Thursday, October 22, 2009
3 of our local food suppliers win awards!
We were thrilled that three of our main local food suppliers have won awards at this year’s North Devon Food and Drink Awards - announced at the FoodFest in Barnstaple on Sunday 18th October. As a business, we buy local prodcue from farmers and small independamt retailers from Exmoor and North Devon and we are pleased to be associated with the following local businesses, who won the following awards
Best Local Producer:
Winner Besshill Farm Shop, Arlington - who supply all our meat and eggs
Runner-up Passmores Fresh Fish & Game, Barnstaple - Fish and game suppliers
Best Specialist Retailer:
Runner up West Country Cheese Co - who supply all our local cheeses
Well done everyone!
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Old Rectory Hotel - 5 Star award for Food Hygiene
As a hotel we are delighted to have been awarded 5 stars (the maximum!) in accordance with “The Scores on the Doors” scheme administerd by Environmental Health at North Devon District Council.
Local authority enforcement officers are responsible for inspecting food businesses to ensure that they meet the legal requirements on food hygiene. Under the ’scores on the doors’ scheme, each food outlet is given a score that reflects the inspection findings The better the standards of food safety, the higher the number of stars given. This ranges from 5 stars (excellent) to 0 (zero) stars (very poor).
All scores are available via a website where prospective customers can see the scores for all the businesses in the local area.
The primary purpose of these ’scores on the doors’ schemes is to empower consumers so that they make more informed choices about the places from which they purchase food. The star rating is based on the scores for hygiene, structure and confidence in management, because they are under the direct control of the food business operator.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Proposal at The Old Rectory Hotel
A few weeks ago, we took a booking for a short break for the weekend from a chap called Gavin, who was calling from Hampshire. When he asked for flowers to be placed in the room before their arrival, we asked whether this was a special occasion to which he answered “I hope so!”
Gavin and his girlfriend, Gayle, arrived on Friday 21st for their romantic break at the hotel and following a great dinner that evening, sampling some of our wines, the couple set off for a walk on a sunny morning heading for the nearby glorious south west coast path.
When they arrived back for tea in the garden, Gayle was sporting a beautifull engagement ring which Gavin had designed himself and had commissioned to be made in New Zealand. Gavin had proposed on Woody Bay beach and, most importantly, Gayle accepted!
We have met many people who have been moved by the stunning local Exmoor scenery and have got engaged in the area but this is the first time, under our stewardship that a guest has proposed whilst staying here at the hotel.
Congratulations to Gavin and Gayle!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
New - Memory Foam Mattresses
We have just taken delivery of memory foam mattresses for one of our newly refurbished hotel rooms - Hollowbrook. These very comfortable beds are on a trial basis to enable us to get customer feedback before purchasing more for some of our other rooms which will be refurbished at the end of this current season.
Why not come and have a short break with us at the Hotel, try out the new beds and explore the beautifull Exmoor National Park
Exmoor Photographic Competition - Win an Olympus camera!
We have recently had a group of keen amateur photographers staying with us here at The Old Rectory Hotel, who have taken some fabulous photographs of Exmoor and the coastal walks - they were lucky to have some great weather and the results are stunning!
The Lyn Association of Commerce and Tourism has just announced a photo competition in conjunction with Olympus Cameraswith first prize a supperb Olympus E410 SLR. Proposed by David Bailey the camera is similar to the previous OM 35mm. The second prize is another Olympus camera.
Entry Guidlines:
Photos should have been taken within Exmoor National Park during 2009
Each photo should have a title
Email entries before October 12th as a jpeg attachement to scenephotocomp@yahoo.co.uk
All category winner will be published in Scene 2010
Why not have a look through some of your holiday sanps and enter them - or send them to us and we will put them in the customer gallery on the website.
