Enterprise Inns’ 270-year-old New Inn, in North Yorkshire, has just been awarded five AA stars in a remarkable £500,000 turnaround.
Situated in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the 20-room building was in need of significant investment when it was taken over by Lesley Benson and her family, in 2013. With help from husband Ron and 26-year-old daughter Laura, she began a long and careful restoration programme with backing from Enterprise, and has transformed the former fortified farmhouse, in Old Road, Clapham, into a popular, award-winning boutique hostelry.
“Within three weeks of taking over The New Inn, renovation began on the first seven rooms” said Lesley, who moved from Australia with her family at the end of 2012. “As the project progressed, layers of old works were removed on the building’s journey back to its former historical glory. Original oak beams and beautiful stone walls have been restored, and now serve as distinctive and characterful features.”
The two-and-a-half-year rolling renovation of The New Inn, which has been jointly funded by Enterprise and the Bensons, is close to completion, having taken in everywhere from bedrooms, the bar and the restaurant; to toilets, and the beer garden.
The building, which dates from around 1700, became a hostelry in 1745. It now attracts families, walkers, cyclists and business travellers.
AA Awards
The New Inn has also secured an AA Breakfast Award, and hopes to achieve rosettes for its restaurant when it begins opening five-days-a-week, this summer.
According to the AA website: “Hotels or guest accommodation assessed by the AA are rated under a set of common quality standards agreed by the AA and the UK tourist authorities (VisitBritain, VisitScotland and VisitWales). The common standards make types of accommodation easy to understand and give you confidence that establishments can meet the standards you require. Accommodation is assessed under three broad categories: Hotel, Guest Accommodation and Budget Hotel.”
The New Inn achieved five star status under the AA’s revamped and strict criteria, which was introduced in January 2014.
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