Gold and silver for Kitley House Hotel in Devon Tourism Awards

Kitley House Hotel is celebrating having won Gold and Silver in the prestigious Devon Tourism Awards 2019. The four* hotel at Yealmpton, near Plymouth, was delighted to win Gold as ‘Wedding Venue of the Year’ against stiff competition from other leading businesses, and also scooped Silver in the ‘Business Events Venue’ category.

Kitley House Hotel received its two sparkling Dartington Crystal trophies at the awards dinner at the Riviera Centre in Torquay on Thursday 28th November.

The Awards saw a record of 240 entries across 27 different categories, with 167 entrants - including Kitley - receiving judge visits as part of a comprehensive judging process. Judges described Kitley as a Wedding Venue that was "Charming, with a real sense of grandeur" and a Business Events Venue providing "The perfect backdrop for any meeting or conference".

Kitley House is a 500-year-old former manor house with a rich history set in a stunning 600-acre, family-run estate beside the Yealm estuary. The ancestral home of the Bastard family, it was taken back into family hands last year and has since undergone a sensitive programme of restoration and renovation.

Managing Director, Spike Bastard, says “We are over the moon to have won not one, but two awards. We know that Kitley is a fabulous place to get married and now it’s official - the best wedding venue in Devon in 2019! We were delighted too to pick up a Silver award as Business Events Venue. Our two crystal trophies are fantastic recognition of all the hard work and commitment shown by our team over the last year. A massive thank you to the judges.”

Guests at the dinner were treated to two inspirational presentations with a sustainability theme from Michael Smith, Co-Founder of the Venus Company, and Kate Salmon, part of ‘Row for the Ocean’ which was the fastest, all-female, rowing team in the 2018 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, raising awareness of ocean plastic pollution.