Forfar farm named as providing top B&B experience

Newton Farm Holidays, near Inverarity, was named Best B&B or Guest House Experience at the Central and East Thistle Awards.

The awards were presented recently at a ceremony at the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh, celebrating the very best of the tourism and events industry, which is worth £11.5billion to the Scottish economy.

This year more than 600 entries submitted, including almost 1200 nominations from members of the public keen to give hotels, restaurants, B&Bs, visitor attractions and individuals the opportunity to earn the recognition they deserve.

Judges commended Newton Farm Holidays & Tours for providing an authentic experience for visitors which is delivered with passion and care. They were impressed with the varied and interesting experiences, from sheep shearing to feeding the Highland cows.

Owner Louise Nicoll said: "Receiving recognition from VisitScotland after all our efforts is amazing and we are truly thankful to our two and four-legged friends who are a huge part of our life and family, and to everyone who has visited us and supported our efforts in educating young and old about our farming life, and where their food comes from.”

The Scottish Thistle Awards are delivered by VisitScotland in partnership with regional awards programmes. The five regional awards ceremonies are taking place in September, October and November before the regional winners go through to battle it out for a national accolade at the national final in December.

Caroline Warburton, VisitScotland destination development director, said: “I would like to congratulate Newton Farm Holidays & Tours. This award is testament to the ongoing hard work, dedication and commitment of the whole team in striving to ensure the very best experience for guests. I would like to extend my best wishes to all of the regional finalists and, in particular, to the regional winners as they now go forward to the national final.”