Scott Wilshaw, manager of Judges Country House Hotel in Knutsford, Cheshire, has won an award for providing outstanding service by a consortium of industry peers.
Grand Heritage Hotels International, a consortium of 144 privately owned properties across the UK, presented Wilshaw with the Swan Award, which usually goes to a hotel rather than an individual.
However, the nomination process and subsequent voting revealed Wilshaw to be so popular for his work in improving service standards at Judges that the format of the award was changed.
Examples of changes at Judges during Wilshaw's 18 months there included staff helping guests to wash their cars and joining them for workouts in the hotel's gym.
The hotel has received the AA's three-red-stars status and the RAC Blue Ribbon award for excellence during the last year. The hotel has also made it into the AA's top 200 UK hotels list and has received plaudits from both associations for the quality of its food.