Winners of the Green Category at the recent Shropshire Business Awards Ceremony

June 2010

We are delighted and very proud of the recognition for this achievement, in times when sustainability has become increasingly important to our existing and new customers.

The reaction to our new procedures from all of our suppliers, customers and staff members has been extremely positive. Our actions have enabled the business to become more resource efficient as well as improving our impact upon the environment

Best Western Valley Hotel is a Hotel with Personality.

April 2010

Local Hotel to be part of a unique campaign from independent hotels group Best Western

BEST WESTERN VALLEY HOTEL, IRONBRIDGE, will be helping to launch a high profile rebranding and marketing campaign for the Best Western group by wearing “Hotel’s with personality” T shirts for the week.

Best Western, the UK’s largest portfolio of independent hotels, is advertising on television this April for the first time in its 30 year history as the group relaunches with new positioning ‘Hotels with personality’. The new strapline was developed to highlight Best Western’s character and independence.

The campaign aims to differentiate the Best Western group from boring, old formulaic chains offering generic hotel stays in the UK. Best Western Valley Hotel will be supporting the campaign and celebrating their independence and personality by asking all members are staff to wear a T shirt for the week asking the question “what sets me apart”. Staff will be writing on the back of the T shirts what sets them apart with their own individual personalities.

Joanne Boddison, general manager at the Best Western Valley hotel, said:

“It is a very exciting time to be part of the Best Western group. Part of the reason we are in this brand is the fact that we can celebrate our independence and what makes a stay with us special. We believe that all Best Western customers are as unique as the hotels they stay in and they look for much more in a great stay than a generic room with OK service, for them it’s about the whole experience, a real sense of occasion. What’s more at Best Western we don’t believe that this quality of stay should cost our customers any more.

“A Best Western experience is about the passionate people who work in the hotel, and delivering good service to all our customers”

The new positioning is part of a broader marketing campaign including direct mail, PR, social media, experiential activity, online and press advertising and a total relaunch of www.bestwestern.co.uk. The 30 second adverts will be run on all terrestrial channels plus the multi channels across digital and satellite. The intensive campaign will run for three weeks, breaking on 15 April during key shows such as Coronation Street and Britain’s Got Talent.

The TV adverts will feature a number of hotels and will celebrate Best Western staff in the beautiful and varied setting in which each of the hotels is found. Best Western is the largest group of independently owned hotels in the UK and the whole campaign is focussed on celebrating this independence and the unique, individual elements of the group.

Best Western Valley Hotel wins Breakfast award.

December 2009

We are pleased to announce that we have recently achieved a breakfast award from VisitEnglands quality assessment team.

Sponsored by Kellogg’s, the new award recognises those hotels and B&Bs that offer their guests a quality and choice of breakfast, service and hospitality that exceeds what would be expected at their star rating.

It will help visitors find those places where the owners, managers, chefs and staff have gone the extra mile to ensure the breakfast will exceed expectations.

The Assessor scores the breakfast every time he/she stays overnight, so the scores for the Breakfast award has been taken from our visit in September 2009.

Gold Award Success

The Best Western Valley Hotel in Ironbridge is the first hotel in Shropshire to be awarded the coveted Gold award, under the Green Tourism Business Scheme, for demonstrating excellence in environmental practice.

In order to qualify for this rating, the hotel had to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, managing waste and energy consumption, reducing its carbon footprint and promoting an awareness of the environment and the community, through staff training.

Joanne Boddison, General Manager said “Our in-house Green Team has been the driving force behind achieving our gold status, and we are very proud of what we have achieved. As a business we have become much more efficient with our resources and received positive feedback on our work from guests and visitors. It is a long term plan, and we will continue with the project and our commitment to sustainable tourism.

Best Western Hotel of the Year 2008

January 2009

The Best Western Valley Hotel Ironbridge are celebrating following their achievement of Hotel of the Year at the recent BW Great Britain Hotel awards.

Rhys Roberts, Chairman of Best Western Great Britain, and Keith Pope, Membership Director, announced the Best Western 2008 Hotel Awards at Best Western’s GB Members’ Conference last night. The conference is the largest annual gathering of independent hoteliers in the UK, this year held in the Celtic Manor Hotel, Newport, Gwent.

The awards are based on quality assessments made both by Best Western and independent assessors such as the AA and regional tourist boards. However, they also incorporate feedback from customers and guests gathered both electronically from web-sites and through Best Western’s call centre and booking office. This process means that hotels must not only meet increasingly high quality standards, but also deliver the ‘X-Factor’ that turns a visit into a great memory.

Joanne Boddison Director- General Manager of the Best Western Valley Hotel, said; “The Best Western Awards are very important to us as they reflect the views of our guests and customers, as well as both Best Western and independent quality assessors. Ultimately, pleasing the guest and ensuring they enjoy every stay is the key to success for any hotel, so it is a terrific boost to be recognised in this way.”

The Best Western membership represents 280+ hotels in Britain and over 4000 worldwide. The Best Western Valley Hotel are pleased to be bringing the award back to Shropshire and particularly Ironbridge where celebrations will be commencing throughout the year to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Iron smelting which signified the start of the industrial revolution in Ironbridge.

Photo: Joanne Boddison & Lisa Snape of the Valley Hotel receive the Best Western Hotel of The Year 2008 Award from Rhys Roberts and Keith Pope.