TWO award-winning West Devon country hotels have scooped yet more honours to add to their growing collections.

Moor View House at Vale Down, Lydford, and Lydgate House in Postbridge, have been awarded the RAC?s Little Gem Award in recognition of their consistently high quality of accommodation, service and customer care.

Moor View House has now received the accolade in three successive years.

The four-bedroom 19th century guest house, which stands on the edge of Dartmoor, has been run by husband-and-wife David and Wendy Sharples for the last 12 years.

They are responsible for every aspect of running the five diamond rated hotel and do not employ any staff.

David said: ?We?re thrilled to receive this latest award, especially as it?s the third time we?ve won it. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.

?When we took over the place it was very run down so we had to build it up really.

?We don?t have any other staff so we are able to provide a consistent level of service to our guests. Wendy is a self-taught chef and does all the cooking to a very high standard.

?We have won two RAC awards for our food in the past.?

RAC head of hotels and travel, Richard Day, said: ?The Moor View House has won a well deserved reputation as one of the most attractive properties of its type in Devon.?

David, who used to own a glass and glazing firm, said most of his guests were people enjoying short breaks in the peace and quiet of Dartmoor.

?We get a lot of young couples coming here to get away from it all and enjoy a bit of walking on the moors,? he said. ?Many of them come back and stay again and again.

?I think the attraction for them is the warm, friendly hospitality they receive, coupled with good English food and wonderful scenery.?

And the hotel, which is thought to have been built in 1869, has a colourful history. Victorian writer Eden Philpotts is believed to have penned his classic play, The Farmer?s Wife, while staying there.

And legend has it that the property changed hands over a game of cards, around the turn of the last century.

The owners of Lydgate House, Cindy and Peter Farrington, have two reasons to celebrate. In addition to their second Little Gem award, they have been included in the AA?s new directory of Britain?s Best, which features only the top ten per cent of establishments across the UK.

And their latest accolades come hot on the heels of two highly prestigious national awards they won last year.

In September they scooped a Hotel of the Year award from Which? Hotel Guide, being chosen as one of only three throughout the UK in the ?tranquil treasure? category.

Shortly afterwards, the hotel, which nestles in a valley alongside the East Dart river, was picked as one of the top 30 hotels in the country in the Observer?s Escape travel supplement.

Lydgate House was built in 1900 and has been a hotel since 1920. Cindy and Peter bought the property in the summer of 2000, and embarked on a £100,000 improvement and refurbishment project the following year.

With the aid of a £15,000 grant from the Foot and Mouth Disease Recovery Fund, they have upgraded the guests? lounge and toilets, fitted a new kitchen and utility area, and refurnished the seven en-suite bedrooms.

Cindy said: ?The house has a naturally comfortable feel to it and we wanted to raise the level of cosiness by introducing a number of personal touches.?

The couple are planning to continue their extensive improvement programme by converting a barn into a luxury suite and replacing the conservatory dining room.

?We greatly enjoy spoiling our guests, and to continue to do that we have to invest further,? said Cindy.