University of Kent

The University of Kent in Canterbury is thrilled to have been awarded Group Travel Organiser’s ‘Best University Accommodation for Groups’ for the fifth consecutive year!
Simon Calder, travel-writer and broadcaster, presented the award to the University of Kent team at a prestigious ceremony at London’s Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel on 15 June.

The University fought off stiff competition from the 6 other universities shortlisted – St Aidan’s College at Durham University and the Universities of Exeter, Essex and Portsmouth as well as 2 London universities - Imperial College and King’s College.  Readers of Group Travel Organiser magazine vote for the award.

Speaking after the ceremony Kevin Stuckey, Residences & Conferences Manager, said:
“We are absolutely thrilled to win the award for the fifth year running. Continuous investment in our accommodation and a fair pricing policy, are key reasons for our year-on-year success in attracting groups to the University. However, this outstanding achievement really is a great public recognition of our fantastic, dedicated staff who work so hard across campus to maintain such high standards, year in year out’.

Set in 450 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds overlooking the historic city of Canterbury, the University offers some 4,000 rooms on campus. In 2011, £25 million was invested in refurbishing and redeveloping Keynes College which delivered an additional 500 bedrooms.  These 13 square metre bedrooms are some of the most spacious in the sector and include 96 double bedrooms, crucial for the leisure/group market. 

The University offers groups a wide range of accommodation options – from self-catering flats (each sleeping 5/6 people) or single standard or en-suite rooms in halls of residence on a room-only or b&b basis. 
Group rates start from only £17.75 per person (self-catering).
 
This latest award is a great start to a very special summer which sees the University providing accommodation for over 1,500 international clients attending the Olympic Games.
Leading German tour operator – DerTour - has selected it as one of their major accommodation hubs - and are basing the official German Olympic Youth Camp (60 boys/girls aged 16-19, part of the German Olympic team delegation) –
on the campus as well as the German Table Tennis Association and many other individual clients.
The Nepal Olympic Paralympic teams have selected the University for their pre-Games Training Camps.  Austrian tour operator – PDM Touristik – has 500 young American youth band musicians (taking part in the Cultural Olympiad) staying on the campus.
    
More information online at http://www.kent.ac.uk/conferences/groups/index.html      

'John Stuart, Chairman of the World Cup Organising Committee comments:

We are delighted to be hosting our Inaugural Hockey Masters World Cup in Kent this summer. We have chosen Polo Farm Sports Club at Canterbury, home of Canterbury Hockey Club, to host this World Cup. It is a premier centre of sports development in the South East of England, and can offer our 1200 international team participants wonderful top-class facilities in a magnificent location, just two miles to the east of Canterbury. Equally the University of Kent is an ideal ‘Athletes Village’ for our 60 hockey teams from all around the world, offering such a high standard of accommodation and the opportunity for participants to live together in one place and enjoy social time together, yet be so conveniently located both for Polo Farm and for the city of Canterbury’. It is anticipated that World cup will be the largest international hockey event ever staged in England and we hope it will be a fantastic exhibition of top class hockey. It takes place in the period between the Olympics and Paralympics and will be a great opportunity to watch some top class international hockey, especially for those people who didn’t manage to get Olympic tickets.

For further information, please email the admin team at hockeymasters@gmx.com or vist our website on www.hockeymastersworldcup.org

The University of Kent has been very successful attracting key overseas sports groups coming over to the UK for the 2012 Olympic Games.
DERTOUR - the leading German tour operator and authorised reseller for Olympic Games tickets in Germany - has selected the University as the accommodation base for many German sports groups.  Carsten Huefner, Product Manager with DER comments:
'The University of Kent offers great value accommodation in an ideal location, with Canterbury being so easily accessible from the Channel Tunnel and the port of Dover.  One of our biggest groups using the University is the German Table Tennis Association who will be based on the campus for their 3-week stay.  The excellent rail links to Stratford mean our groups can reach the Olympic Park very quickly from Canterbury.'
The Nepal Olympic and Paralympic teams have also chosen the University of Kent for their pre-Olympic Games Training Camps, in view of the excellent sporting facilities it can offer on campus.
Austrian tour operator - PDM Touristik - is bringing some 500 young Americans in youth bands to the UK who will perform in key cities during the Olympics.  PDM Product Manager Thomas Vogel comments:
'For our groups we are always in search of comfortable and affordable accommodation close to interesting locations. The University of Kent fulfils these requirements perfectly and helps us to meet the expectations of our clients.'
With the recent redevelopment of Keynes College adding an additional 500 new bedrooms, the University can now offer a total of 4,800 bedrooms.  This, together with the University's commitment to the 'Olympic Fair Pricing Charter' and proximity to London, make it an ideal location for Olympic groups.

For more information on group accommodation during the Olympics please contact Rachel Walmesley.

The University's £25 million pound redevelopment of Keynes College has received unanimous approval from students, staff and visitors alike. The redevelopment of the college has resulted in 500 new bedrooms (including 90 double rooms), the complete refurbishment of 162 existing bedrooms, and the extension of its popular flagship bistro, Dolche Vita. The redevelopment which commenced in October 2010, brings the total number of bedrooms on the Canterbury campus to 4,876.

The University of Kent in Canterbury is thrilled to have been awarded Group Travel Organiser’s ‘Best University Accommodation for Groups’ for the fourth year running!

The award was presented to the University of Kent team by travel-writer and broadcaster Simon Calder at a prestigious ceremony at London’s Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel on 10 June.

The University fought off stiff competition from the 6 other universities shortlisted – the London School of Economics, and the Universities of Exeter, Durham, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Reading. 
Readers of Group Travel Organiser magazine vote for the award. Group Travel Organiser’s editor, Abbe Bates, commented: “Many congratulations to the University of Kent for winning the â€˜Best University Accommodation for Groups’ at the Group Travel Awards for an extremely impressive fourth year running. The team should be justly proud that GTO readers have consistently rated the university's accommodation as the best in the country for groups".

A new venue, the Pavilion, will be available to hire for wedding receptions from 2011, in addition to the existing Darwin Suite. The recently built Pavilion is situated in our Park Wood Village and has a contemporary interior with a bar and 2 full-length balconies with far-reaching views over the sports fields and the countryside beyond. Drinks receptions may take place on the covered balconies or outside and up to 100 can be seated for dinner inside. For further information about wedding receptions at the University, download our Darwin Suite Wedding Packages, our Pavillion Wedding Packages or contact Louisa Grillo.

After 8 years, one of the world’s greatest golfing events is returning to Kent - the Royal St Georges Golf Club in Sandwich will host the British Open for the 14th time from 14th to 17th July 2011. As well as hosting the British Green Keepers' Association and the BBC, the University of Kent (only 16 miles away from the championship venue) is offering bespoke accommodation packages for visitors to the championships.

The University of Kent has been awarded the Group Travel Award for 'Best University Accommodation for Groups'  for the third year in succession. The award was presented to members of the University Conference & Housekeeping teams by travel writer and broadcaster Simon Calder at a prestigious ceremony at the London Hilton on Park Lane. Kevin Stuckey, Residences and Conference Manager said: 'To win it for the third time is an absolutely outstanding achievement and testament to the hard work that our staff put in to maintaining the high standards of our accommodation.'

Having been continuously recognised as an Investors in People organisation for over ten years, Kent Hospitality has been awarded IiP gold status following its reaccreditation assessment in March 2010. Over 40,000 organisations, with a combined workforce of 7.5 million, have IiP accreditation and our gold status places Kent Hospitality in the top 1% of all accredited organisations (as well as being the only business in Kent to have achieved gold status).

One of the largest events in the university catering calendar, the ‘TUCO Chefs Challenge’, took place at the Blackpool Hilton and Blackpool College. University of Kent’s chefs Rob Grimer, Ben Elsbury and Lesley Coleman competed against top chefs from many other universities to cook the winning main course, a superb dish of Gressingham duck with its own faggots, served with fresh fig and vanilla chutney. Congratulations to Rob, Ben and Lesley on their outstanding achievement!