in return. Find out all about our search at http://www.facebook.com/gilpinlodge. Joseph and Harriet might have been flummoxed by facebook but I hope they’d love what we’re doing with the competition!

See you soon!

Zoë.

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About the author

Zoe Cunliffe
Zoë 'Chief Chatterer' Cunliffe joined in 2001 with husband Barney. After years of working through the departments as a sort of family apprentice, Zoë’s chief talents have finally been rewarded with a role that encompasses her métiers - talking and writing! You will now mostly find her harassing guests in reception and the restaurants, and writing/editing Gilpin Life. Jasper Gerrard of the Telegraph wrote that Gilpin was "friendly informality, personified by Zoë Cunliffe and her smile that speaks of crumpets by the fire and earthy humour."