Another Accolade On The Way?

We had the fantastic news on Friday that we have been shortlisted by our distinguished judging panel and will now compete for one of the Catey trophies awarded in the Great Room, The Grosvenor House Hotel, , Park Lane, London W1 on Monday July 5th. We have been nominated for the sustainable business award, The Cateys are the hotel industry’s equivalent to the Oscars and recognition from our industry peers does not come any higher than this. We look forward to an exciting evening in London.

Golden Jubilee Orchard Tree for RACROC

There was a very happy atmosphere in the hotel over the packed holiday weekend, John and Carrie had the pleasure of meeting up with the RACROC reunion party for a very special occasion on Sunday morning. RAC stands for the Royal Agricultural College and ROC for ‘Rocky’ Sillence, who with Yvonne, have been organizing their football club reunion weekend at Blunsdon for the last 38 years.

They are officially the hotel’s longest serving & most loyal customers, beating the Palestine Police Old Comrades Association by a whole 5 months! To mark the occasion a rare species of apple tree has been planted in the Golden Jubilee Orchard. As it was raining outside, the ‘tree’ was officially unveiled by Rocky and Yvonne in Zans Bar; under the cloth there was a coat stand disguised as the tree, and a collection of maroon coloured football shirts, Rocky stripped off and put his shirt on, everyone was pleased to see he has stayed in such a good shape over the years, roll on next year!

Congratulations to Chris and Mandy Clifford on the birth of their first baby. Olivia Clifford weighed in at 8lb 9oz at 4.20am on Sunday 11th April 2010. Mother and baby are doing well.

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The search is on for 50 brides from the last 50 years

Would you like to renew your wedding vows?

As part of our golden jubilee celebrations, we are hoping to find 50 couples who had their receptions at the hotel, one couple from each year since 1960. Those with the most interesting photos and stories to tell will be invited to attend a renewal of vows ceremony on Sunday 18th July, officiated by the Reverend Geoffrey Gleed.

It will be a nostalgic day with buffet and bubbly laid on free of charge for the lucky couples.

If you had your reception at Blunsdon and are interested contact Jane Day on 01793 720624 or email jane.day@blunsdonhouse.co.uk

Best venue award

We have recently received the “Best Venue” award from the UK’s largest hotel consortia, Best Western. We scooped the award at the Best Western National conference which was held at the Celtic Manor resort in February.

Best Western is a collective marketing organisation that represents over 280 independently owned hotels throughout the UK. We were nominated for “Best Venue” based on the feedback received from local customers and corporate clients.

The final decision was made by Best Western’s board of directors, many of whom are captains of industry, themselves experienced hoteliers. The AA’s national hotel service manager, Simon Numphurd, also described the award as “a great achievement”.

Commenting on the awards, Keith Pope, Director of Best Western UK, said, ‘We are delighted for the hotel. The team there embodies the true qualities and vision of the Best Western brand. The hotel has its own individual personality and character, but their truly outstanding standards of quality and service are universally appreciated by customers and fellow hoteliers alike.’

Chris Clifford said “Its great to receive such a prestigious national award, in what has proven to be difficult times for the hotel industry – the whole team can be very proud.”

We have recently refurbished our bars & public areas and constructed a brand new conference centre. There are 11 conference rooms which can cater for a huge variety of occasions, from small family gatherings to full blown blue-chip corporate events.

Chris added “It may seem counter intuitive to some to be investing large sums in refurbishment during an economic downturn however our customers deserve quality – it’s what they have come to expect from Blunsdon. Whilst this award and the recognition we receive from it is nice, we are constantly chasing the real prize – satisfied customers.”

A golden start to a golden year

We are celebrating 50 years in business this year and have been officially ranked the greenest hotel in the county of Wiltshire.

We have invested £200,000 over the last 18 months converting the building into a more environmentally friendly place and have now received a Gold Award from the Green tourism Business Scheme – one of only a handful throughout England, Scotland and Wales to receive the accolade.

It’s a golden start to our golden jubilee year. It’s quite a rare award and a lot of people apply for this. At Blunsdon House we have successfully implemented a host of environmental controls by simply scrutinising what and how we do things on a daily basis. We are proud to be the county’s greenest hotel, something we have managed to achieve without ever compromising on our guests’ comfort levels.

The Green Tourism Business Scheme awards recognise businesses that are taking action to support the local area and the wider environment. The scheme has been running in Scotland since 1997, but only became UK-wide last year.

Businesses are assessed by different criteria including management and marketing, social involvement and communication, energy, water, purchasing, waste, transport, natural and cultural heritage and innovation.

We have faced some significant challenges adopting green practices in the existing hotel, which opened in August 1960, than it might have been to build a new one with such environmental policies in mind.

It’s stopped being a window dressing exercise and become a requirement of modern business – people want to know. If you have got a choice between two premises and the only difference is this, 99 per cent of people would choose the green one because there is an ethical conscience developing.