A WEST Devon hotel famous for its wonderful fishing facilities is celebrating 45 years in the same ownership with a £500,000 investment. Anne Voss-Bark, a Londoner and former actress, bought the Arundell Arms in Lifton 45 years ago. She said that at the time, the hotel owned 20 miles of ?gorgeous? river ? but was ?pretty basic?. ?There were no private bathrooms, coke boilers smoked when the wind blew from the west, and it faced on to the roaring A30, the main road into Cornwall,? said Anne. But this summer sees the completion of a big refurbishment programme in celebration of 45 years at the hotel. With the help of Roz Clark, of Country Knole Interiors, all 21 bedrooms have been completely refurbished. The work complements the AA two-rosetted restaurant and bar which have also been redeveloped, a total investment of £500,000 over five years, with all the work carried out by local people. Anne said: ?We have taken a while to get it all done ? we actually started on it, literally, the day foot and mouth broke out, although in a way, that helped because we got the work done when no people were here.? Also celebrating is the hotel?s Steven Pidgeon, who has just been appointed head chef. Steven, a local man, is one of 45 people employed at the hotel. Anne said: ?Steven has been at the Arundell Arms for ten years and we are delighted to acknowledge his talent and that of his enthusiastic young team.? Mrs Voss-Bark is pictured with head chef Steven Pidegeon.
