Certificate of excellence

A Shropshire hotel is celebrating after being awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the world’s largest travel website.

 The Valley Hotel in Ironbridge picked up the 2017 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor for its restaurant Chez Maw.

 The certificate is awarded after 12 months of consistently good reviews and comments from travellers about those perfect places to visit.

 Lisa Snape, marketing manager at the Valley, said it was an honour for the hotel to be recognised in this way by such an internationally renowned organisation.

 “TripAdvisor has been running its Certificate of Excellence programme for seven years and it is a very important thing to receive,” she said.

 “This 2017 Certificate of Excellence has been awarded to our restaurant Chez Maw and follows our achieving consistently outstanding reviews on TripAdvisor. This clearly shows how popular our restaurant has been with visitors over the last 12 months.”

 Barry Workman, head chef at Chez Maw, is one of many long-serving members of staff at the Valley, having been there for more than 20 years.

 During that time he has overseen the restaurant being awarded two AA rosettes - a standard that has been maintained for many years.

“Over the many years I have been here we have continued to strive for excellence and have been very successful. We have built up a great reputation and I believe the continuity of staff has helped to that end,” he said.

 “This certificate is another accolade to add to our impressive list and it’s nice to think people who have visited and eaten at Chez Maw have taken the trouble to write a favourable review which has helped us get this recognition.”

 Certificates are awarded to premises that are judged by visitors to be a cut above the rest. They include eateries, accommodation and attractions worldwide - anywhere, according to travellers, that raises the standard of the venue to an idyllic place to visit.

 To obtain a certificate the venue must retain a minimum rating of four out of five over the period of a year and must meet a requirement of a minimum number of reviews.

 The certificate was launched with the specific aim of helping travellers when coming to a decision about where to book.