One of the North East’s most distinguished country house hotels is celebrating this
week, after receiving three significant awards in the past few days.
Last Friday, Douneside House’s Library restaurant was awarded the “Best Eating
Experience” title at the region’s North East Thistle Awards, which took place at The
Chester Hotel, in Aberdeen. The judges remarked that The Library offered diners a
“truly unique and exceptional dining experience”.
Still riding high from the Best Eating Experience award, the Douneside team travelled
south on Monday to attend the prestigious AA awards in London. It was a double
celebration at the London event, with the Library restaurant being awarded 3AA
rosettes for another year, the only restaurant in the North East to attain that accolade
for its culinary excellence.
AA Inspector, Martin Slater, said: “Three rosettes are awarded to outstanding hotels and
restaurants that demand recognition well beyond their local area. The cooking is
underpinned by the selection and sympathetic treatment of the highest quality
ingredients, while timing, seasoning and flavour combinations is consistently excellent.
These virtues tend to be supported by other elements, such as intuitive service and a
well-chosen wine list. I’m pleased to report that Douneside House delivered seamlessly
on all these fronts and is highly deserving of its continued triple AA Rosette status.”
In addition to being awarded 3 AA rosettes, Douneside House also achieved Red Star
status from the AA, the first time it has been given this highly sought accolade. Red
Star hotels are selected by the AA as being “the very best” in each category, and only a
handful of hotels throughout the UK are selected for a Red Star accolade each year.
On receiving the triple awards, Hotel Operations Manager, Melanie Dalton said “we’re
absolutely delighted to receive these awards. Our Library restaurant is a completely
special dining experience, so it is a testament to the team that it has not only been given
3AA rosettes for another year but also won the Best Eating Experience accolade. In
addition, receiving Red Stars for the first time, is recognition of the hard work and
passion of our team throughout Douneside – housekeeping, dining, gardens, and health
club, but most of all it is about the fantastic service offered to our guests throughout.”
Being awarded 3AA rosettes and Red Stars is quite the achievement for a north east
hotel which is run completely independently by a local charity based in Tarland,
Aberdeenshire. The MacRobert Trust has owned and operated Douneside House since
it opened to the public as a hotel in 2016. The MacRobert Trust, through income from
its investments, the MacRobert estate, and Douneside House donates all its earnings
(around £1m) every year to a variety of charitable causes. In addition, it supports a
range of programmes to encourage and nurture young talent through its hospitality and
horticulture training apprenticeships.
