Double delight for Mintlaw hotel

The new rating reflects eight years of commitment to its ethos to support local produce and to invest in the hotel by making improvements to its accommodation and public spaces.

Commenting on the new grading, hotel director, Joanna Gall, said: “We’re thrilled that Visit Scotland awarded us ‘Taste our Best’ status which recognises that 70% of the products we use are sourced locally or are from Scotland.

"Our food offering was described as achieving ‘excellence with ease’ - as farmers, this is so important to us and always will be.

"We were delighted to be awarded a star rating of five for our outdoor spaces, which were described as ‘pristinely’ kept and our bedrooms as ‘verging on five-star standards.’

“The last eight years have been challenging in lots of ways, navigating through the pandemic, where like many businesses we just didn’t know if we would survive.

"Times are challenging again, and we can’t see that changing soon, but that’s precisely why we are committed to celebrating this moment of joy and success for our team!”

Meanwhile, Saplinbrae will battle it out against Aberdeen’s Sandman Signature Hotel and Spa and the city’s Ferryhill House Hotel for the Best Hotel Experience accolade.

The 2023 finalists for this year’s awards were announced on Tuesday, with 47 tourism and hospitality businesses and individuals from across the north-east going forward to the final judging ahead of the awards ceremony in September.

Awards chairman, Stephen Gow, said: “We had an increase of 30% in entries this year and it’s great to see some first-time entrants reaching the finals.

"We’ve always wanted the awards to be representative of the entirety of our tourism sector with finalist businesses of all sizes and to represent all corners of our region. So, it’s excellent to see that the finalists are split equally between businesses in the city and those in the shire.”