Volunteer Inn scoops Excellence Award

An Ottery St Mary town centre pub is celebrating after receiving a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.

The owners of the Volunteer, Mike and Jacqui Downs are delighted with the accolade after working hard to make major improvements since taking over the pub in 2012.

Landlord Mike said: “We weren’t expecting this, so it was a really nice surprise to find news of the award in our inbox.

“We know that a number of other hospitality businesses in the town have received the same award recently, and it’s great to see that Ottery St Mary is upping its game and play our part in this.”

The pair have worked tirelessly to make the Volunteer into a welcoming town centre pub, including renovating the interior, creating a decking area and putting in contemporary toilets.

Jacqui, who manages the kitchens and devises the menus, has introduced a high standard of well-priced pub grub all home-cooked on the premises with regular specials including a ‘Touch of Spice’ night every Thursday.

“We’ve made significant improvements at the Volunteer, and there’s still plenty more to do – so watch this space. In the meantime, it means a lot to us that our customers enjoy their visit so much that they make the effort to leave positive reviews on TripAdvisor,” added Mike.

The Certificate of Excellence arises from reviews submitted by travellers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period, taking into account quality, quantity and timing of reviews. To qualify, a business must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have a minimum number of reviews and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months.