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The Vale Resort, Hensol nr Cardiff has been named as the UK’s best family friendly hotel in a prestigious UK industry awards ceremony held in London.
The Vale scooped the Hotel Excellence Awards 2010 award for the Best Large Family Friendly Hotel in the UK at a ceremony last Thursday. The four-star luxury resort has put families high on the agenda and has established itself as a market leader in offering innovative, fun-filled family breaks that make the most of its expansive 650-acre parkland location. One of Wales’ most successful leisure and hospitality businesses, The Vale Resort, nr Cardiff celebrated its 10th anniversary two months ago. The £50m hotel resort opened its doors to its first hotel guests in November 1999 and has now played host to a staggering 750,000 hotel guests during its first decade in business. This includes more than 20,000 children not including those regularly attending the Vale’s crèche, day nursery and sports camps. The 143 bedroom hotel, based within a 650-acre rural setting, has enjoyed significant success since its inception, with a string of awards including most recently AA rosette awarded for its restaurant as well as being previous winners of the UK Fitness Club of the Year and Wales Leading Golf Resort. In September 2009, the Vale was awarded a Gold Award from Visit Wales in recognition of its outstanding quality, exceptional comfort and hospitality. It has been a winning year for the Vale Resort which is flying the flag for Wales’ hospitality industry after receiving a top AA score. The Resort achieved an 82% AA merit rating out of a maximum 85% within the four star rating band, with its contemporary Welsh restaurant the Vale Grill Restaurant achieving its first AA rosette. The hotel has now established itself as one of the UK’s leading destinations for family breaks thanks to its wide-ranging sports and leisure facilities, extensive and spacious accommodation and family-friendly policies and innovative children’s activities. Ben Danielsen, General Manager of the Vale Resort said: "We are delighted to have achieved this independent benchmark from the industry in recognition of the genuine focus and priority we place on family friendly holidays and short breaks. "As an independent family-owned hotel business, the Vale has, throughout its growth and development into a large Resort, maintained a strong focus on keeping an individual, warm and friendly service to all guests. "Our location, along with a range of facilities for sports and leisure including a large indoor pool, golf, tennis, squash, on-site nursery and crèche plus junior activities centre allows us to create great packages for families throughout the year to ensure children, Mums and Dads alike have all they need for a perfect stay. Our bedrooms are larger than most competitors, therefore, we can be much more flexible with family rooms and inter-connecting bedrooms." Mr Danielsen said that the Vale had strengthened its short breaks offer in line with business need during the economic downturn. The hotel was able to report a 51% increase in family breaks in 2009 on previous year with 52% increase in family rooms sold during its special halloween half term break in 2009. "Family breaks are an important sector of the market and we have been concentrating on boosting our UK breaks business as we saw the growth of the ‘staycation’ in 2009 with families looking to home rather than a trip abroad during the harsher economic downturn. This has been a success for us and the award recognises our work in this area of the market," he said. "It is a great achievement for the Vale to be selected from a high profile judging panel which included many peers from within the industry as well as being in the same shortlist as such a distinguished UK company, The Goring Hotel in London, who won ‘Hotel of the Year’ in the independent section of the hotel industry Oscars - The 2009 Catey awards." The Vale was commended for its innovative marketing of themed short family breaks including its ‘Little Horrors stay free" campaign for Halloween half term. Judges also remarked on the genuine range of facilities and well-supervised and managed year-round activities for children of all ages at the Vale. These included the large on-site nursery and crèche, junior activities programme, junior gym club, kids camp in the holidays, junior golf clinics, cookery classes and sports camps. The Vale won plaudits from a high profile judging panel of internationally recognised hotel industry leaders and commentators including Simon Calder, Britain’s leading travel commentator, Bob Cotton, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association, and Managing Director of Elite Hotels, Graeme Bateman and Michael Gray, GM of the Hyatt Regency London and Chairman of the Master Innholders. Mr Danielsen also paid tribute to the team at the Vale: "I am really delighted for our staff too as it’s recognition of the hard work and effort they have put in over recent years to make this hotel stand out from the crowd along with giving our customers an excellent service and friendly welcome."
The Vale scooped the Hotel Excellence Awards 2010 award for the Best Large Family Friendly Hotel in the UK at a ceremony last Thursday.
The four-star luxury resort has put families high on the agenda and has established itself as a market leader in offering innovative, fun-filled family breaks that make the most of its expansive 650-acre parkland location.
One of Wales’ most successful leisure and hospitality businesses, The Vale Resort, nr Cardiff celebrated its 10th anniversary two months ago. The £50m hotel resort opened its doors to its first hotel guests in November 1999 and has now played host to a staggering 750,000 hotel guests during its first decade in business. This includes more than 20,000 children not including those regularly attending the Vale’s crèche, day nursery and sports camps.
The 143 bedroom hotel, based within a 650-acre rural setting, has enjoyed significant success since its inception, with a string of awards including most recently AA rosette awarded for its restaurant as well as being previous winners of the UK Fitness Club of the Year and Wales Leading Golf Resort. In September 2009, the Vale was awarded a Gold Award from Visit Wales in recognition of its outstanding quality, exceptional comfort and hospitality.
It has been a winning year for the Vale Resort which is flying the flag for Wales’ hospitality industry after receiving a top AA score. The Resort achieved an 82% AA merit rating out of a maximum 85% within the four star rating band, with its contemporary Welsh restaurant the Vale Grill Restaurant achieving its first AA rosette.
The hotel has now established itself as one of the UK’s leading destinations for family breaks thanks to its wide-ranging sports and leisure facilities, extensive and spacious accommodation and family-friendly policies and innovative children’s activities.
Ben Danielsen, General Manager of the Vale Resort said: "We are delighted to have achieved this independent benchmark from the industry in recognition of the genuine focus and priority we place on family friendly holidays and short breaks.
"As an independent family-owned hotel business, the Vale has, throughout its growth and development into a large Resort, maintained a strong focus on keeping an individual, warm and friendly service to all guests.
"Our location, along with a range of facilities for sports and leisure including a large indoor pool, golf, tennis, squash, on-site nursery and crèche plus junior activities centre allows us to create great packages for families throughout the year to ensure children, Mums and Dads alike have all they need for a perfect stay. Our bedrooms are larger than most competitors, therefore, we can be much more flexible with family rooms and inter-connecting bedrooms."
Mr Danielsen said that the Vale had strengthened its short breaks offer in line with business need during the economic downturn. The hotel was able to report a 51% increase in family breaks in 2009 on previous year with 52% increase in family rooms sold during its special halloween half term break in 2009.
"Family breaks are an important sector of the market and we have been concentrating on boosting our UK breaks business as we saw the growth of the ‘staycation’ in 2009 with families looking to home rather than a trip abroad during the harsher economic downturn. This has been a success for us and the award recognises our work in this area of the market," he said.
"It is a great achievement for the Vale to be selected from a high profile judging panel which included many peers from within the industry as well as being in the same shortlist as such a distinguished UK company, The Goring Hotel in London, who won ‘Hotel of the Year’ in the independent section of the hotel industry Oscars - The 2009 Catey awards."
The Vale was commended for its innovative marketing of themed short family breaks including its ‘Little Horrors stay free" campaign for Halloween half term.
Judges also remarked on the genuine range of facilities and well-supervised and managed year-round activities for children of all ages at the Vale. These included the large on-site nursery and crèche, junior activities programme, junior gym club, kids camp in the holidays, junior golf clinics, cookery classes and sports camps.
The Vale won plaudits from a high profile judging panel of internationally recognised hotel industry leaders and commentators including Simon Calder, Britain’s leading travel commentator, Bob Cotton, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association, and Managing Director of Elite Hotels, Graeme Bateman and Michael Gray, GM of the Hyatt Regency London and Chairman of the Master Innholders.
Mr Danielsen also paid tribute to the team at the Vale: "I am really delighted for our staff too as it’s recognition of the hard work and effort they have put in over recent years to make this hotel stand out from the crowd along with giving our customers an excellent service and friendly welcome."