GUESTHOUSE AND B&B OF THE YEAR
Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards 2021/22
It is with immense pride that I can report that we won gold in the regional award scheme in the Guest House and B&B of the Year category sponsored by Barrington Associates.
We attained a Bronze in last year’s awards, which was the first time we had entered. Aside from the resulting publicity and kudos that these award schemes befer, a major benefit is receiving constructive criticism from industry experts. This feeds back into our running of the business and helps us to provide the best experience for our guests.
The UK Hospitality industry has been hit hard by Covid restrictions but we utilised the downtime to good effect for decorating, maintenance and enhancements to the property. The West of England has so much to offer visitors looking for countryside escapes or historical and cultural city breaks.
Check our web site again in March when our new section on places to go, things to see, where to eat and drink goes live.
AA 5 Star Gold Award, Breakfast Award and Dinner Award 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022
Old Church Farm was first inspected by a secret AA hotel inspector in August 2018 and awarded us with the highest accolade – the Gold Award with 5 stars. The inspector also had an evening meal and breakfast – both were given awards too. (AA Rosettes are only offered to restaurants open to the public, which we do not have). We had a follow up surprise inspection in January 2019, February 2020 and June 2021 retaining our 5 stars and food awards for five years running.
The AA introduced a star rating system to classify hotels in 1912, and in 2006 they developed Common Quality Standards (alongside the main tourist boards) for inspecting and rating accommodation. These standards and rating categories are now applied throughout the British Isles.
Hotels, guest accommodation, self-catering and serviced accommodation are given star ratings, while caravan, camping and glamping sites are given pennant ratings.
As our restaurant is not open to the public (although we do cater for private dinner parties) we cannot be awarded AA Rosettes but were told by the inspector that the quality of the food merits them.
The Good Hotel Guide 2022
We are honoured to feature in the 2022 Good Hotel Guide. This annual publication is seen as one of the few independent review books that does not grant entry through payment but purely on merit. Entrants are reviewed by anonymous inspectors and need to maintain good reviews from the public in order to remain in the guide. The book features over 860 UK hotels, B&Bs and Guest Houses.
Booking.com Traveller Review Awards 2021
Reviews on Booking.Com can only be made by guests who have booked through the online travel agent, so the reviews are 100% genuine. Therefore, we are particularly proud of our score of 9.7 out of 10 which is a consistent score for us over the past couple of years and one of the highest in the UK. So, thank you to everyone who left feedback, photos etc.
Travelmyth Awards 2021
International travel portal, Travelmyth, have awarded Old Church Farm “Top Small Hotel in South Gloucestershire 2021”. Their awards apparently are based on customer feedback from other websites, such as Booking.com and Google. Thank you very much.
Eviivo Hidden Gem Award 2019 and Star Among Stars Award 2019
Having been shortlisted for the Eviivo Awards ‘Hidden Gem’ category for the South West region in August it seemed like an eternity awaiting award night held in the Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden on October 15th. It was a lovely evening of entertainment and a three course supper with champagne, wine and cocktails – all paid for by the host, Eviivo, who provide an online booking platform for many independent B&Bs, Guest Houses and Hotels (including ours).
The Hidden Gems category is the top prize and as such was the last to be announced. There were 5 shortlisted properties for each of the nine regions of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Old Church Farm was crowned winner of the South West region with particular reference to the cuisine. There was one last award to finish the evening – the coveted ‘Star Amongst Stars’ which is the overall winner chosen from the nine regions. The judges decided that this year’s national champion was Old Church Farm! I can’t express the elation that Kate and I felt and are grateful to everyone who have visited us and their superlative reviews. It was a night that we will cherish in our memories forever.
eviivo is a young company aiming to transform independent tourism by delivering cool, cost-effective, all-in-one apps and services to small independent accommodation providers. eviivo helps over 16,000 hosts and hoteliers succeed online. We take away the burdensome tasks of managing online bookings, taking payments and gaining coverage on Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).