Back to stories

AA LANDLADY AGAIN?

May 1999

For the second year running, Tony Barnfield has reached the Final of the prestigious AA Landlady of the Year Competition, to be held at the Berkeley Hotel in London’s Knightsbridge on 24 May.

Tony, who is Chef/Proprietor of The Nurse’s Cottage guest-house and restaurant in the village of Sway, near Lymington, is delighted with the news and is determined to do all he can to fend off the competition from 2 other men as well as 17 female finalists: “Last year,” he recalls, “one of the men turned up at the Final in a skirt, although it turned out to be a kilt, as he came from Inverness.” So, with the help of Sway Drama Club’s wardrobe and village photographer Barry Rickman’s digital imagery, Tony has attempted a makeover – in drag – but it remains to be seen if he appears in this new guise at the London Final.

Over 3,500 “landladies” were eligible for the title of AA Landlady of the Year, and Tony was shortlisted after being nominated by AA hotel inspectors and undergoing a series of tough tests. AA Hotel Services Business Manager Albert Hampson says, “Tony, along with all of those who have reached this year’s final, has all the qualities needed to be a successful landlady – care, consideration and dedication.”

The Nurse’s Cottage was last year named RAC Small Hotel of the Year in Southern England, as well as receiving the Southern Tourist Board’s Regional England for Excellence award as Bed and Breakfast of the Year in Central Southern England.

site by aack