Painswick Hotel voted top of its class (From Stroud News and Journal)

Painswick Hotel voted top of its class

THE PAINSWICK Hotel has joined an elite set of winners in the Good Hotel Guide 2002, after being named as the Country House Hotel of the Year on Monday.

Reporter Ben Falconer and photographer Mark Watkins visited the impressive former rectory in Kemps Lane to discover the secret behind the success of Gareth and Helen Pugh's hotel in the heart of Painswick.

A PAIR of wellington boots stand next to the umbrella stand in the doorway of the Painswick Hotel, which is a useful barometer by which to gauge the atmosphere of the magnificent 18th century building.

Quite rightly crowned the Country House Hotel of the Year by the Good Hotel Guide 2002, its owners Gareth and Helen Pugh don't stand on ceremony, politely welcoming guests as friends rather than visitors who must abide by oppressive rules.

As the guide's most experienced writer says, it is "As sympathetic and unstuffy hotel as I have come across in a long while...it was a pleasure to see plenty of young couples dining in casual wear instead of the ranks of old farts so often found in the heavier kind of country house establishment."

Gareth and Helen have worked in the hotel industry for most of their careers and their mass of experience is clear to see in the professional and friendly manner in which they run the Painswick Hotel.

But they have torn a few pages out of the rule book to bring it in to the 21st century and in to line with most guests' expectations.

"I've always worked in different country house hotels which is a bit like running a museum with bedrooms," explained Gareth.

"We didn't want to have that formality. It's a fairly formal building but we want to run it with a marked degree of informality."

He said the days of a jacket and tie at dinner are gone and children are welcomed because they have two of their own - eldest son Alexander, 4, helps with the breakfast menu, much to the amusement and delight of guests.

Staff are encouraged to converse comfortably with guests, as Gareth ranks their qualities as people and their vocational skills with equal importance.

"It's a team effort," he stressed. "We try to employ people who are not afraid to converse with the guests, rather than technically skilled robots."

With 17 double rooms and two singles, it feels more like a home rather than a hotel, or perhaps how many other hotels should feel.

One of the two four-poster bedded rooms comes complete with a top to toe twin tub bath, which, like many other rooms, affords wonderful views of the valley towards Sheepscombe.

With sumptuous decor and an atmosphere which puts guests immediately at ease, it would appear that the Painswick Hotel has an unbeatable combination which attracts people from all over the world.

After all it is in a plum spot in The Queen of the Cotswolds, standing in 3/4 acre of grounds, including a croquet lawn.

But it has an ace card up its sleeve - food.

Residents and non-residents can enjoy modern English restaurant cuisine with a classical French flavour, thanks to chef Kevin Barron, who insists on sourcing as much as the ingredients as possible from local suppliers.

For example, eggs and honey come from the village itself, vegetables from the Evesham Vale, and a fish delivery direct from Brixham, Devon every day.

"He spends a lot of time sourcing ingredients and we try to use as much local produce we can," said Gareth. "And we have some serious puddings to finish with."

He also pointed out that anyone can come along for food, including a risotto for 5 on the covered veranda.

In the 3 1/2 years they have owned the hotel, they have worked hard investing a great deal of time effort, to stamp their own identity on it. And the work will go on for at least another year before it will be just so.

This is the first hotel they have owned rather than managed and the title of Country House Hotel of the year has come just at the right time.

The cancellation of the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival due to the foot and mouth crisis wiped out their busiest week of the year and the number of guests from the USA plummeted by 70 per cent.

"It's fantastic, it will give us serious exposure which we really need after foot and mouth," said Gareth, who found out their hotel had won three weeks ago.

"We had no idea whatsoever.

"Normally I've got a good idea - guide writers are a single male or female but it came completely out of the blue."

To put their achievement in to perspective, there are more than 750 hotels recommended in the Good Hotel Guide 2002 and just ten have won Csar Awards (named after Csar Ritz) for being the best at what they do.

Gareth and Helen are off to collect their award at a presentation ceremony and a night on London's tiles later this week, a well-deserved reward for them after the setbacks suffered at the hands of foot and mouth.

A proud Helen told the News & Journal they feel vindicated by the accolade.

"We are really pleased," she said. "It's like someone's patted you on the back and said you're doing it right."

For more details on the Painswick Hotel, including wedding receptions and winter breaks with breakfast and evening meal, call 01452 812160.

The Good Hotel Guide 2002 published by Ebury Press, is out now, priced £15.99.