Size doesn't matter?

How big is great? Sometimes great can be quite small, as the Great Inns of Britain prove. In an age when hotels can often be bland and anonymous, this group of small inns aims to offer individuality, warmth and character.

The group has just welcomed to the fold two Scottish members, the Creggans Inn at Strachur and the Pool House at Poolewe, plus the White Hart Inn at Lydgate, near Oldham, bringing its complement to 16.

The group is an informal marketing consortium of the very best traditional, independently owned British inns. Its members must meet exacting criteria: offering superior food and wine, a fine restaurant, beautiful bedrooms, a comfortable and informal bar for the locals, impeccable service and lots of character.

Most of the Great Inns are owner-managed, although a few are independently managed. These are all of superior quality but not "guidebook quality" - the charm and character of the places should outweigh any problems in the level of service, says chairman Sir Thomas Ingilby, who, with joint chairman Paul Whittome, created the concept four years ago. Sir Thomas says that he and Whittome simply noticed a need for such a concept. "It was a wonderful promotional example in the waiting," he says.

It's difficult to define just what Great Inns has. According to Sir Thomas: "You should be able to relax as soon you go through the door. We're trying to get inns which achieve high standards, inns of 10-30 bedrooms which are big enough to be personal but have some individual flair and character."

Eccentricity in the owners certainly helps - the quirkiness is often put across in the people who are running the place, he adds.

The emphasis is on individuality and personality, says Sir Charles Maclean, the charismatic owner of the Creggans Inn. He, for example, is a traveller, novelist and editor, while his father, the former owner, was the inspiration behind Ian Fleming's James Bond.

Welcoming atmosphere

There's a strong family feel to the inns, and a sense of "mucking in". For example, when Caterer visited the Creggans, general manager Stephen Mannock, formerly of the Chester Grosvenor hotel, was acting as chef for the evening because the chef had burnt his hand. The personal touch of a manager creates a welcoming atmosphere. "I feel like so much of the world has gone the other way," says Sir Thomas. "It's all so computerised. We hope these places are not run by accountants - the places are there to look after the customer." Indeed, only two of the inns are run by professional managers.

The aim is to offer the genuine thing - to be "naturally hospitable, offering good food and drink in a beautiful place", says Sir Charles. "It's back to the core idea of what hospitality should be about, and that's a warm welcome. We're aiming for higher standards than the average hotel but also for appreciation of the simple and the good."

The inns aim to offer something that is not standard: an extremely good food and wine list, friendliness, and personal service. "It's all about individuality and not having any airs and graces," adds Mannock.

There's also a lot of history behind the inns. The Hoste Arms at Burnham Market, Norfolk, for example, has functioned as everything from a brothel to a courtroom. Charles Edmondson-Jones, who for four months has been hotel general manager of the Boar's Head at Ripley in North Yorkshire, agrees. "There's an element of distress about the place which rounds the edges off and relaxes it," he says, "and that makes you feel as if you don't have to be on your guard so much."

A "good dining room" is another important part of the equation. "We prefer places where you don't have to wear a collar and tie in a restaurant," says Sir Thomas. "Professional people have to wear those all day long at work, and it's the last thing they want to wear for dinner."

The client mix staying at the Great Inns tends to be retired or semi-retired people, plus a lot of professional people, who don't have time for longer holidays and opt for weekend breaks. Most of the guests are from the UK and are tired of "bland, characterless places", says Sir Thomas.

The consortium also has its eye on overseas guests. "Australians, particularly, like quality without formality," the chairman adds.

Expansion plans are cautious. The Boar's Head currently has 25 bedrooms, although plans to buy the house next door could mean four additional bedrooms, new kitchen facilities and an extended bar. But the emphasis is firmly on quality rather than quantity. "We would rather serve 25 in the restaurant than 35 and ruin the whole experience for everybody," says Edmondson-Jones. "That would be a very short-lived attitude."

Sir Charles has poured more than £100,000 into refurbishing the Creggans' bedrooms and dining rooms and has no further expansion plans. "We would need someone with lots of money to come along and do that," he says. "And even if it happened, we would have to be very careful."

Quality parameters

The same caution extends to the expansion of the consortium as a whole. Sir Thomas feels confident that the Great Inns have no real rivals - or, at least, "not those with the same quality parameters as ourselves".

The chairmen either hear of suitable candidates' reputations and go and visit them, or they write asking to join, says Sir Thomas. New members are not moulded to fit the Great Inns brand - the intrinsic qualities have to be there already. "I normally get a gut feeling," says Sir Thomas. "You can generally tell straightaway." He is currently considering a couple of potential inns - one in the West Country and the other in the Midlands.

Sir Thomas is also reviewing possible European members. "I think there's potential to link up with European inns and do a similar type of thing," he says. "We're looking at Germany, France and Belgium."

At the end of the day, the availability of suitable members and quality parameters would restrict the group from expanding too much, says Sir Thomas. Few inns meet the unique criteria which make the places so welcoming - their ultimate selling point.

"I know the Creggans is good because I enjoy going there," says Sir Charles. And it's difficult to argue with that.