Behind the scenes at three of our top B&Bs
Northern Ireland’s guesthouses are for many visitors the first positive impression of here. Lee Henry meets three women who offer them award-winning accommodation and food, including one who hosted a mystery Hollywood couple
This year we were very thankful and surprised to win the AA Guest Accommodation of the Year for Northern Ireland at the prestigious AA B&B Awards. The judges commented on the atmosphere we create here at the Old Schoolhouse Inn as being “charming, inviting, snug and embracing”, which of course we were thrilled about. We were elated, just delighted.
Both Terry and I have 45 years’ worth of experience in the professional hospitality industry, myself as a chef de cuisine and Terry as hotel manager, and we have passed that on to our son Will, who now runs our Michelin award-winning restaurant.
The Old Schoolhouse Inn is situated in Comber, Co Down, by the shores of Strangford Lough.
Terry and I purchased the premises, which was previously a school, in 1984 and began renovating it.
The inn now has eight en suite bedrooms named after American Presidents of Ulster descent.
So we have Andrew Jackson, James Knox Polk, Ulysses Simpson Grant, Chester Alan Arthur and others. We love that historical element and lots of our guests do too, often requesting to stay in the same rooms on return visits.
We had one of our most memorable experiences one summer’s day a few years ago when, to our great surprise, a helicopter landed on the front lawn and a well-known gentleman and lady descended, a Hollywood couple whose names I will never disclose.
They were looking for somewhere to stay for a few nights and ended up staying with us. They had an excellent time.
On departure, when paying the bill, there was £100 added by the gentleman. I asked what this was for and he replied: “Genuine Irish hospitality.” We couldn’t have been happier.
Our son Will trained in London and at Roscoff ’s in Belfast and then came home to help refurbish the restaurant.
We closed for six months and transformed the restaurant into a stylish and sumptuous space with a beautiful marble bar area and over the last four years the restaurant has gone from strength to strength, winning a multitude of prestigious awards.
We now have Michelin Bib Gourmand and two AA rosettes for the past two years, and most recently we were awarded Restaurant of the Year at the Licensed and Catering News Awards at the Europa Hotel in Belfast.
Will also appeared on the BBC’s reality show the Great British Menu, representing Northern Ireland, back in 2014.
The restaurant is a big part of the Old Schoolhouse Inn. Will’s wife Karina is front of house. She gave up a career in law to work there. She jokes that if she hadn’t, she would never see Will!
Our menus are led by the seasons. Will only uses the freshest of produce and regularly forages on the shores of Strangford Lough, sourcing the best ingredients within a close radius of the inn.
A pioneer of ‘plot to plate’, we erected a polytunnel and raised beds at the Schoolhouse to grow our own produce.
Here you will find fruit and vegetables and herbs and Will encourages his customers to go and have a look at the kitchen garden. It’s beautiful in summer.
I’m passionate about going the extra mile for all of our guests. It’s very important to me.
Adding all the little extra touches is my speciality and giving everyone who arrives here a very warm welcome and a nice cuppa and a scone is always a great joy.
I also enjoy making my own Guinness wheaten bread and various jams.
My three top tips for running a successful bed and breakfast are: always produce good breakfasts using local, sustainable produce; make sure there are plenty of fluffy towels in your comfortable rooms and, finally, do not price your B&B out of the market.