Suffolk hotel group the TA Hotel Collection has seen three of its leading hotels given gold awards by VisitEngland. The Swan Hotel at Lavenham, The White Lion Hotel at Aldeburgh and The Brudenell at Aldeburgh have all received gold awards which mark hospitality excellence and are given in recognition of exceptional quality within a hotel's star rating or for outperforming its star rating. The hotels were judged on their quality, comfort and cleanliness, housekeeping, service, bedrooms and food, as well as hospitality and high levels of customer care.

Grahame Tinnion, managing director at the TA Hotel Collection comments: “Winning three VisitEngland gold awards is a fantastic accolade for the group. One of our primary objectives is to provide excellence and high quality facilities in our offering and these awards show that we are achieving this to great effect. “

It is the first time that The White Lion Hotel has been awarded gold. Peter Osborne, general Manager of the White Lion comments: “We are always looking for new ways to improve the experience for our guests and diners. Our team has taken many steps to work towards achieving this highly regarded accolade through not only customer service, but working together to upgrade the offering in our bedrooms. Winning the gold award for the first time shows how committed the whole team are, and validates their hard work.”

Garth Wray, General Manager of The Brudenell says: “It means a great deal to all of the Brudenell team that for the third year in a row we have achieved this gold award from VisitEngland. A great deal of work goes into making sure that our standards of service, our customer care and the quality of our product as a whole meet and exceed wherever possible the expectation of our customers.”

He adds: “These awards are down to the friendly and efficient team that work hard to look after those customers so well daily. We are also delighted that again for the third year in a row our Suffolk Breakfast has also been awarded the Breakfast award from VisitEngland recognising it as a top quality breakfast”.

Inspectors at The Swan Hotel at Lavenham noted the cheery, professional and friendly manner of all staff. Ingo Wiangke, General Manager of the Swan at Lavenham says: “To achieve gold for a second year running is a glowing testament to our team’s hard work, dedication and passion to providing only the very best customer service. Our deepest thanks go to everyone who has supported us and our fantastic staff.”

VisitEngland’s gold award criteria include being members of VisitEngland’s Quality Assessment Scheme, confirmation by one of Quality in Tourism’s area managers and receiving overnight visits every year.

For more information on the VisitEngland gold award scheme visit http://www.visitengland.org/busdev/accreditation/qascheme/goldsilverawards/