Thistles the Rougemont Hotel Gets an Afternoon Delight from Local Sisters

LONDON, May 25, 2011 -

Thistle's Exeter hotel, The Rougemont, saw Exmouth sisters Tilly and
Ellis Jephtha reign supreme and crowned the best bakers as local finalists
battled it out to revitalise the classic British pastime and create the
ultimate afternoon tea.

In a bid to see their very own afternoon tea recipe on the Nelson's
Lounge and Bar menu at The Rougemont Hotel, competition finalists, Tilly and
Ellis Jephtha, Phyllis Liles and Charlotte Baker were invited to take part in
a bake off at the hotel, where entries were judged on their visual appeal,
taste, smell and texture.

The judging panel comprised the lord mayor, councillor Marcel Choules;
Mrs Stella Fernyhough, food judge from Chudleigh Women's Institute of Devon;
Shane Munro, group development manager, Food and Beverage, Guoman and Thistle
Hotels; and Mark Beedell, general manager, The Rougemont Hotel.

The winning entries from Tilly and Ellis saw the judging panel torn
between Tilly's scones with thick Devonshire clotted cream and homemade
passion fruit and raspberry jam and Ellis' scones with cream, raspberry
blackcurrant and rhubarb jam. In the end the panel thought the dynamic duo
were equally deserving of first place thanks to the superior taste and
texture and taste of their scones, and the overall presentation of the
dishes.

The sisters' winning entry will feature as the hotel's specialist,
traditional Devonshire afternoon tea when the hotel launches its new menu of
teatime treats.

Mark Beedell, general manager at The Rougemont Hotel said: "After weeks
of collating entries for the competition, we're extremely pleased to award
both Tilly and Ellis the title of ultimate afternoon tea champions. Their
creations will make fantastic additions to our afternoon tea menu at Drakes
Restaurant and we're certain that our guests will be as excited as we were
when sampling their afternoon delights."

After impressing the general manager with her passion for cooking, Tilly
who is the baker in the family and wants to study Catering at Exeter College
next year has also been offered work experience at The Rougemont Hotel. This
will assist her college application as well as give her a chance to
experience all operations departments in a hotel. In addition to this, and to
further build her experience whilst studying, Tilly has been invited to join
the team on day release when she starts her college course.

Tilly commented: "The competition has been a wonderful experience which I
feel will benefit my future career in catering, and I very much look forward
to starting my work placement at The Rougemont Hotel."

The Rougemont Hotel in Exeter (
www.thistle.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/exeter/the_rougemont_hotel/)
is a stylish Victorian building situated near the city centre and Rougemont
Gardens. The hotel's Drakes Restaurant is relaxed and welcoming and features
home cooked favourites and modern European dishes, perfect after a spot of
shopping or sightseeing.

About Thistle

Thistle Hotels is part of Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited which
operates hotels throughout the UK. Thistle has 33 hotels across the country,
many in superb city centre locations, including eleven in central London.
With a selection of restaurants and a choice of excellent health and leisure
facilities, Thistle has something to offer everyone.

Thistle Hotels is the first hotel group to achieve Hospitality Assured
accreditation, across its entire UK portfolio. Created by the Institute of
Hospitality, the Hospitality Assured standard measures the quality within
customer facing businesses across the hospitality, tourism and leisure
industry.

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