Forty years ago, an article in the Observer gave birth to the Good Hotel Guide. Hilary Rubinstein, a literary agent, who had had a long association with the paper, lamented that advice on where to stay was sparse. To help him launch his new Guide, he asked for recommendations. ‘A hotel with character’, he noted, ‘needs all the encouragement it can get, it thrives on recommendations, it dies from neglect.’ More than 100 readers responded with enthusiasm.
AEL Y BRYN, Eglwyswrw, Wales, which won a César award this year as Welsh guesthouse of the year, is this month’s prize-giving hotel. From royal breakfasts to sociable dinners, Robert Smith and Arwel Hughes, generous hosts, have thought of everything a guest might need.
Ael y Bryn
All you need to do to win this handsome prize of dinner, bed and breakfast for two at AEL Y BRYN–the prize has to be taken before October– is to SEND A REVIEW of your favourite hotel or B&B in Great Britain or Ireland. See COMPETITION PAGE. We welcome reports on places that have never been in the Guide or have been omitted, as well as those that have a current entry.
Lynn Wildgoose from Stockport is the winner of last month’s prize of dinner, bed and breakfast for two at THE CROSS AT KINGUSSIE, Highland, which won a César award this year as Scottish Hotel of the Year. With its modern Scottish fare and lively atmosphere, this restaurant-with-rooms is proving popular for both locals and guests.
Fawlty Towers
‘This is a hotel that could do so much better. If the proprietor spent one night in each room and relinquished his ‘front of house’ duties, then many of the deficiencies might come to light. The water that runs from the basin because the pop-up plug won’t stay down. soap dish in the shower cubicle that is hanging off the wall. The built in wardrobe where it is too dark to see..’
Buy the Guide as a New Year’s treat
The 2017 print edition makes a great New Year’s treat.
To order a copy for £15 including p&p, a discount of 25% on the normal shop price
Alternatively, you can email: editor@goodhotelguide.com.
Or fax credit card details to 020-7602-4182. Or write to: 50 Addison Avenue, London, W11 4QP.
Discount vouchers worth a total of £150 are included in each copy. They enable a 25% saving off the normal B&B price at participating hotels.
Readers’ Reports
Readers’ reports are the lifeblood of the Guide which can be described as word of mouth in print. Please tell us about your hotel visits in the past year. Email: editor@goodhotelguide.com. We want to hear about hotels in the Guide as well as new discoveries. You need not write at length but all reports are candidates for the Report of the Month competition, the prize for which is a free hotel night including dinner, bed and breakfast at one of our top selected hotels.. We are particularly keen to hear about hotels in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Gift Vouchers
The Good Hotel Guide gift voucher makes an ideal birthday or wedding present. You can make a gift of any monetary value from £50-£500 by emailing: editor@goodhotelguide.com. The GHG gift voucher scheme allows the recipient to stay at any of the Guide’s 850 selected hotels at the time of their choosing. The Guide takes no commission and makes no charge to either the hotel or the guest, so you will get the full monetary value of the voucher. A complimentary copy of the Guide will also be sent to the recipient.
The Good Hotel Guide, founded 39 years ago, is totally independent. It receives no payments, no hospitality and no advertising from hotels selected for an entry in the printed edition. Hotels pay to be on the GHG website, but only those which have an entry in the printed Guide are eligible. Selected hotels are recommended by readers, backed where necessary by an anonymous inspection. The British edition of the Guide is published each autumn. Adam and Caroline Raphael, who own the Guide, are award-winning journalists. Caroline, a former BBC researcher and a travel writer, is editor-in-chief. She has worked on the Guide for more than three decades. Adam, who previously worked for the Guardian, the Observer, the BBC and the Economist, is the Guide’s marketing director. Astella Saw, formerly with Penguin and the BBC, is editor of the British Guide. Nicola Davies is editor of the Shortlist, and in charge of correspondence and research. Richard Fraiman is the Guide’s chief executive. The Guide specialises in small owner-managed hotels, inns and B&Bs in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and Ireland. It includes budget B&Bs, good-value hotels and inns as well as grand country houses and chic city hotels, all offering value for money in their price range.
