Belize’s Chaa Creek receives thumbs up for Excellence

Belize’s Chaa Creek receives thumbs up for Excellence

Belize’s The Lodge at Chaa Creek was recently honoured with a Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor, the world’s largest travel site, according to the popular Belizean eco-resort’s owners.

“It’s very gratifying to be acknowledged by such a respected travel authority as Trip Advisor, and is something the entire Chaa Creek family takes pride in. The fact that Trip Advisor’s awards are based on customer reviews makes this distinction that much more valuable to us,” co-founding owner and GM Lucy Fleming said.

In announcing the award, Trip Advisor wrote, “The accolade, which honours hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor.

“When selecting Certificate of Excellence winners, TripAdvisor uses a proprietary algorithm to determine the honorees that takes into account reviews ratings,” the announcement continued.

Ms Fleming said that although Chaa Creek has won numerous environmental and tourism industry awards, Trip Advisor’s customer-driven acknowledgements are particularly appreciated by management and staff.

“This Certificate of Excellence tells all of us that our efforts are appreciated by those who matter the most to us; our guests. For over thirty years we have taken our guests’ comments seriously and use their feedback in our continuous improvement and quality assurance programs, and while we are blessed with a stunning, pristine location, it is our staff and the relationship with our guests that really defines Chaa Creek.

“So you can imagine how important this vote of confidence is,” she added.

The Lodge at Chaa Creek, described as Belize’s “Destination within a Destination”, due to its wide variety of activities, began life as Mick and Lucy Fleming’s family farm along the banks of the Macal River in western Belize. The Flemings started taking in travelers September 1981, the same month and year that Belize achieved independence. Since then Chaa Creek has grown into a 365 acre private nature reserve with a variety of accommodation options from the rustic Macal River Camp to luxury suites used by the British royal family and amenities such as a highly regarded restaurant, professional spa, Natural History Centre, butterfly farm, stables, fleet of canoes and more.

The family owned and operated eco-resort employs some 125 Belizeans and sponsors a range of environmental and community support initiatives through its Chaa Creek Cares program and other initiatives.

TripAdvisor sites reach nearly 260 million unique monthly visitors with more than 150 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 39 countries worldwide, including China.

Marc Charron, President of TripAdvisor for Business, said that, “TripAdvisor is pleased to honour exceptional hospitality businesses for consistent excellence. The Certificate of Excellence award gives top performing establishments around the world the recognition they deserve… From Australia to Zimbabwe, we want to applaud exceptional hospitality businesses for offering TripAdvisor travellers a great customer experience.”

Ms Fleming said she believes the acknowledgement will encourage management and staff to continue striving for excellence. “As a vote of confidence from our guests it’s a strong incentive to be the best that we can be,” she said.