Balfour House Apartment earns four-star accommodation from VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme

Balfour House Apartment earns four-star accommodation from VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme

 

EDINBURGH, Scotland, 2017-Jun-15 — /Travel PR News/ — A former University of Edinburgh building has graduated from a student hostel to luxury four-star accommodation.

Balfour House Apartment, a self-catering property in Newington, was given the accolade in VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme. The QA scheme is a benchmark for quality across the tourism industry and operates across accommodation, visitor attractions and food sectors.

Falling in love with the city on a family holiday, owner Jenny Yeo quickly realised Scotland’s Capital was the perfect location for holiday accommodation. Coming across the apartment in a brochure, she knew the place needed a lot of work but was mesmerised by the combination of stunning scenery and fascinating history that Balfour offered.

Built in 1913, Balfour House had been home to students from 1917 until 1997, when it became private flats. Located within East Suffolk Park, the Category B listed building boasts 11 acres of grounds which include tennis courts and garden.

Buying the property in December last year, Jenny took on the university challenge of turning a shoddy flat into luxury living quarters. As a starter for ten, she upgraded the heating system, replaced the flooring and furniture, and carried out a number of repairs. By the end of April, the renovation was complete and Balfour House Apartment was ready to welcome visitors.

Jenny Yeo said: “It’s great to receive this award from VisitScotland. A huge amount of time and effort was put into the renovation to make it a high standard of self-catering accommodation. It’s fantastic to see our efforts recognised.”

Manuela Calchini, VisitScotland Regional Director, said: “I would like to congratulate Jenny on this award. To achieve a four-star grading, particularly on the first attempt, is very impressive.

“Our Quality Assurance scheme helps businesses to reach their full potential and truly shine. The scheme is about more than just the ‘stars’ on the door – it’s about the entire visitor experience, about investing in your business and making it as economically sustainable as possible.”

VisitScotland star awards are indicators of quality and provide reassurance to visitors. The national tourism organisation offers support to businesses to ensure they meet and exceed the high standards expected by visitors.

For more information on Balfour House Apartments, go to www.visitscotland.com/info/accommodation/balfour-house-apartment-east-suffolk-park-p1548321

For more information on VisitScotland’s Quality Assurance scheme, go to www.visitscotland.org

Notes to Editors

    • Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
    • VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
    • The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
    • This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
      1. Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
      2. Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
      3. Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
      4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
      5. Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
      6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
      7. Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
    • To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
    • VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
    • The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
    • Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
    • The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
    • For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
    • Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)

2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology

  • 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
  • The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
  • For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017

Contact:
Grant Anderson
Corporate Communications Assistant
grant.anderson@visitscotland.com
0131 472 2416
Out of hours – 0131 472 2324

Source: Visitscotland

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