13.12.2024

These are the best hotels in Britain

A 19th-century former hunting lodge, a fairy tale gothic mansion and a converted Presbyterian church are among the winners of the 2018 Good Hotel Guide César Awards.

The full awards, featuring the best hotels, inns and B&Bs in Britain and Ireland, are to be announced on Monday.

Here, we exclusively reveal the winners…

Winner: Hambleton Hall in Hambleton, Rutland, was named the Best High-End Luxury Hotel in Britain

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

The Mash Inn, Radnage, Buckinghamshire

This former 18th-century inn has been brilliantly reinvented by Nick Mash as a restaurant-with-rooms.

Chef Jon Parry cooks over the fire in an open kitchen, using sumptuous local and home-grown ingredients.

His imaginative cuisine includes oysters with nettle sauce, chicken liver parfait, and goat’s cheese with haw jelly. Try the maple syrup and soy-marinated cod. Plates are made by a local potter.

Don’t miss: The turmeric ginger beer served at breakfast.

Details: B&B £100–£130 (01494 482440, themashinn.com).

A SEASIDE SMASHER

Soar Mill Cove Hotel, Salcombe, Devon

Take a picnic hamper down to a large sandy beach from Keith Makepeace’s hotel – which has won Seaside Hotel of the Year – or train binoculars on dolphins from your bedroom window.

By the seaside: Soar Mill Cove Hotel in Salcombe, Devon is known for its delicious seafood and breathtaking dolphin views

By the seaside: Soar Mill Cove Hotel in Salcombe, Devon is known for its delicious seafood and breathtaking dolphin views

There’s delicious seafood on the seasonal menus. The complimentary Devon cream teas served on the terrace overlooking the sea require a good walk afterwards.

Don’t miss: The chef’s pavlova, invented by Granny Makepeace, which Audrey Hepburn dubbed ‘divine’ when she stayed at the hotel in 1983.

Details: B&B £199–£329 (01548 561566, soarmillcove.co.uk).

HIGH-END LUXURY

Hambleton Hall, Hambleton, Rutland

Luxe: Michelin-starred food, antique furnishing and designer fabrics set the tone at this 19th-century former hunting lodge

Luxe: Michelin-starred food, antique furnishing and designer fabrics set the tone at this 19th-century former hunting lodge

Michelin-starred cooking, marble bathrooms, antique furnishing and designer fabrics set the tone at this 19th-century former hunting lodge, run by Tim and Stefa Hart. It wins the Luxury Hotel of the Year award.

Beautiful landscaped grounds border the broad expanse of Rutland Water. Noel Coward sang its praises when he stayed here in the Twenties.

Don’t miss: A boat ride around Rutland Water.

Details: B&B from £290 (01572 756991, hambletonhall.com).

TOP FOR ROMANCE

The Forest Side, Grasmere, Cumbria

Romantic: For a couples' getaway, entrancing gothic mansion The Forest Side Hotel in the Lake District is unbeatable

Romantic: For a couples’ getaway, entrancing gothic mansion The Forest Side Hotel in the Lake District is unbeatable

In the heart of Wordsworth country, this entrancing gothic mansion, in acres of landscaped gardens, has been given a multi-million-pound makeover. Stylish bedrooms and Kevin Tickle’s accomplished Michelin-starred cooking are among its considerable charms.

Don’t miss: A welcome pack for your dog includes biscuits, bed, bowls and a personalised welcome letter.

Details: B&B £209–£349 (015394 35250, theforestside.com).

COUNTRY HOUSE WINNER

Judges, Yarm, North Yorkshire
Luxurious: Judges Hotel in North Yorkshire offers 24-hour room valet service and rooms with four-poster sleigh beds

Canapés are served before a blazing fire in the drawing room filled with paintings and antiques at the Downs family’s Victorian mansion on the edge of the moors. Rooms have a four-poster or sleigh bed and designer fabrics.

Don’t miss: The 24-hour room valet service, which includes a shoe-shine.

Details: B&B £160–£260 (01642 789000, judgeshotel.co.uk).

BRITAIN’S BEST B&B

St Cuthbert’s House, Seahouses, Northumberland

Welcoming: St Cuthbert's House in Northumberland, a converted church, has been named the Best B&B in Britain

Welcoming: St Cuthbert’s House in Northumberland, a converted church, has been named the Best B&B in Britain

Admire the attention to detail at this welcoming B&B in a converted Presbyterian church, not far from Bamburgh Castle.

It stages regular concerts of American folk music. Breakfast includes bacon from the farm down the road and kippers from the local smokehouse.

Don’t miss: Lindisfarne mead to accompany your morning porridge.

Details: B&B £110–£125 (01665 720456, stcuthbertshouse.com).

INN OF THE YEAR

Red Lion Freehouse, East Chisenbury, Wiltshire

For foodies: Wiltshire's Red Lion Freehouse is renowned for inventive dishes. There's a B&B just down the road from the pub

For foodies: Wiltshire’s Red Lion Freehouse is renowned for inventive dishes. There’s a B&B just down the road from the pub

Chef/patrons Guy and Brittany Manning have a Michelin star for such inventive dishes as roast Cornish brill with smoked pork jowl and cocoa beans at their pretty, thatched gastropub. Watch ducks bobbing on the river outside your bedroom in a building just down the road from the pub.

Don’t miss: The crop circle tours in the summertime.

Details: B&B from £180 (01980 671124, redlionfreehouse.com).

WELSH CHARM

Llys Meddyg, Newport, Pembrokeshire

Full of personality: For Welsh charm, visit Llys Meddyg, a Georgian house with sophisticated food and serene rooms

Full of personality: For Welsh charm, visit Llys Meddyg, a Georgian house with sophisticated food and serene rooms

Infused with personality, Edward and Louise Sykes’s Georgian house stands on the village’s main street and is the Welsh Restaurant-with-Rooms of the Year winner.

Enjoy locally fished, farmed and foraged ingredients. The food is sophisticated and the rooms snug and serene.

Don’t miss: A walk on the Pembrokeshire coastal path.

Details: B&B £100–£120 (01239 820008, llysmeddyg.com).

IRISH HOTEL OF THE YEAR

Viewmount House, Longford, Co. Longford

Irish getaway: This elegant 17th-century manor in landscaped grounds is popular among locals and visitors alike

Irish getaway: This elegant 17th-century manor in landscaped grounds is popular among locals and visitors alike

Guests can curl up with James Joyce by a log fire in the library at Beryl and James Kearney’s elegant 17th-century manor in landscaped grounds.

Rooms have paintings, antiques and fresh flowers. Gary O’Hanlon’s cooking in the restaurant in the converted stables is worth a detour. The restaurant, packed with locals, is clearly the place to go for a celebration.

Don’t miss: Freshly squeezed clementine juice for breakfast.

Details: B&B from £67 (00 353 43 334 1919, viewmounthouse.com).

SCOTTISH HOTEL OF THE YEAR

Burrastow House, Walls, Shetland
Scottish spectacular: 18th-century Burrastow House is a homely bolthole for exploring the remote Shetland Isles

On the remote west side of Shetland, the welcome is as warm as the peat fires at Pierre Dupont’s 18th-century house. Gloriously situated on a bay overlooking the Sound of Vaila, it has a wonderfully homey atmosphere. The simple dinner is a social occasion presided over by Pierre, a charming, unobtrusive host. Look out for the honesty drinks cabinet, as fully stocked as the library.

Don’t miss: Irresistible kippers for breakfast.

Details: per person B&B £60 (01595 809307, burrastowhouse.co.uk)

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