Five Stars again, for 2009-2010

We had our annual (except it was only ten or so months since the last one) Visit Britain Quality Assurance Scheme inspection on Thursday June 4. It was conducted by a new to us inspector who was very pleasant, very thorough we felt, and very fair.

So we were somewhat surprised to discover, in spite of numerous ‘improvements’ in Tom’s Barn since the last inspection, that our total score remained the same.

We had been hoping we might notch up another percentage point to get a Gold Award for Tom’s Barn as well as Douglas’s Barn (see paragraph above) but apparently the fact that the cooker in Tom’s Barn is now being outshone by the newness of the fridge and the washer dryer meant we can’t, which seems somewhat tough. We had already indicated that a new cooker was on the agenda for next year but one can only do so much each year. Oh well. At least we still get 100% for cleanliness

Enjoy England Gold Award for Douglas’s Barn!

Earlier this year we received the news of this award. Apparently the award is for exceptional quality of accommodation and customer service made to all Five Star holiday cottages that achieve 91% or over in their overall Quality in Tourism inspection score. We had no idea, so the whole thing came right out of the blue but very pleasingly nonetheless.

Tom’s Barn, which is just as lovely and quite as popular (and we look after you all exactly the same!) just missed the boat, with 90%… We’ll have to do even better next year.