HOSPITALITY ASSURED
Pictured front-row from left to right: Marita Klanina, Accommodation Services Assistant; Kelly Reilly, Guest Services Assistant; Ina Davies, General Manager, and Sarah Mackay, Deputy General Manager holding the Hospitality Assured crystal award; Lynn Beaton, Accommodation Services Assistant; and Elizabeth Mackenzie, Housekeeping Manager
FEBRUARY 2008
Express by Holiday Inn Inverness Recognised for Outstanding Service and Business Excellence.
The 94-bedroom Express by Holiday Inn at Stoneyfield, Inverness, in Scotland – operated by Somerston Hotels – has gained the highest overall score to date of any hotel accredited with Hospitality Assured.
The hotel initially achieved Hospitality Assured accreditation in 2003 – with a score that was well in excess of the minimum required to gain the Standard. Since then, each annual re-assessment for Hospitality Assured has shown an improvement in the overall score. “The latest 2008 accreditation has proved that the Express by Holiday Inn Inverness is not only the highest scoring hotel ever to gain Hospitality Assured, but that the quality of the service and business excellence it is delivering can now be regarded as ‘outstanding’,” said Hospitality Assured General Manager Philip Stanley.
Ina Davies, who has been the hotel’s General Manager since 2001, is delighted with the outcome. “Our aim in initially gaining the Hospitality Assured Standard, and subsequently improving our yearly overall scores once we had got it, was to assist us in measuring every area within the business – from human resources, to market segmentation,” she explained.
“To have achieved the highest Hospitality Assured overall score within the UK for our sector is absolutely fantastic – it is a huge compliment to the team and is a tribute to their dedication and commitment. Since the hotel opened in February 2000, we have grown as a company. Occupancy and revenues have increased year-on-year. Our experiences, best practice and knowledge have mirrored this increase; and Hospitality Assured has enabled us to benchmark our standards via an objective, outside independent source.”
Sarah Mackay, the hotel’s Deputy General Manager, added: “Hospitality Assured allows us to network with people within our industry that we might not otherwise meet. We share ideas and best practice that can significantly benefit us all.”
Philip Stanley concluded: “I would like to congratulate Ina Davies and her team at the Express by Holiday Inn Inverness on their fantastic achievement. The hotel is a shining example to other establishments in the sector as to what can be achieved through striving for continual improvement. It is little wonder that the hotel has received numerous awards from the 32-hotel strong Somerston Hotels group – including Ina being named Somerston’s ‘General Manager of the Year’ for the third time!”