Wow! What a week we've had! We attended the Devon Tourism Awards on Thursday evening - a glitsy event at the Guildhall in Plymouth attended by the very best tourism businesses across Devon and presented by travel guru Simon Calder. The 25 were finalists for Best B&B in Devon. You may remember that we won Silver last year, and we are extremely pleased to say that we managed GOLD this year! There was such stiff competition so we are very proud. We really thought any of the three finalists could have gained the top spot so to hear bronze and then silver being announced, and them not being us was a real shock. The massive shock though was when they announced the biggest award of the night - "Winner of Winners". They said "There are no fixed criteria for this final prestigious award – a business that has won many other awards, or maybe has won over many years, but this year’s panel wanted to recognise a winner who is a beacon to others and who, in their category, was a winner by an outstanding margin. This year’s Winner of Winners is…The 25 Boutique B & B." We were gobsmacked!
So many of our friends also won awards - the kind of high quality businesses we are happy to recommend to our guests. Restaurants like The Elephant, and Old Vienna were winners in the Restaurant of the Year category, The Guardhouse Café won Gold for Best Café/Tearoom, and Alex at Unique Devon Tours who offers our guests a special price (under Things to Do on our website) won Gold for Best Guided Tour. The South West Coastal Path which we walked part of (see recent blog) earlier this year won Silver for best International Visitor Experience. Small Attraction of the Year was won by Plymouth Gin which we always recommend to guests spending a day out in Plymouth. Spa and Wellbeing Experience of the Year was won by Cary Arms who won gold - we are in discussions about joining forces with them to offer you exclusive access to their fabulous spa facilities - more on that next year. The English Riviera won more awards and more Gold awards than any other area of Devon. Those that visit regularly will know that we have so many wonderful businesses locally and that's what makes it the ideal resort to visit.
Thank you so much everyone for your business and support - at the end of the day we do what we do to make you all happy and ensure you have a great time when you stay with us on the English Riviera.
Andy & Julian.