2005 has once again been an excellent year of awards for Rothay Manor.

In September we were delighted to receive the Silver Award for “Small Hotel of the Year 2005” in the Cumbria Tourist Board ‘Cumbria for Excellence Awards’ (see right). This is the third consecutive year we have won an award here and it is very gratifying considering all the competition locally. Also in September, all the hard work that keeps the gardens looking their best was rewarded when the hotel won the Ambleside & Lakes Parish in Bloom ‘Bob Long Trophy’ in the medium size hotel category. We were also awarded the Hayes Garden World Trophy for Special Recognition. 

Brochure, Website & Signs       

We are  delighted with the feedback we have received regarding the new hotel  brochure  (let us know if you haven’t seen it yet and we will send out a copy to you), which complements the new website which went ‘live’ in the summer. Why not take a look if you haven’t already—you will find details of all the Special Interest Holidays, current packages and forthcoming Special Offers. Perhaps there are some other features you would like to see included - do let us know, we are always delighted to hear from you.

We now have our new exterior signs in place and they are certainly a vast improvement on the old ones. Take a look and let us know what you think.

  Staff Matters

Head Chef, Jane Binns was once again asked to act as a judge for the Cookery entries at the Ambleside Flower & Craft Show in August.

Jane also had her own entries in a variety of classes (mainly in the gardening and photography sections) coming home at the end of the 3 day show with a total of 24 prizes. Some of her entries were displayed around the grounds of the hotel in August and September.—they were that good!

An Interview with ........Austin Worthington

Austin is a ‘hidden treasure’ of Rothay Manor—our ’Mr Fix It’. He is the man we call on at all times of the day when you report those niggling little (or occasionally larger) problems. He has been keeping us in order for over 10 years and without him the hotel would not be in the excellent shape it is today.

Unfailingly pleasant and polite, many of you may have seen him as he unobtrusively goes about his work. His knowledge and experience  of the ‘bricks, mortar and plumbing’ of the hotel are irreplaceable.

When not at our beck and call, Austin is a real asset to the local community, helping people with their gardens and ‘odd jobs’, chauffeuring and dog-sitting. In his spare time, Austin likes to indulge in his long-term love of photography . He is an excellent photographer (one of his photos was used in our 2004 newsletter) and has recently invested in a computer to enable him to enjoy the challenge and flexibility of digital photography.