We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the TripAdvisor 2013 Certificate of Excellence.
The award celebrates hospitality excellence and is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller review on TripAdvisor. Only the top 10 percentage of businesses listed on the website receive the prestigious award.
The Certificate of Excellence award is given to exceptional hospitality businesses that have received praise and recognition in reviews by TripAdvisor travellers.
John Hanna, the General Manager said “This is a fantastic achievement and it comes from every single employee working here at Ellenborough Park, providing our guests with the best possible service”
The 2013 Certificate of Excellence is the latest award from TripAdvisor. Only four months ago the country house hotel was awarded five Travellers’ Choice Awards, including the United Kingdom’s Best Luxury Hotel.
The Cotswolds are an exciting and interesting place to visit. Offering an array of traditional British events and sporting activities, it’s what makes the area such a pleasure to visit. Here are some of the best in the British country calendar:
Cheltenham Races – Ellenborough Park is recognised as the perfect location to visit Cheltenham Races. Cheltenham racecourse is a huge crowd puller, especially during the coveted Gold Cup that takes place during The Festival of racing. The atmosphere is palpable and highly contagious. If you are planning a visit to the Cotswolds then make sure to schedule a stay around one of the eight race meets, you certainly won’t be disappointed!
Five Valleys Walk – In aid of the Meningitis Trust, this popular 21 mile circular route takes in some of Gloucestershire’s most spectacular and breath taking scenery. On the 29th September, thousands of people take to the hills and walk for a good cause, enjoying the friendly atmosphere, fresh air and wonderful views. The walk is split into nine sections, and local coach company Stagecoach offer a free shuttle bus meaning you can walk as much or as little as you want.
Gatcombe Horse Trials – Set in the heart of the Cotswolds, the Gatcombe estate holds the prestigious Gatcombe Horse Trials every August. Welcoming international riders from all over the world, this event pulls huge crowds who enjoy the equestrian event, fabulous hospitality and diverse shopping. There’s something for everyone with this event and is a fun weekend for all the family.
The Cheltenham music festival – From the 3rd- 14th July, The Cheltenham Music Festival welcomes international music artists and performers to the beautiful Cheltenham Spa town. From symphonic grandeur to the intimacy of chamber music, there is something for everyone. Not just about music, this festival also features film, dance, visual arts performances and spoken word performances.
Gloucestershire cheese rolling festival – Held every year (weather dependant) on the last Monday in May, this world famous and unique event draws crowds from all over the world. Competitors are invited to sit at the top of the steep Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire and chase after a handmade Double Gloucester cheese roll. The first person to arrive at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. This wonderfully individual, traditional British event is certainly not one to be missed.
Cheltenham Racecourse
For more information on South West events, attractions and news, please see the Country Calling website.
With Cheltenham Jazz festival 2013 coming to an end today, we thought we’d take a look back at the history of jazz music and find out what it is about Cheltenham Jazz Festival that makes it so special.
Jazz spans a distinctive range of music from ragtime to the present day, spanning a period of over 100 years. Jazz music is hard to define, but improvisation is consistently considered as being the one of the key elements to this unique style of music, along with group creativity and interaction. Structured on a call and response pattern from early blues songs, jazz has its own unique sound and style that is hard to define but is wonderfully and totally individual.
Whatever it is about jazz, it is undeniably catchy, and every May bank holiday, Cheltenham Jazz Festival has over 20,000 music fans getting into the swing of things, making it one of the country’s best loved jazz festivals. Celebrities such as Jamie Cullum and Moira Stuart love the festival and regularly attend the annual event. Cheltenham’s mix of international jazz icons, exciting new artists and unique, one off festival performances in such a historic and beautiful town as Cheltenham makes the jazz festival one of Britain’s best loved events.
Cheltenham Festivals invite more than 2,500 of the world’s finest musicians, writers, scientists, performers and thinkers to entertain and inspire. Later on this year the Science Festival takes place in June, in July the high-calibre performances of the Music Festival and in October the Literature Festival takes place, one of the oldest literary events in the world.
If you are looking for accommodation during any of the festivals please click here.
Over May bank holiday weekend, the Badminton Estate holds the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials. This 4 star equestrian event makes up one of four parts in the highly coveted 3 day event Rolex Grand Slam of eventing. Inviting back Olympic gold medal winners and World champions, the event is sure to enthral and delight the huge crowds. Competition is fierce and anything goes; often coming down to the last show jumping pole in a timed jump off.
Only 40-60 minutes away by car, luxury hotel Ellenborough Park is the ideal location for a wonderful weekend at the horse trials. Located just outside of Cheltenham, this 5* country retreat offers unparalleled services and facilities making a trip to the horse trials a wonderful long weekend in the country.
If it’s muddy then make sure to take advantage of the boot room. Featuring Hunter wellies and Dubarry boots, there are even wax jackets on offer. Ideal for when the heavens open in a typically British fashion!
After a hard day walking the cross country course, why not take a relaxing spa session? Offering a wide range of treatments, the Spa at Ellenborough Park is the ideal way to unwind. Try the ultimate anti-aging facial, a relaxing, cell-reactivating facial is ideal for age prevention and acts as a ‘stress reliever’ for the skin. Alternatively, try the Hot Stone Massage. Indulge with this ancient, deep-penetrating thermal experience that melts away any muscle tension.
We hope that everyone attending has a wonderful bank holiday weekend. Don’t forget your wellies!
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded UK’s Best Luxury Hotel, UK’s Third Best Hotel, Europe’s Fifth Best Luxury Hotel, Europe’s 15th Best Hotel and UK’s 19th Best Hotel for Service.
TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, unveiled the winners in January 2013 of the Travellers’ Choice Hotels Awards, often dubbed the ‘Oscars of the hotel world’.
We are thrilled and shocked to have won so many of these awards. Unlike any other hotel honours, Travellers’ Choice winners are based on millions of reviews and opinions covering more than 650,000 hotels collected in a single year from travellers around the world. These reviews show our commitment to excel in all we do and consistently go the extra mile for our guests who are at the heart of all we do.
Achieving these distinctions from those who know the hotel best – our guests, is a real honour, especially as it’s based on the valuable reviews and opinions of travellers who have stayed or visited. We will continue to create and maintain a destination where we are proud to surpass our guests’ highest expectations, by delivering exceptional service.
We want to enhance lasting memories and hope that with our welcoming, inclusive and passionate service delivery we will continue to do so.
We are proud to congratulate Ian Coley of Ellenborough Park’s local Shooting School. Ian has been awarded an MBE for Services to Target Shooting and in recognition of his tireless work over the past years in the development and training of Olympic clay shooters.
Our close relationship with the Ian Coley Shooting School has given many of our guests the opportunity to use one of the finest instruction, gun and game shooting grounds in the country. The Shooting School has picked up many accolades including being recognised in the shooting Industry Awards as the Best Shooting School in the UK. Recently Peter Wilson, managed and mentored by Ian Coley, won a Gold Medal at London 2012 Olympics.
When recently interviewed in the national press Ian said “I am so humbled by this award and actually speechless. “I have been so lucky to have built a business out of my hobby and my passion, this award is the icing on a very special cake this year. To see Peter win Gold and to have been a part of the Great Britain team for so many years as Head Coach – I am a lucky man.
“All of this could not have happened without the support of those around me, my family, staff, colleagues and friends. I just want to thank everyone for their support.”
Guests can use the purpose built drying room and gun room, which include excellent safe facilities for storage. Full capacity for shooting weekends and weekday shoots are provided and facilities are available for corporate or private shooting parties.
Ellenborough Park was recently included in The 2013 Wedding Industry Awards. It was fantastic to be included in the South West region final shortlist. The awards recognise and reward excellence in the wedding industry.
Entrants include wedding suppliers across 21 different categories in 7 geographical regions of England. Voters are recently married couples who can only vote for the wedding suppliers they used for their own weddings. This makes the awards independent and rigorous because it’s only those who have had direct experience of services and products.
Some of our recommended local suppliers were also shortlisted. Donna Beaver at The Flower Studio just missed out on the top spot for the Florist category in the South West. Donna is passionate about providing high quality flowers and working closely with couples to ensure that each wedding is as individual as they are.
We would like to offer congratulations to our recommended Toastmaster Howard Jones. Howard was awarded the Best Wedding Special Touch for the West Midlands and will now go through to the national awards! Ensuring the big day runs without a hitch, Howard has an enviable reputation as the golden voiced director of wedding celebrations. He comments “My warm thanks to all the couples who voted for me and Ellenborough Park employees with whom it is such a pleasure to work with. Their impeccable standards match my professional aspirations.”
The Wedding Industry Awards ensure that there is a credible and reliable independent National awards process and event. They are the only client-voted national awards in the wedding industry and are useful to both entrants and anyone planning their wedding. We are extremely proud to be shortlisted as the coveted awards are a mark of the highest quality.
Couples were able to leave anonymous feedback on why they voted. We are thrilled to have received many lovely comments and acts as a reminder of why we play host to spectacular wedding days that will never be forgotten. Some of the comments were:
“I would recommend to all this amazing wedding venue: a brilliant addition to an area that does not have any other venues which have the same class/style or service. 7 star wedding service at a 5 star hotel. All guests were treated wonderfully – nothing was ever too much trouble. The food was divine.”
“The hotel and grounds are gorgeous, the service is impeccable and food is absolutely delicious. We have never really experienced all three traits any better anywhere else! It brought high class luxury to our wedding that we only dreamed of.”
“I could not have picked a more perfect venue for our wedding. The service from the wedding coordinators in the lead up was second to none. On the day everything ran perfectly, the staff went over and above the call of duty, something that was noticed by my guests. A perfect day in every way!”
Congratulations to the winners and all those shortlisted. We are really pleased that so many suppliers have been recognised thanks to their hard work in creating dream weddings.
We are delighted to announce that the AA has awarded three coveted Rosettes to The Beaufort Dining Room.
The accolade comes after several visits from undercover AA Hotel and Restaurant inspectors who only award Rosettes to outstanding restaurants.
The inspectors found that our executive head chef, David Kelman, and his team, consistently deliver high quality food using the best ingredients, with excellent flavour combinations, timing and seasoning. Inspectors look for skill and excellence in cooking, while service and the wine list also support the final result.
David Kelman said “it has taken a lot of hard work to achieve three AA Rosettes, and this is another milestone on our journey to achieve the highest recognition for our food. It is rewarding to be part of a talented team, each of whom has contributed to the hotels reputation as one of the UK’s best venues for fine dining.
Simon Numphud, hotel services manager of the AA, said “We are delighted to recognise Ellenborough Park with three AA Rosettes in the 2013 AA Restaurant Guide. Restaurants awarded three, four or five AA Rosettes represent the top 10% of the restaurants in the guide.
“The award of three AA Rosettes highlights outstanding restaurants that achieve standards that demand national recognition well beyond their local area. The cooking will be underpinned by the selection and sympathetic treatment of the highest quality ingredients. Timing, seasoning and the judgement of flavour combinations will be consistently excellent. These virtues will tend to be supported by other elements such as intuitive service and a well chosen wine list.
“Ellenborough Park joins just three other establishments in Gloucestershire that have been awarded three AA Rosettes.”
Contributing to the restaurants reputation for exceptional service is our junior head waiter Jonathan Whitemore, who was recently awarded the Academy of Culinary Arts’ Annual Award of Excellence 2012. Jonathan demonstrated a high level of knowledge, service skills, interpersonal skills and teamwork.
We are proud to announce that our Spa now has a decadently-spiced fragrance. The Kartushya scented candle by Jonathan Ward London.
The scent is a heady mix of Birch Leaf, Elemi, Cognac, Rosemary and Amber and will be used to enhance your journey in The Spa.
Jonathan Ward of Jonathan Ward London maintains direct involvement with every product created in his London studio, which ensures commitment to creating the most natural and environmentally friendly candles possible . The scented candles are hand-poured using paraffin-free, clean-burning soy and beeswax, housed in a ruby-red, hand-blown, Italian, crystal glass.
The Spa also stocks ‘Dance In Summer Rain’, an uplifting mix of Jasmine, Pink Cyclamen, Magnolia and Green Grass. As well as ‘The Gypsy’, deeply-sensual with notes of Carnation, Sandalwood, Rose, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, Patchouli, Amber and Cedarwood.
These scented candles can be bought in The Spa and come in medium and large size.
The Ian Coley Group Open Day is on Saturday 28th July near Andoversford by Cheltenham. The Group comprises of Gunshop, Shooting School and Sporting Agency and is known as one of the finest shooting establishments in the UK.
Caesar Guerini Guns, Clay Shoot, Gundog Demonstrations, Trade Stands, Have-a-Go Stand, Off Roading, Artist Exhibition and Goodie Bags are just some of the many attractions at the Open Day.
We are pleased to have established a close relationship with the Ian Coley Shooting School, one of the best game shoot organisers offering simulated and full shooting school facilities.
With close access to a number of prime shooting locations we are perfect for all shoots. Ian Coley provides exceptional Partridge and Pheasant days in the Cotswolds.
We have private dining rooms for shooting lunches and dinner parties together with a gun room, boot room and dining room. Special rates are available.
The Open Day is 10am to 4pm. Our Brasserie is open all day, perfect for a late lunch or early dinner.
