The very best of British hotels unveiled

LONDON, England – The very best of British hotels was unveiled at the ninth annual Travellers’ Choice Hotel awards.

The awards recognise the best hotels around the world across categories including best budget, best luxury, best B&B and best service. Unlike any other hotel awards, Travellers’ Choice awards are based on the experiences of millions of travellers from around the world.

This year small and independently-owned properties dominate the UK’s Top 25 hotels category. This follows on from a recent poll revealing that more than half (56%)* of Britons consider a hotel’s brand ‘not important’ in their holiday selection.

“These awards celebrate the stars of the British hotel industry, yet global brands are conspicuously missing from the Top 25 list this year,” comments Emma O’Boyle, TripAdvisor spokesperson. “British B&Bs have performed extraordinarily well too, but in terms of value there is still work to be done to convince tourists that British hotels offer good value for money.”

Despite good news for Britain’s B&B industry, with the UK all but dominating this global category, the same cannot be said for those hoping for a value break – not a single UK property features in this year’s European Top 10 ‘Bargain Hotels’ category, despite a favourable exchange for most travellers coming to Britain this year.

Best of British Third Year Running

For the third consecutive year, Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire has been awarded the coveted accolade of Britain’s Best Hotel.

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park comments on his 2011 Travellers Choice Hotel award, “”We are thrilled to receive the TripAdvisor Award for Best Hotel in the UK for the third year running, proving that an independent Yorkshire hotel can match and beat the most famous names in British Hospitality”.

“At Rudding Park we believe that TripAdvisor is one of our most powerful marketing and service improvement tools. The Management automatically receives the TripAdvisor reviews and respond to them on a daily basis. Potential guests can read honest reviews about the standards which we aim to achieve, enabling them to choose Rudding Park over our competitors.”

The second best hotel in Britain this year is The Old Rectory in Exmoor, Devon and third place goes to Boskerris Hotel in St. Ives, Cornwall.

Budget Blow for British Hotels

As VAT rises and the budget cuts take hold, budget-conscious travellers will be disappointed to hear that not a single British hotel made it into this year’s European ‘Bargain Hotels’ list, which was highly populated with Eastern European hotels.

“The recent TripAdvisor 2011 Travel Trends research revealed that fewer Brits are planning to take a domestic holiday this year, a trend which could be attributed to the perceived lack of high-quality, low-price accommodation in the UK made clear through the Traveller’s Choice Awards,” continued TripAdvisor’s Emma O’Boyle.

London Left Behind

While parts of the country, particularly Devon, excel in this year’s awards, the UK’s capital is not shining as brightly. With the 2012 Olympics on the horizon, the world’s eyes will soon be on London – a city conspicuous in its absence from the UK’s top 25 hotels.

This is the second consecutive year in which the capital failed to produce finalists in the top 25 UK hotels list. With the countdown on and only 18 months to go, it’s likely London’s hospitality industry will be working hard to make sure London performs as a world-class tourism destination next year.

World-Class British B&Bs

The good old B&B is a UK institution so it’s fantastic news that Britain’s B&Bs are officially the best in the world, with six British properties ranking among the world’s top ten. Scotland’s The Old Manse in Invermoriston has been crowned number one in the world.