guides for guests with visual impairment

The Cliffden Hotel has a proud history of welcoming blind and partially sighted guests, having formerly been owned by a charity offering holidays for guests with a visual impairment. The hotel is delighted to continue to welcome regular visits from guests who have been staying with us for many years to enjoy a seaside break in Teignmouth.

In order to enable and enhance holiday experiences for these guests, we are delighted to have access to a small group of local volunteer sighted guides known as The Cliffden Buddies. These invaluable and much appreciated volunteers enable guests to request sighted guide assistance for personally arranged outings such as local walks, shopping trips, visits to pubs and cafes, etc.

Request A Buddy For Your Visit

After booking your stay at The Cliffden, if you would like to request any help from the volunteer sighted guides, please send an email to the hotel’s Deputy General Manager at dgm@cliffdenhotel.com or complete the form below. If you book your holiday by phone, the hotel Receptionists can complete the form on your behalf.

Your request will be passed to the Cliffden Buddies Volunteer Coordinator, who will try to find sighted guides to support you.  In order to allow time for this to be arranged we kindly request that you give no less than two weeks’ notice but ideally longer, prior to your arrival. 

Please provide the following information in your email or in the form:

• The date(s) and time(s) when you would like a some sighted guide assistance

• The kind of help you require, such as full sighted guide assistance, or just visual support if you have some useful eyesight

• A description of what you would like to do during your time with the guide, for example shopping, a walk on the beach, take a train trip to Exmouth etc

• The number of guests in your party who would like assistance

The volunteers will then be contacted, and the results passed back to the hotel.  As the hotel is not involved in arranging and coordinating with the guides, the hotel team is unable to handle volunteer requests by telephone, unless it is at the time of booking.

 If you would like to keep up to date and learn more about The Cliffden Buddies and have access to Facebook, search for The Cliffden Hotel Buddies (VI Guests and Sighted Guides), and request to join the Facebook group which is run by the visually impaired hotel guests.