THE CUSTOMER is always right at the Montagu Arms - even if they want black towels and avocados in the bedroom.

Beaulieu village's 24-bed hotel has won the AA award for Most Courteous and Caring hotel in the UK, in competition with more than 4,000 other hostelries.

Hand-springs down the hotel's 200- year-old corridors might have seemed in order when the prestigious national awards put the 3-star Montagu Arms in the same bracket as the Savoy and the Ritz.

But manager James Hiley-Jones and his staff restricted their celebrations to polite pats on the back, to avoid disturbing the hotel's relaxing ambience for the guests.

"Politeness costs very little, after all. We have several thousand customers a year and we want to make sure they keep coming back," said James - at 31, already a management veteran of five hotels.

At the Montagu Arms, they pride themselves on old-fashioned service - little touches to make the stressed-out London salaryman or world-weary retired couple feel pampered.

That might mean parking their cars, and carrying their bags, or even installing a personal cappuccino machine and delivering a weather forecast to each pillow after tenderly turning-down the sheets.

"Little touches, like cleaning windscreens before guests depart and leaving a farewell card under their wipers, help guests to remember us," said James.

AA inspectors said: "Staff at this hotel demonstrate superb customer care skills and are proactive with service."

Sometimes star guests - like the band and crew of Simply Red - can pose tricky tests. "They all wanted black towels because they didn't want fluff on their stage clothes. We went all over the place to get enough towels for the whole party of 12," said James.

Hall porter Andy Bradford, 19, added: "Every two months we have an Ambassador Award where we vote for which one of us has done the best job with the guests.."