Tension rising. Nerves jangling. Palms sweating.
And then the moment arrives…. “And the winner of the 2019 Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence. UK & Ireland – Best Venue for Weddings, Parties or Special Occasions goes to [long pause]…Tewkesbury Park!”
That was it – I leapt for joy and punched the air – we did it!
On November 5th 2018, I and three of our talented team from Tewkesbury Park had travelled to the Mayfair Hotel, London, for the long-awaited Condé Nast Johansens awards, full of anticipation and excitement. We’d even gone so far as to co-ordinate our outfits so that we were a vision of black and sparkling gold…surely this had to be our year.
You see, to us, this award meant so much more than just the trophy on the mantlepiece (or pride of place on the lobby table, in our case). It’s an acknowledgement of how far we’ve come in the last four years since the business was bought by the local McIntosh Family. Following an investment of roughly £10million, and a huge amount of hard work from everyone involved, we’re now proud to say that we rightly deserve the accolade of the best UK & Ireland venue for weddings and events.
Our Cotswolds Suite, with its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the rolling Gloucestershire countryside, multiscreen video wall, colour-change lighting and exclusive-use Berkeley Bar and Terrace (complete with oil-drum BBQs and wood-fired pizza oven), is a truly unique spot. Add to that our fabulous team, who live and breathe hospitality, and we know this is a winning combination.
This wonderful award joins our 2018 bronze certificate from Visit England for Business Tourism and our 2017/18 award from Best Loved Hotels for Fido’s Favourite – pet-friendly award.
But we won’t be stopping there. With our newly-refurbished Mint restaurant and the lip-smackingly tasty dishes created by our head chef, Anuj Thakur, and his dedicated team, we’re already setting our sights on food and dining awards over the next 12 months.
We’re (not-so-quietly) confident that this is one of many more prestigious awards to come.
Now, if you’ll excuse me – I’m just off to polish our trophy….
STOP PRESS- we’ve only just gone and done it again. Best Loved Hotels have awarded us Best in the UK for Online Excellence. That’s two awards in as many weeks – what will next week bring?
