Organisations from across the county attended the fourth Staffordshire Tourism Awards at a prestigious ceremony at the Alton Towers Resort on Tuesday 15th November 2016.

The event, attended by more than 150 people, was compèred by BBC radio and TV presenter Joanne Malin. Entertainment came from magician and illusionist Andrew van Buren.

Colton House won an amazing fourth Gold in the recently expanded category of Boutique Guest Accommodation of the Year. This now includes Restaurant with Rooms, Pub with Rooms, ‘Boutique’ B&B, Town House B&B, Guest House, Bed and Breakfast hotel/’limited service’ hotel (any size), ‘Room Only’ accommodation, Wedding venue with accommodation
Ron Lawrence from Colton House said ‘we were overjoyed to win this category with its recently expanded number of entrants; making it the fourth consecutive year we have won’.

The judges were looking for accommodation that offers excellence and something that makes it stand out from the crowd, innovation and creativity, allied to excellent service.

Colton House also won Silver in the Sustainable Tourism category, designed to reward tourism businesses who can illustrate their excellence and commitment to sustainability best practice and who can demonstrate the importance of protecting the environment and using local suppliers. This is the fourth year Colton House has won an award in this category.
In addition Colton House won Silver in The Business Tourism Category; this is a new category for them to enter and they are pleased to have won Silver with their first submission. This is for a business that offers a high quality experience to the business visitor and/or generates tourism through staging high quality business events (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions).

So in all Colton House won Gold and two Silvers!

The awards were independently judged and verified by Service Science. Entrants were reviewed and marked on their commitment to delivering excellent customer service, training and skills for employees, sustainability and environment, along with dedication to best practice, quality of service and product.

Sarah Montgomery, chair of Enjoy Staffordshire said “It’s a tribute to the excellence celebrated here today and to the hard work, creativity and professionalism of those here today and in the wider sector.”

Colton House will now represent Staffordshire on a national level, automatically going forward to the 2017 VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, which will be held in Spring 2017.