Thistle Named First Hotel Group to Achieve Full Hospitality Assured Accreditation

LONDON, ENGLAND, September 02, 2010 (Press-News.org) Thistle has announced it is the first hotel group to be acknowledged with full Hospitality Assured accreditation throughout its entire portfolio having surpassed the strict assessment criteria within all of its hotels across the UK, a quarter of which achieving the highly-regarded 'world class' status.

Measuring the quality and service of customer facing businesses specifically within the leisure and tourism industry, the Hospitality Assured accreditation is recognition of the group's high standards across its portfolio of excellently-located properties.

Created by the industry's professional body, the Institute of Hospitality, the Hospitality Assured mark of approval takes into account the unique characteristics of the industry. It is measured by independent, experienced quality assessors who critically analysed each of Thistle's individual properties against ten customer-related steps, including: customer research, operational planning, standards of performance, training, development and customer satisfaction improvement.

These ten steps are broken down into 49 criteria that explored how Thistle's customer experience is devised, implemented, delivered and improved upon. In order to achieve accreditation, each of Thistle's hotels had to score at least 60% overall and a minimum of 50% for each step. The group greatly exceeded this standard, with a quarter of its properties marked with the Institute's exceptional 'world class' grading by achieving a score of 70% or higher.

Ann Corrigan, Managing Director of Hospitality Assured, commented: "The Hospitality Assured standard demands high quality standards and strong evidence of customer satisfaction, making it no mean feat for businesses across the industry. Thistle has demonstrated that it's a serious competitor within the hotel sector - setting its sights high, developing its teams accordingly and putting its entire portfolio of hotels completely to the test. The group achieved resounding success and we're delighted to be confidently marking them as a hotel group that offers excellent customer care as standard."

Heiko Figge, Managing Director, Guoman & Thistle Hotels, added: "This is an outstanding achievement for Thistle and we are delighted to become the first hotel group to be wholly awarded the Hospitality Assured accreditation.

"As our dedication to our guests is integral to all we do, this is such valuable industry recognition for the group. The accreditation provides us with a great tool to ensure our guests are in very safe hands when they stay with us; they can rely on our consistently high standards. The Institute's approval in this way guarantees our customer-service and care is exceptional every time, throughout all of our UK hotels."

Thistle is currently well underway with its significant refurbishment project, investing GBP100million to transform its portfolio into modernised, individual properties with a fresh, contemporary look and feel.

About Thistle
Thistle Hotels is part of Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited which operates hotels throughout the UK. Thistle has 33 hotels across the country including Exeter hotels, Poole hotels and Inverness hotels. Thistle also offers a number of hotels in superb city centre locations, including eleven in central London such as Westminster Hotels and hotels near Marble Arch. With a selection of restaurants and a choice of excellent health and leisure facilities, Thistle has something to offer everyone.

Thistle Hotels is the first hotel group to achieve Hospitality Assured accreditation, across its entire UK portfolio. Created by the Institute of Hospitality, the Hospitality Assured standard measures the quality within customer facing businesses across the hospitality, tourism and leisure industry.

Website: http://www.thistle.com/