The Vicksburg Courtyard by Marriott has reached a high plateau among the other properties owned by parent company Marriott International.

The hotel is among the top 5 percent of the 954 Courtyards in the U.S., and has received the platinum award for the fourth time in its six years of operation. The hotel’s bistro, its onsite restaurant and bar, also received awards for breakfast speed and efficiency and evening food and beverage satisfaction.

“I’m very, very, overwhelmed by winning this award,” manager Theresa Baker said of the platinum award. “We won one last year, and I was praying and hoping that we would win one this year. We didn’t just win one (award), we won three, so the entire operation is really successful.”

Baker, who started at the hotel as a front desk clerk when Courtyard opened in 2009, said the award was the result of the efforts of the entire hotel staff.

“It just doesn’t come from me. Everybody, as a team, the whole staff, did a great job. Sometimes it can be very challenging trying to cater to everybody’s needs, and at Marriott, we have different standards of guests that we have to adhere to. We have not only succeeded at that with those guests, but with everybody overall, and I’m proud of our success. I hope we win another one in 2015.

Roy Patel, chief executive officer for Southern Hospitality Services LLC, which operates the Vicksburg Courtyard, agreed.

“This is the very highest achievement, something to be proud of,” he told the employees at a Tuesday afternoon lunch meeting. “This award goes to each and everyone working here, not to us. You work so hard and make this thing happen. We are really proud of you guys.”

Lynn Foley, Courtyard’s director of sales and marketing, called receiving the platinum award a tremendous honor and “something that I’m proud to be associated with. It makes my job a whole lot easier when I can be proud of the product and service I represent. We have an incredibly dedicated, committed staff that I know I can rely on to provide excellent service to the customers I bring in to the hotel.”

Courtyard owner Paul Patel, said the hotel in 2010 was the top Courtyard in the U.S.  He attributes the hotel’s success to Baker’s leadership and the standards set but Southern Hospitality.

“We have strict standards that we follow,” he said. “We have 22 hotels in Mississippi, Louisiana, and California, and everyone follows the same standards, and of course, we have a very good staff.

“A lot of people in Vicksburg say we don’t have the talent, well this proves we do — four years out of six years. We do have talent here. I guess it’s just training.”