Bovey Castle appoints Claire Randall as general manager

Claire Randall has been appointed general manager of the five-red-AA-star, 60-bedroom Bovey Castle in Dartmoor, Devon.

She will take up the post in January 2020, having left the Idle Rocks and St Mawes hotel in Cornwall, in August, after six months in the role.

Owned and operated by Eden Hotel Collection since 2014, Bovey Castle has recently been run by resort director Greg Fehler following the departure of the previous general manager Martin Kelly, who left earlier this year.

Prior to taking up the position in St Mawes, Randall spent 20 years at the five-red-AA-star, 42-bedroom Lucknam Park in Colerne, Wiltshire, initially as general manager before being appointed managing director in 2010.

Randall has also worked in management roles at the Hyde Park hotel (now the Mandarin Oriental London); Gleneagles in Perthshire; Hambleton Hall in Rutland; and the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong; as well as six years as hotel and restaurant inspector for the Michelin Guide.

Randall said she was “thrilled” to be joining Bovey Castle, which she described as “one of the UK’s most iconic luxury country house hotels - which provides a wide range of experiences to guests coupled with hospitality of the highest quality”.

Mark Chambers, managing director, Eden Hotel Collection, added: “Claire brings superb experience to the role of general manager at Bovey Castle. We are delighted to welcome Claire on board to further enhance and shape the hotel’s future development and success.”

Set in 275 acres of countryside within Dartmoor National Park, Bovey Castle features the three-AA-rosette Great Western restaurant, Smith’s Brasserie, 22 lodges, 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, and an Elan Spa.

The Eden Hotel Collection, founded by IT entrepreneur Sir Peter Rigby, comprises a nine-strong portfolio including Mallory Court in Leamington Spa; the Greenway Hotel & Spa in Cheltenham; and the Mount Somerset Hotel & Spa, Taunton, Somerset.