Martello Manor Awarded 5-Star Food Hygiene Rating
Martello Manor by Boutique Care Homes, situated in Hythe, Kent, has been awarded a 5-star Food Hygiene Rating, the highest score available, following its first inspection since opening its doors in June 2026.
The inspection took place on 24th September 2026, just three months after founding residents Margaret and Joan moved into the home on 22nd June. For a kitchen team that has spent its opening months building routines from scratch, the result carries particular weight: this was Martello Manor’s first-ever food hygiene assessment, and it came back with a perfect score.
When the result came through, there was no mistaking how much it meant to the team. Home Manager Marlene Abreu said it capped off everything they had built together since June. “From day one, we set out to make mealtimes something residents genuinely look forward to, not just something that happens.” She added that the achievement means something specific for families weighing up their choice of home. “When someone is trusting us with a parent or grandparent, food hygiene isn’t a detail. It’s part of how we show we take that trust seriously.”
For Head Chef Boby Pereira, the rating is proof of standards he has held from the first day the kitchen opened. “Every dish that leaves this kitchen goes through the same checks, whether it’s a resident’s first meal here or their three hundredth.” Outside the home’s entrance, Boby and Marlene stopped to point out the certificate now displayed in the window, sharing a thumbs-up for the camera. “Mealtimes are one of the best parts of the day for our residents,” Boby said. “Knowing the standards behind them are the best they can be makes that mean even more.”
A 5-star Food Hygiene Rating is the top score awarded under the Food Standards Agency’s national scheme, reserved for premises that meet the highest standards across hygienic food handling, cleanliness and management of food safety. Achieving it at the first attempt, within months of opening, reflects a kitchen team that got the fundamentals right from the outset rather than growing into them over time.
At Martello Manor, that’s the standard residents and families can expect every day, not just on inspection day. It’s part of a wider promise at Boutique Care Homes: not just care, but life, thriving, built on the kind of everyday standards that residents and families notice long before any certificate confirms them. Care so good, it’s unexpected, until you’ve experienced it for yourself.
