Auction for a sleep over at sea

Thursday 23 June 2016

You can bid tonight to be the first to stay over at an iconic Jersey tower, built 220 years ago, and sleep out in St Ouen's Bay, surrounded by the sea.

Jersey Heritage is launching an ebay auction at 7pm with the highest bidder getting to choose when they want to stay at La Rocco Tower when it opens to the public for the first time in July.

You can only get to it when the tide allows so there are only six dates available to stay at the Tower this year and for the next week, you can bid for your chance to book in on your favoured date here and then there's a draw for the other five dates. This link won't work until the auction opens at 7pm tonight.

Jersey Heritage is inviting Trust members and patrons who want to stay there to email them at larocco@jerseyheritage.org before 7 July with their name, contact phone number and membership number under the heading "La Rocco Tower Draw". All the lucky winners will get a free overnight stay but will have to pay for the Jersey Heritage accredited guide who will need to stay with them.

Jersey Heritage's Commercial Operations Director Jeremy Swetenham said: “Making access as affordable and fair as possible, whilst at the same time supporting conservation costs, is a daily challenge at Jersey Heritage. For the launch of La Rocco Tower and to address the considerable demand, we are going to try something different for its first year of availability.

“We hope that the combination of randomly selecting winners from interested Jersey Heritage members and patrons, and an auction for the first choice of stay, will give us the best chance of achieving both of these aims. With the summer upon us there is no better time to become a member of Jersey Heritage!” 

La Rocco Tower, built in 1796, has been an iconic Jersey landmark for over two centuries. Through their own fundraising efforts and a grant from the Tourism Development Fund, Jersey Heritage have been carefully restoring it to give guests a once in a lifetime 24 hours at the Tower. It now sleeps up to six adults and has room for a guide.

Jersey Heritage Director Jon Carter said: "La Rocco, first restored by the Société and the National Trust in the 1970s, is an icon of conservation in St Ouen’s Bay but has not been available to the public. We are really excited to finally open it up for everyone to enjoy. Income from these wonderful sites generates a considerable sum for further conservation work on Jersey’s heritage buildings and we hope Islanders and visitors will support this new project."

You can only get out to the Tower twice a month depending on the Spring tides so it's still a work in progress at the moment, with experts working through the night to get the job finished and make sure it's all set for its first guests to stay on 23 July.

Jersey Heritage Property Manager Chris O’Conner, who is overseeing the restoration work, said: “La Rocco Tower has been taken from a neglected state and, through combined efforts, been transformed into a truly distinctive and exciting Coastal Tower Heritage Let. We look forward to hearing its new stories from visitors for years to come.”

(Picture credit: Danny Evans)