A TOUCH OF NEW YORK COMES TO OLD YORK
11th June 2010

The Grange Hotel yesterday (8th June) opened its new Restaurant, The New York Grill.  As the name suggests the restaurant specializes in steaks & grills with the menu featuring 7 different cuts of steak ranging from an 8oz rump at £12.95 to a Cote de Boeuf for 4 people at £68.00. There are also delicious burgers, salads and fish dishes and popular dishes such as sausage & mash, fish cakes, warm chicken salad, Caesar salad and honey glazed spare ribs.

Situated in the hotel’s historic brick vaulted cellars the ambience is relaxed and informal with friendly and efficient, but not intrusive service. Black and white photos of New York decorate the pastel toned walls, soft music plays in the background and there’s a sophisticated yet relaxed feel to the restaurant.  

With moderate prices and open to residents and non-residents for lunch and dinner 7 days a week this new restaurant is bound to be a big success. 

42” tv screens have been installed so diners can also watch the Football World Cup whilst relaxing over a meal and drink with friends.

 “I am delighted to see the opening of The New York Grill.  Says George Briffa, The Grange Hotel’s General Manager.  “York needs a great steak house and we are sure our new restaurant will be very popular with both local residents and our hotel guests.

It will complement our AA 2 Rosette Ivy Restaurant very nicely and it’s good to give our guests a choice of dining venues”.

Lyndsey Harrison, Assistant Manager at The Grange adds “It is very exciting to be launching The New York Grill.  We will soon be introducing special evenings such as start the weekend with “Friday Champagne Evening”

YORKSHIRE’S RUDDING PARK IS CROWNED ‘NUMBER ONE HOTEL IN THE UK’AND ‘NUMBER SIX BEST LUXURY HOTEL IN THE WORLD’ BY TRIPADVISOR®
14th April 2010

Harrogate’s Rudding Park hotel has been awarded the title of ‘Number One Hotel in the UK’ in the 2010 TripAdvisor® Travellers’ Choice Awards which honour the world’s finest hotels.

The prestigious accolade, which now puts the North Yorkshire hotel at sixth in the top ten luxury hotels of the world, is based solely on the millions of real and unbiased reviews and opinions from travellers gathered on the travel guide website www.tripadvisor.com TM. 

Favouring Yorkshire over London, world travellers gave Rudding Park its distinctive place in the UK and world rankings despite fierce competition from luxury hotels the world over.  To boot, no other London, or major UK city, has appeared in this year’s top 25 UK hotels listing. 

The title is the third TripAdvisor® win for the hotel after it was placed in the ‘Top 30 Best Luxury Hotels’ award in 2008 and 2009.

Simon Mackaness, chairman of Rudding Park, said: “This is a phenomenal achievement and I am delighted that Rudding Park is favoured so highly among our guests.

“To be voted number one in the UK and to be rated number six among the world’s best hotels is an accomplishment we have aspired to since purchasing Rudding Park 30 years ago.  When creating our development strategy, we have always strived to provide the best service and guest care possible.  I would like to thank everyone who has helped to bring Rudding Park such astounding recognition.”

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “This fantastic result for Rudding Park is a shining example of Yorkshire’s quality tourism offer.  This is recognition from those who count, our visitors. Congratulations to everyone at Rudding Park who work with us to strengthen Yorkshire’s place as the UK’s number one destination.”

The height of luxury
Rudding Park’s TripAdvisor® achievement comes after a string of industry award wins throughout 2009 which propelled the hotel to the forefront of luxury hotel accommodation in the UK. Highlights include winning ‘Housekeeper of the Year’ for Rachael Park, head housekeeper, at the Caterer and Hotelkeeper’s Hotel Cateys and the hotel’s consultant chef, Stephanie Moon, won the ‘Champion’ title at the deliciouslyorkshire Awards, which both took place in November last year. Rudding Park was also awarded ‘Hotel of the Year’ at the Yorkshire Life Food and Wine Awards in October.

Over the years, numerous special guests have stayed at Rudding Park including Bill Clinton, George Bush Snr, Mikhail Gorbachev, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and John Cleese.

NEW HEAD CHEF AT THE GRANGE HOTEL
6th November 2009

The Grange Hotel is delighted to announce the appointment of Andrew Birch as Head Chef.

Andrew joins The Grange Hotel following the recent departure of James Brown who, after a very successful run of 4 years has moved on.

Originally from Swansea in South Wales, Andrew’s experience has been gained at some of the best high calibre establishments.  He trained at James and Chris Tanner’s Restaurant in Plymouth. 

Andrew has also worked with highly acclaimed Michelin 2 star Chef Martin Burge at the multi award winning Whatley Manor in Malmesbury.  This AA 5 Red star Inspectors Choice Hotel is clearly one of the country’s top establishments which the AA has also awarded 4 rosettes for the standard of cuisine and dining.

On joining The Grange Andrew says “I’m passionate about using as much of Yorkshire’s huge variety of top quality produce as I possibly can.  We have some of the country’s best producers right on our doorstep so why not utilise them.  The Grange already supports local suppliers but I’m keen to increase this as much as possible to cut down on food miles but also to make the most of what the Yorkshire region has to offer.  I am very passionate about letting the food speak for itself so don’t like to play around with it too much and just enhance the natural flavours of the best produce I can source in Yorkshire.”

DB7 AT THE GRANGE HOTEL
1st October 2009

The Grange Hotel was delighted to play host to the DB7 owners “Destination Yorkshire” gathering over the weekend of 5th – 7th June 2009.  The Aston Martin DB7 is reputedly the most successful model ever made by Aston Martin and it is considered by many to be the most beautiful.  The car is truly a masterpiece combining great elegance with extreme power and speed.

“At one stage there were 25 Aston Martin DB7s in the car park at the hotel.
The combined value of which must have been getting on for nearly one million pounds. They certainly made an impressive sight.  This is not the first group of prestigious cars we’ve had at the hotel.  Last year we welcomed a gathering of owners of vintage Frazer Nash sports cars. ” says Amie Postings the Grange Hotel’s General Manager.

During the weekend the party of approximately 52 guests from all over the country, enjoyed an exclusive dinner in The Grange Hotel’s elegant Library & Drawing Room and an excursion on Sunday into the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside, with the cars travelling in convoy.  The group headed off home on Monday morning.

NEW MANAGER AT THE GRANGE HOTEL
27th August 2009

Amie Postings leaves The Grange after almost 5 years as General Manager. During this time Amie has managed exciting new projects to develop the 4 star hotel on Bootham including the refurbishment of the AA 2 rosette Ivy Brasserie and a £1 million pound bedroom extension completed in August 2008. The Grange Hotel was also the winner of the coveted White Rose Awards Hotel of the Year in 2005 and the Visit York Award for Outstanding Customer Service in 2009. The Grange employs 52 members of staff, the majority of whom have worked with Amie for many years. On leaving, Amie said:

'Leaving one of the most professional, hard working and dedicated teams I have ever worked with is very sad but I am very proud of my team and I know they will continue to offer the best in standards of guest care long after I have left’.

Amie leaves The Grange for France, where she will manage an exclusive group of privately owned hotels in the Alpine resort of Morzine on the French / Swiss border.

‘In our industry, we all dream of moving abroad and widening our experience in an international context. My new position will certainly be a challenge, not only in terms of the language! The logistics involved in operating a multi-site business in a mountain location really excite me, and I’ll live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.’

Dominic Bishop takes over as General Manager on Monday 31st August and plans to continue the hotel's commitment to young enterprising management as demonstrated by Amie Postings. 

Dominic brings a wealth of experience in hotel management developed in high profile hotels and country clubs.  Dominic says “I will continue to offer an exceptionally high level of service in rooms and restaurant to all The Grange Hotel’s guests and ensure we keep apace with the ever changing market. I look forward to meeting with our existing clientele and to forging new relationships with those who have not yet experienced The Grange.”

RACING FASHION AT THE GRANGE HOTEL
14th May 2009

On Thursday 21st May 2009 The Grange Hotel and top department store Browns of York will present a fabulous night of Racing Fashion.  

The evening will include sparkling wine on arrival, a three course dinner in the Ivy Brasserie, designer fashion show, makeovers, accessories, hairstyling and hats. 

Amie Postings, General Manager at The Grange Hotel says “We are delighted to be working with Browns on this event. Horse racing is such a huge part of the summer in York and the team at Browns play an important role in helping us all look fabulous. What better place to show off their collections than in our racing themed Ivy Brasserie?”

Says Angela Horner, a Director at Browns “It will be a stunning evening of fashion and promises to be a lot of fun too. For all those going to the races this summer this event could just help you find the right hat or outfit.  It’s definitely one not to be missed.”

The evening will commence at 6.30 pm with a sparkling wine on arrival followed by dinner at 7.15 pm.

Tickets for this event are available directly from The Grange Hotel. Priced at just £22.00 per person, to include sparkling wine on arrival, a three course dinner, and coffee, this event is one not to be missed.

RUDDING PARK’S HOUSEKEEPER WINS TOP AWARD
27th March 2009

Rachael Park, Head Housekeeper at Rudding Park has been voted “Housekeeper of the Year 2009” by the AA.  Senior AA Inspector, Andrew Ford presented Rachael with a specially commissioned Villeroy & Boch decanter and commented on what a tremendous accolade this was.  Rachael was the only nominee to score a 100% grading.

The AA inspects over 8000 hotels each year, of which just two hundred are awarded red stars.  From these properties fifty housekeepers were short listed for this award which were then whittled down to just 6.  The final six housekeepers were then visited by an AA inspector to assess their standards, working practices, training and commitment to environmental issues.

 Rachael has worked as a Housekeeper for over 30 years and began her career as a trainee housekeeper in London.  After quickly progressing through the ranks Rachael joined Rudding Park as Head Housekeeper and has lead the team for the last 12 years.

Peter Banks, Managing Director is thrilled that Rachael has been honored with this award and commented “I am delighted that Rachael’s hard work and dedication has been rewarded by this accolade.  Rachael is a true professional and a credit to both Rudding Park and the hotel industry”

This accolade is the latest in a string of awards for Rudding Park.  In January the hotel was voted in the Top 30 Luxury Hotels in the World in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards for the second year running.   At the Hotel Catey Awards the team triumphed by winning “Conference and Banqueting Team of the Year”.