East Lodge shortlisted for yet another prestigious award

East Midlands Tourism has unveiled the cream of the region’s tourism businesses which will go forward to the sixth annual East Midlands Tourism Enjoy England Excellence Awards. Yet again, East Lodge of Rowsley is shortlisted for an award; this time, it’s in the ‘Access for All’ category, in recognition of the hotel’s investment and efforts in making sure that the East Lodge experience is available to as many people as possible.

East Lodge will join the other 47 finalists from other leading East Midlands tourism organisations including Leicester City Football Club, Conkers, and Nottingham Tourism Centre at a gala awards dinner in Leicester on 8 October. Businesses from across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland will compete for the 15 awards. Some of the 2009 winners will have the opportunity to progress to the national final which will be held next spring. Also shortlisted from Rowsley in the ‘Small Hotel’ category - which East Lodge won last year – is one of East Lodge’s close neighbours, The Peacock.

Iain Hardman, one of the directors at the family-run East Lodge, said: "We have spent a great deal of time and money ensuring East Lodge is accessible to as many people as possible including wheelchair users, so it is extremely pleasing that this commitment has been recognised by the judges. Making a traditional country house hotel accessible to all is by no means simple and is not just a matter of throwing some money at it. There are many more sophisticated challenges that involve ensuring the guest experience remains high for all visitors. We have hopefully achieved the right balance and are delighted to have been shortlisted for this most recent award.

"It’s great to see that one of our nearest neighbours has also been nominated for the category we won last year, illustrating what an exciting hotspot of tourism excellence Rowsley is fast becoming.
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East Lodge is dedicated to providing the highest quality guest experience and developing its offering wherever customers will benefit. It is no stranger to awards, having received a raft of accolades for its service and hospitality, quality of food and accommodation, and overall first class guest experience.

East Lodge is owned by the Hardman family and has picked up a number of important accolades in recent years; East Lodge has again achieved the coveted AA "Inspectors’ Choice" accolade with three red stars for 2009/10, placing it within the top 150 hotels in the UK. East Lodge was named "Small Hotel of the Year 2008/09" at the East Midlands Tourism awards, and then went on to become a silver Winner as "Hotel of the Year 2009/10" at the national finals - renowned as the tourism Oscars. In 2007/08 East Lodge was named "Derbyshire Restaurant of the Year" and also scooped the Condé Nast Johansens "Most excellent service" & "Readers choice" award.
ENDS

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REF: EL0014 – Enjoy England Excellence Awards