We’re over the moon to find out that our Head of Housekeeping, the indomitable Sue, has been announced as one of the winners in the Cornwall Tourism Awards 2021-2022 Unsung Hero category. Now Sue may like to hide her light under a bushel, but we’re super proud of her and the wonderful team that keep the hotel and holiday cottages spotless.

Winners of the 2021/22 Cornwall Tourism Awards enjoyed a special party at Healey’s Cyder Farm, and the event was a welcome opportunity for winners to meet face-to-face and receive their Jo Downs Glass trophies, alongside food, drink and conversation.

Here’s what we had to say when we initially entered Sue for this special award last year:

You’d have to be living under a rock to miss what a tremendously difficult time hospitality staff have had recently and somewhere near the top of that list are housekeeping. Whilst our nomination is for our housekeeper Sue, we’re shouting out to all the ‘heads down and get on with it’ teams across our sector. Our hats go off to you all for keeping our ships sailing in these most challenging times. You are ALL heroes.

Where to start with Sue, our head housekeeper of 10 years. Her dedication to the hotel, her team and her tasks has been unwavering in the face of all these enormous problems over the last year. Sue had always been loyal and hardworking but of course, she’s had everything thrown at her in the last 12 months. She’s created and introduced completely new ways of working, battled staff shortages, dealt with the ping-demic (a problem that took agile management to the next level), and looked after her team.

During lockdown Sue got stuck into revamping the organisations’ risk assessments to make sure we were ready to jump right in when Boris gave us the green light. Working across the organisation Sue ensured no stone was left unturned to ensure we had safe working practices in place, not just covid compliant ones … the whole shebang.

Fast-forward to reopening and the pressure was immediately on the housekeeping team. In the wake of the lockdowns and angst, cleaning was a big ask but under Sue’s guidance and her new safe working practices, she made sure the procedures were in place to ensure the job got done, got done safely and got done well.

Our hotel is still suffering the same staff shortages as our colleagues across our region and Sue has been central to ensuring the hotel can remain operational. Under her management the team has retained a solid core of team members and successfully recruited in a time when that really is a huge challenge.

Sue is also one of our fully trained first aid early responders attending to any emergencies or accidents that might occur despite the fact she’s up to her neck in her ‘day job’.

Our customer reviews reflect on the scale and impact of her work with many siting cleanliness (and the sense of safety that conveyed) as a primary reason for repeat booking. As well as cleanliness getting 5 stars on many reviews, our recent Visit England inspection scored 100% on cleanliness. You can’t get better than that.

During these incredibly stressful times Sue has remained calm, caring and communicative – attributes that are so important. Her level-headed approach has ensured everyone understands the issues facing the team. She is a true inspiration to her colleagues with a natural innovative approach to problem solving always looking outside the immediate issue to find a solution.

We’re so proud to nominate Sue for this special award, although she’ll probably be embarrassed. We’d be lost without her and are so deeply grateful for all that she does.