Two small, family-run businesses in the same West Somerset village have won a prestigious Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award. Both the pub, The Hood Arms, and a rural bed and breakfast, Pardlestone Farm, have taken the award for 2021, showing their small village of Kilve can offer world-standard hospitality.
The award celebrates businesses which consistently deliver high quality experiences to travelers and diners around the world, having earned top traveler reviews on Tripadvisor over the last 12 months. It places these two businesses in the top 10 per cent of their type worldwide and also highlights Somerset’s Quantock Hills as an exceptional holiday destination.
The Hood – already an award winner – is a favourite with locals and holiday-makers, offering warm hospitality and a high standard of dining, while Pardlestone Farm has become a sought-after destination for those who love the rural scene, even offering stabling for guests who bring their horses.
Paul and Tracey Cuff, who own and run the Hood and Mark Belcher and Ann Hardy, owners and hosts at Pardlestone Farm, say they’re thrilled their guests have enjoyed their hospitality, and feel overcome by the kindness and generosity of the reviews they’ve received. “We all love what we do and have great people helping us, and we’re delighted this has fed through to our customers and guests,” they say.
Also a reflection of the extraordinary Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in which the Hood and Pardlestone Farm are located, they say: “Kilve itself has the most remarkable Jurassic coastline which may be less well-known than England’s south coast but we think is more spectacular. Alongside the coast we also have the wilderness of the Quantock Hills – arguably the Westcountry’s best-kept secret. Many of our guests enjoy walking, mountain-biking and horse-riding across the heathlands and into the deep, wooded combes for which the area is renowned. In doing so, they are following in the footsteps of two of England’s greatest poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, who lived in the area and found their inspiration in its landscape.”
Congratulating the 2021 winners, Kanika Soni, chief commercial officer at Tripadvisor, said: “I know the past year has been extremely challenging for tourism businesses. What has impressed me is how businesses adapted to these challenges, implementing new cleanliness measures, adding social distancing guidelines, and utilising technology to prioritise guest safety. The Travellers’ Choice Awards highlight the places that are consistently excellent – delivering quality experiences time and time again even while navigating changing customer expectations and new ways of working. Based on a full year of reviews from customers, this award speaks to the great service and experience you provided guests in the midst of a pandemic.”
To see traveller and diner reviews for the Hood and Pardlestone Farm, please visit Tripadvisor.
