On the tenth of December our cottages were inspected by Visit Wales for our grading renewal – a little earlier than expected, but the Quality Advisers try to fit their visits into the quieter periods before Christmas and Easter.
We had just finished some changes – all cottages now have cooker hoods and brand new gas hobs in the kitchens, and we have updated the satellite TV receivers too.
We are delighted to report that once again we have achieved a four star self-catering award for all four of the cottages! We have also been re-awarded the “Walkers Welcome” and “Cyclists Welcome” certificates.
Visit Wales assess the quality of every aspect of the business on a scale of 1 to 5; these scores are totalled and a score for the whole business is calculated. The Quality Adviser also checks for consistency in key areas of the business, to ensure that excellence in one area alone doesn’t give an artificially high grading. Finally, they check that all of the facilities and services required to meet the grading level are present; that’s everything from the quality of the mattress to the number of teaspoons!
Sometimes we are asked by guests why we aren’t awarded five stars – after all, we get a lot of five star reviews. Visit Wales do score us fives on quality, cleanliness, etc. but five star cottages are expected to be bigger, and have full sized bathrooms – so unless we undertake some significant building work, we can only achieve a four star award!
We are looking forward to another year of hosting our lovely guests here at Wye View.
Grace & Adrian.