TUCKED away at the edge of a quiet village in rural Worcestershire is a hotel that cannot stop picking up awards for its excellence.

Eckington Manor has been recognised as one of the best in Britain after being named in the Good Hotel Guide.

The manor was a disused farm when Judy Gardner bought it in 2004.

She said: "The buildings were in very poor condition when we bought the place.

"We came up with the idea of turning it into a hotel."

After four years of planning, redevelopment and design, Eckington Manor opened to its first guests in 2008.

The manor consists of over a dozen rooms split across several buildings.

There are five rooms in the Old Farmstead, six rooms in the Milking Parlour, four rooms in the Cyder Mill, and two rooms in the Grain Barn as well as the large celebration room which can be used for events.

The reception building is home to the manor's 36-seat restaurant and a cookery school.

Mrs Gardner explained how it feels to be named in the Good Hotel Guide: "It's really important for us, but any award is really for the staff.

"It's all about the people who work for you.

"Some of my team have been with me for over a decade, we're very much a family type business."

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It is not the first award that the team at Eckington Manor have been recognised for their excellence.

In March, the hotel was named the Small Service Accommodation Provider of the Year at the Visit Worcestershire Tourism Awards.

The hotel has also won the prestigious Visit England Gold Award, something which Mrs Gardner is particularly proud of: "Not many hotels have a gold award.

"I asked the inspector what we did that made us so special and he told me that it was the quality that we have put into this place.

"Everything is of really high quality in the hotel and the team all work so hard to maintain that."

With the constantly evolving hospitality sector, Mrs Gardner and her team are continuing to strive for the best.

She said: "The industry is in a different mode right now.

"Hospitality is suffering and we have to make certain changes."

"We have some exciting plans for the future, but we're not quite ready to share them yet."