MELDRUM HOUSE STRIKES GOLD 10/07/12

A luxury hotel in Aberdeenshire has been awarded four-star gold status by the national tourism organisation.

Meldrum House, situated in Oldmeldrum, was given the award following a visit from members of VisitScotland's Quality Assurance team.

Peter Walker, Hotel General Manager at Meldrum House, said: "It has been a bit of a journey since I arrived in 2009, when Meldrum House was a two-star hotel. We are absolutely delighted to achieve four-star gold from VisitScotland and it reinforces Meldrum House's position as a quality product."

There has recently been a multi-million pound renovation of the hotel, including converting the Old Laird's Apartment into two separate luxury suites.

Shona Anderson, Regional Director at VisitScotland, said: "Meldrum House is a perfect example of the kind of outstanding luxury accommodation available in this region and I would like to offer my congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to achieve four-star gold status. With Scotland under the international spotlight like never before, the quality of the accommodation on offer is more important than ever. However, VisitScotland's world-leading Quality Assurance Scheme is about more than just the stars above the door - it is about the entire visitor experience - and factors such as the warmth of the welcome, excellent facilities, amazing service and, increasingly, value for money are all expected in a holiday."

VisitScotland's Gold award recognises businesses which consistently achieve the highest levels of excellence within their VisitScotland star grading. Businesses achieving the award excel in the areas of customer care and hospitality and show evidence of a real commitment to staff development and training.

VisitScotland's Quality Assurance Scheme currently boasts almost 8,000 members and the national tourism organisation is aiming to increase this substantially by the end of 2012. 94% of participants in the scheme, which has been used as an example of best practice with  countries all over the world including Sweden and Namibia, have made an investment in their business in the last two years, totalling around
£70 million.