I often get asked, do you ever tire of the view?

Quite simply, No, never.

I love every changing scene, every day and no day is complete for me if I dont get down to the beach, preferably with Farley my Labrador

Now I must say there have been times recently that I wish Mother Nature would stop chucking so much wet stuff at us. So whilst I don’t tire, I do feel somewhat tired on occasions, particularly as we work through the festive period.

That’s another funny old thing about my industry that those not "n it would never "get" working while others rest. It must take a particular mindset I guess to actually take pleasure in this. After all while you could do it for while even if "it" wasn't for you. There would be no way that you would spend the biggest chunk of your life working these rather crazy hours unless your enjoyment was genuine. That’s another story for another day though.

For now I thought it might be nice to embrace the dramatic and appreciate the rugged beauty that winter and even better winter seascapes bring us.

Merry Christmas to everyone

Proper Custard & Marmite...What makes a proper Christmas?

Its all about that very personal service, we like to find what each guest liks so we can offer exactly what you like, not just what we think you might like. Its that personal.

Chritmas is very much back to basics for me.

I'm quite happy to cut our the pomp and concentrate on what I love to do.
We will be serving Hot Mulled Wine and the best of local Mince Pies around the Salcombe Christmas Tree on Thursday the 20th of December. We believe strongly in involving ourselves with the community and encouraging that sense of community spirit. To me that all part of The Christmas Spirit.

So we involve ourselves In Salcombe's Rotary Club and we help get the tree up in time for this festive simple fun. When we see the Fire Brigade pull up in their gleaming Truck and join in the sing song. It gives you a great warm feeling to know you are part of a very special community.

Jenny and the whole family help to put together a really amazing Grotto as our coffee shop is transformed for the little people to enjoy that proper "wow" factor as their jaws drop when they take a peak.

Roast Dinner with all the trimmings is of course compulsory. Pudding doesn’t matter to me whatever the choice might be, but its not Christmas without vanilla custard oozing with loveliness and giving that warm feeling that all is right in the world. Without this its not a proper Christmas for me.

We spend a lot of our time traveling and staying in hotel near and far and everyone has their own litmus test as to what makes a good hotel, here are a few more of mine:

Marmite - I must have Marmite for breakfast!

The milk is real in the bedrooms, can’t stand that plastic stuff.

Do they trust me with the coat hangers? I can’t be bothered struggling with those "Security" ones without proper old fashioned hooks

Do I feel cared for??? That’s all that really matters to me, everything else is just stuff, get this simple and free bit right and I will forgive the world!

If you havent realised by now I am rather individual!

This year Jenny and Becky are keeping the Keith’s on their toes as the hotel continues its on-going refurbishment and improvements

February 2013 see the launch of our New Restaurant themed as an elegant seaside dining venue, with more intimate settings and a fresher colour scheme in keeping with the coastal setting

Our carpentry crews have already started work with Walnut doors giving a more contemporary feel to all the bedrooms and corridors.

When you visit us next year you will be greeted with a fresh reception, entrance and acres of new carpeting brightening up all of the corridors and public areas.

We expect that by Easter time we will have our Super New Pool and Leisure Suite ready for operation. In the meantime our current warm indoor pool remains open of course.

New Leisure Suite

The hotel will be undergoing an overhaul of its current leisure facilities to be replaced with:

• New Larger Indoor Heated Pool

• Comfortable Lounging Area

• Swedish Sauna

• Mini Gym

• New Treatment Suite

• His and Hers Changing Rooms

• Poolside Snacks & Drinks

Guests will be able to enjoy the new and spacious weatherproof environment where all ages can enjoy a swim in our new pool, work off a cream tea in the gym and relax on a comfy chair whilst being served refreshments.

As Keith Senior will be managing the redevlopment personally, disruption will of course be kept to a minimum

See 2013 In From 1000 Feet Up Over Devon

This Christmas or New Year, take off for Soar Mill Cove in Devon and that's exactly what you can do - soar across the horizon at 1000 feet up simply by harnessing the power of the wind.

It's called Power Kiting and it's free - all part of a plan by Soar Mill Cove Hotel Owner Keith Makepeace to take New Year celebrations to another level. 'I want my guests to have a really exhilarating start to the New Year, says Keith ' one they'll never forget!'

For guests who are a bit more grounded. the hotel offers different diversions. Like treasure hunting using the hotel's own sophisticated metal detector technology, just right for scavenging on the sandy coves for some washed-up booty and ideal if bling's your thing.
                                  
The quest for bounty will all be accompanied by lashings of hot chocolate (laced with rum for the grown ups) plus wool rugs to snuggle under as guests take a break and watch the waves crash in on the rocks.

Just minutes from a private beach in South Devon, the Soar Mill Cove Hotel has a glorious setting with stunning views of the sea. This is a place for romantic long weekends with walks barefoot in the sand. It's also a place for real family holidays where parents can rediscover the joys of a exploring rock pools and building sand castles.

Christmas and New Year Breaks currently on Promotion just call for details

Surrey's Young Superstars

I am delighted to announce that Soar Mill Cove Hotel is sponsoring Surrey's Young Superstars

With so many regular guests from Surrey we were delighted when approached to back this great award and as a family friendly hotel we were keen to promotes the good works of today's youth 

The theme is “Inspire a generation”, by spotlighting the many achievements of young people (aged 5-19) in the area with nine award categories for fund raising, sporting achievement and volunteering.

The awards are also set to highlight, Surrey Air Ambulance. This is a charity, which provides vital medical support in the county, but receives no government funding; so the awards will also be seeking to raise the profile of this worthwhile charity and raise much-needed funds

Surrey Air Ambulance

 As supporters of our local Devon Air Ambulance we are only to aware of the vital role volunteer air ambulance services provide, often to guests from Surry holidaying in Devon.

All prizewinners will receive a trophy and a certificate, but we are the ultimate prizewinner, will enjoy a Holiday At Soar Mill Cove Hotel which will be for the winning child and his/her family

The awards will be launched at Haslemere Educational Museum on Nov 19 and then all head teachers in Surrey will be emailed individually with the information. Details of your prize will appear in press releases and in the information on Surrey Life magazine's website and local Radio

The awards ceremony will take place at the new GLive venue in Guildford on May 1

The Soar Mill Cove Team will be at the award ceremony to show our support to the worthy winners

You are only as good as your staff and aren’t they good!

Head Chef Ian MacDonald  wins 2 AA Rosettes

Of course it’s rather important to treat all the team as you wish to be treated, without this we would be unable to celebrate 21 years of successive win’s for award winning restaurant

There have been many changes in the British restaurant world over the past 20 years such as the introduction of ‘pop-up’ restaurants, celebrity chef restaurant chains and more international cuisine but one thing has remained constant: The AA Restaurant Guide.

The new 2013 AA Restaurant Guide is the 20th edition of the famous foodies’ bible. The introduction of the guide also saw the launch of the new AA Rosette scheme for culinary skills The number of restaurants in the guide has increased: the first 1992 guide had around 700 “of Britain’s best and most interesting up and coming places to eat”, while the 2013 edition has over 2,000 “professionally inspected restaurants, from village inns to smart city eateries”.

Only a handful of restaurants have appeared in all 20 AA Restaurant Guides, with Raymond Blanc of Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons holding the highest accolade for the entire period . The team at Soar Mill Cove Hotel, celebrate winning 2 AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence. This demonstrates 21 years of consistency at a high level of culinary prowess.

 The long lasting success of the AA Restaurant Guide is down to the fact that it does not just include the elite restaurants. All restaurants in the guide have from one to five Rosettes allowing a greater element of choice when selecting somewhere to eat.

While the past 20 years has seen many new innovations in restaurants such as the rise of the celebrity chef, wireless payment terminals and wine lists on iPads, there are some things that have not changed in 20 years at Soar Mill Cove. These constants include the same family ownership and the same team, with Head Chef Ian MacDonald (pictured) in charge of these award winning kitchens for over 13 years alongside owners Keith Makepeace & Jenny Makepeace, whose family have owned and managed Soar Mill Cove for almost 35 years.

Congratulations Team!

What makes a hotel brilliant?

This is an interesting question and we have started interacting on a number of fronts as we ask people the same question.

We are filming and asking this question on our facebook site inviting everyone and anyone who might be able to give us their take on that elusive quality that separates good from great.

My thoughts are as follows:

I don't really know what makes a hotel brilliant, but I'm sure I know what makes Soar Mill Cove special.

We use a technique which can seem tolook like rocket science by those that don’t quite get it

- We listen!

We listen to the whole team and to us that means everyone.

It all comes down to Tender Loving Care

Then we don’t get too scared of having an opinion, after all we are not The Holiday Inn, we will never be everything to everyone.

Having great facilities, caring staff who work as a team, an amazing location with views to take your breathe away and really good food are undoubtedly hugely important. But and its a big but it all comes down to how we bind it all together and never ever stop trying to make it even better.

We strive to give all of our guests the very best holiday possible we enjoy the theatre of it all and we deliver "WOW" factors in what we do

This bit we do with great gusto

The rest we do with quiet and humble TLC

Location is great and for Kirsty and Phil it’s the only title

but in my industry its SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE