Whether it’s a classic episode of Fawlty Towers or Alex Polizzi’s latest TV series, the words Hotel Inspector can strike fear into venues across the UK.
But two Cotswold venues are this week embracing the challenge by hosting a four-day residential training course for 60 hotel inspectors.
The course is being run by G4S’s Quality in Tourism (QiT) team – which has a license to assess on behalf of VisitEngland – and is being hosted at the award-winning Cotswold Conference Centre, near Broadway. Course attendees will also spend one evening taste-testing at the nearby Dormy House Hotel.
Entitled ‘Food for Thought’ the training is a refresher course for the experts, most of whom have many years’ experience assessing accommodation on behalf of VisitEngland.
The delegates are brushing up on every area of their trade, from how best to judge food and spot which carpets work well in a venue, to hearing updates on the latest hospitality marketing and website trends.
However, the prospect of 60 hotel inspectors instinctively running the rule over the service and surroundings during the week has only enthused the Cotswold Conference Centre.
Operations Manager Richard Howdle said: “Even though they are on a training course I’m quite sure, in their heads, all the inspectors will be assessing our rooms, food and service during their stay, but I’ve absolutely no doubt that we’ll meet their expectations.
“We have had a wide range of clients over the years and a residential course for hotel assessors is just one more exciting challenge for the team.”
QiT’s role is not only to inspect hotels and B&Bs, but also to offer positive advice to venue owners on how they can improve their services. The course will ensure that the assessors are up-to-date with the latest industry standards.
Guy Levoir, Operations Manager for G4S Assessment Services, is leading the course.
“We have expert speakers in everything from flooring and carpeting to food and websites so that the assessors can provide the best advice to the 23,000 VisitEngland venues across the country,” he said.
“It’s a highly specialised training course for experts in their field. They never really switch off and at a residential event like this the attendees are inevitably assessing everything around them – it’s what they do.”
During the week, the Cotswold Conference Centre’s catering team will be put to the test as the attendees are expected to get through 420 cups – or 14 gallons – of tea and coffee, 480 biscuits, almost 300 cakes as well as several hundred rashers of bacon and sausages.
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