IT'S third time lucky for Brockencote Hall, which has been crowned small hotel of the year at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2015.

The 21-bedroom country house hotel in the village of Chaddesley Corbett, near Kidderminster, nominated for three successive years, finally lifted the title at a ceremony at the Sage Gateshead.

General manager Dean Gunston said: “After reaching the finals three times in a row, we’re so thrilled to at last walk away with the gold award. Our staff work incredibly hard to provide the very best for our guests so it’s wonderful that they have finally been rewarded with the highest possible accolade.”

James Berresford VisitEngland’s chief executive added: "We received hundreds of applications of an exceptionally high quality making the competition for a gold award extremely tough. It is therefore a tremendous achievement for Brockencote Hall to win a gold, the highest accolade for excellence in Tourism which VisitEngland can bestow. They have raised the bar for excellence for others to aspire to and I warmly congratulate them on their exemplary contribution to tourism in this country.”

This year 75 finalists – 15 gold winners, 15 silver winners, 15 bronze winners and 30 highly commended – were selected from 345 entries, representing tourism businesses across England. Winners were chosen by a panel of tourism industry experts.

VisitEngland chairman Lady Cobham said: “The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence celebrate the very best in English tourism and recognise the true champions of our industry. The competition is of an increasingly high standard and so I offer my sincere congratulations to all our winners.”

The VisitEngland award is the latest in a raft of accolades that Brockencote Hall has won over the past year, which include three AA Rosettes in the 2014 AA Restaurant Guide as well as the AA Inspectors’ Choice / 4 Red Stars for accommodation. Last October it was named best hotel for the third successive year in the Visit Worcestershire Awards for Excellence, as well as winner of the best business tourism award. Brockencote Hall is part of the privately-owned Eden Hotel Collection, the AA Small Hotel Group of the Year 2014 / 2015.