Is Riders Rest Still Open? The Hotel Inspector Update (Wellow, UK)
The Hotel Inspector, Season 19 Wellow, South West England
Current status
As of October 2026, Riders Rest is listed open on hygienescore.co.uk, reviewed by our team on October 19, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.
What the source shows: A food-hygiene directory lists Riders Rest Cafe at Wellow Trekking Centre with a council inspection dated 2026-01-28, showing a cafe operating under that name at the stable-yard address in January 2026. How we decide a status →
- Episode Season 19, Episode 1
- Aired
- Address Wellow Trekking Centre, Little Horse Croft Farm, Ford Road, Wellow BA2 8QF
- Website No current website found
- Show map
© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO
What happened after The Hotel Inspector?
Riders Rest was a cafe beside a stable yard in a small Somerset village, featured in series 19, episode 1 of The Hotel Inspector (Channel 5), which aired on 2024-03-28. According to TheTVDB's episode overview, the cafe was run by a married couple, Michelle and Mimmo. Their Italian-inspired food was well regarded, but the cafe drew very little foot traffic and was not making a profit, and the couple were shown working long days for modest pay. The overview describes host Alex Polizzi suggesting a dramatic change and frames it as a risky gamble. The sources read for this entry do not say what that change was or what happened afterward.
The food-hygiene directory hygienescore.co.uk lists a Riders Rest Cafe at Wellow Trekking Centre, Little Horse Croft Farm, Ford Road, Wellow BA2 8QF, in the Bath and North East Somerset area. It shows a food hygiene rating of 5 out of 5 from an inspection by Bath and North East Somerset council dated 2026-01-28. An OpenStreetMap record for Riders Rest Tea Rooms sits at the same postcode. The name, the stable-yard setting and the Somerset village all match the episode overview. None of the sources read names the couple at the Wellow address, so the link between the episode and this address rests on those matching details.
Wikipedia's list of The Hotel Inspector episodes records the episode as Riders Rest, aired 28 March 2024, overall episode 156.
The episode
Synopsis (tvmaze.com) : Alex Polizzi returns to help more members of the beleaguered hospitality industry. Mimmo and Michelle left family and business behind in Italy to take over the Riders Rest tearooms in Somerset. Despite their passion and dedication, the duo are struggling. Will Alex's audacious plan be the answer to the couple's woes?
Also in Season 19
Season 19: 10 of 12 still open · 1 renamed, moved or under new owners
- Open
- Open
-
Ep 4The Royal George
Open - Open
- Renamed
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-
Ep 8Fraser's
Open - Open
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Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.
Sources we checked
- hygienescore.co.uk https://www.hygienescore.co.uk/business/the-riders-rest-cafe-ba2-8qf
- TheTVDB https://thetvdb.com/series/the-hotel-inspector/episodes/10410710
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Hotel_Inspector_episodes
We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.
Record thi-113 · checked by Cal Marchetti.