- News
Four AA Stars and a Dinner Award
An AA inspector stayed the night on 22 September, ate three courses,
slept in room 1, and marked us against forty-six separate standards. Here is
what happened.
He didn’t tell us he was coming. That is rather the point — the AA
inspects as a paying guest, unannounced, and you find out afterwards. He
arrived on the afternoon of Monday 22 September, checked in, was shown up by
Mia, had dinner in the dining room, slept in room 1, came down for breakfast,
and left. Somewhere in between he assessed forty-six aspects of this inn, from
the depth of shine on the bathroom surfaces to whether the table and chair
heights match.
The report landed this week. We have been awarded Four AA
Stars, with the Inn designator — and an AA Dinner
Award for the food.
What he wrote
A genuine pleasure to visit The Olde Malthouse Inn, such an
engaging establishment with so much period charm, all of which contributes to
such a rewarding guest experience. A very personable young team, a credit to
the establishment and all making a unified input.
Four out of four for overall quality. Four out of four on the five critical
areas. Four out of four on services and facilities. Every single minimum
requirement met — not one shortfall in eleven pages.
What the stars actually mean
The AA rates guest accommodation from one to five stars and adds a
designator for the kind of place it is: Inn, B&B, Guest House, Restaurant
with Rooms. We are an Inn, and four stars at Inn level is a
high standard of quality and guest care in a pub with rooms. We are not a
hotel. We have never wanted to be one. We are a 14th-century inn on Fore
Street, and that is precisely the thing that has been rated.
And the Dinner Award
The Dinner Award is about the evening meal. Our inspector ate the menu
— Korean chicken tenders to start, whole roasted flatfish with lemon and
caper butter, lemon posset with raspberry compote — and wrote up all
three. He was complimentary about some of it and honest about the rest, which
is what you want from an inspection.
A good example of the ethos here, hence keeping things simple
and allowing the produce to shine. Fish of good quality and accurately
cooked.
Simple dishes prepared with care and underpinned by good
quality, locally sourced produce — a Dinner Award well deserved.
That is the whole ambition of the kitchen in one sentence. Good Cornish
produce, cooked properly, not messed about with.
The team
This is the part that matters. The report names people. Mia on check-in and
at dinner — he singled her out for endorsing his choice of the fish,
“a simple technique which always makes the guest feel positive”.
Freya at breakfast and on check-out, for “impressive guest focus and
efficiency and application”. And the housekeeping team, who got this:
Standards of cleanliness are strong throughout…
Particular care noted in the critical contact areas with bathroom surfaces
showing a depth of shine. Given the age of the building, standards particularly
commendable, where maintaining exacting standards can present additional
challenges.
Anyone who has ever tried to keep a building this old looking immaculate
will know what that sentence is worth.
What we’re fixing
He flagged things too, as he should. The signage on the way to the car park
is looking tired — it’s being replaced. One of the bathroom thermostats
is over-sensitive and there’s a hairline crack in some tiling. And he’s right
that our smaller rooms involve compromises; they are old rooms in an old
building, and we would rather tell you that up front than have you discover it.
Come and see the plaque
The AA wall plaque and certificate are in the post. When they arrive they
are going up by the bar, and you are all very welcome to come and look at them
over a pint of Tintagel Brewery’s finest.
