Private rooms | Family Rooms | Dorm Rooms
British Youth & Travel Awards 2017 Finalist
December 13th, 2017
Last week at the British Youth & Travel Awards 2017 Cohort was awarded BRONZE in the category of Best Accommodation and WE ARE OVER THE MOON!
The British Youth Travel Awards are run by the British Education Travel Association and are the industry’s opportunity to reward high achievers, gain recognition, and raise the profile of the work and individual successes of organisations engaged in youth, student and educational travel, to from and within the UK.
Best Accommodation
The Best Accommodation category is judged on a number of criteria including Customer Care, Accessibility & Sustainability, Commitment to Health & Safety and Staff Engagement & Training. It was a hefty application form and we even surprised ourselves at how much we had to say.
Only independent hostel
The competition was stiff with a 41% increase in applications and we were amazed when we found out that we were the only independent hostel in the final; the other two finalists being one of a group of hostels.
Both Hatters Hostels (Hilton Chambers) and St Christopher’s Inns (London Bridge) are amazing hostels who have been going a long time and we were honoured to be on a list alongside them.
Prestigious judging panel
Judges included Mike Clewley, Cultural Tourism Officer, Greater London Authority; Trudi Pearce, Director of Responsible Tourism, Brighter PR and Clare Mullin, Marketing Director, VisitBritain so there was hardly a shortage of expertise.
The award ceremony
We unfortunately couldn’t make the award ceremony in London due to commitments in Cornwall however we did have representation there – quite pushy representation as they managed to get themselves in the front row of the group photos!
Look at our lovely rep Rosie Rotbart (my mum!).
School accommodation in St Ives
We love working with schools and teachers who go above and beyond to plan inspirational trips for their students. We have groups as small as 7 staying with us for 1 night and school groups who take over the whole hostel for 4 nights. In all cases teachers / organisers are offered a free planning stay, breakfast and packed lunch options and all have access to the free downloadable resources on our website.
Educational travel in St Ives
St Ives is a truly fantastic destination for schools – it’s safe, it’s beautiful, it has beaches, art galleries, surf and great walking. Many of the students who stay with us (and some of the teachers) didn’t realise the UK could be this beautiful!
We have fantastic contacts with artist educators, local organisations, historians, storytellers and (maybe most importantly) local eateries and chefs and are always happy to help teachers plan their itinerary.
This is what makes this award so special, we get truly excited about promoting St Ives as an educational destination and love ensuring that the schools and groups who stay with us get the absolute most out of their stay; to be recognised for that is flipping awesome!
School trips to St Ives
More information about School Art Trips and Educational Visits to St Ives can be found online and if you’re a teacher or school trip organiser and are interested in talking to us about a trip to St Ives please get in touch. We can be reached on hello@www.stayatcohort.co.uk or call on 01736 791664.