Tourism

Manners maketh woman

Common courtesy goes a long way. The older I get, the more fed up I get with people who can’t be bothered to reply to letters. Four months ago, I wrote to Lady Cobham, head of VisitEngland, an official body whose mission is to promote tourism, asking if we could meet. Two months later, having heard nothing, I rang her office, which occupies grand premises in London. Her personal assistant confirmed that my letter had been received. When I asked why I hadn’t received a reply, there was a nervous giggle with a promise that my letter would be drawn to the lady's attention. Another two months has now gone by, and still not a squeak from Lady C, who is obviously busy with more important matters. As one of Whitehall’s quango queens, Penny Cobham, fomerly a special advisor to David Mellor at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, has fingers in many pies. One of the more lucrative, if ill-fated, was the chairmanship of the British Casino Association, which has now been wound up following its failure to persuade the government to licence casinos throughout the land. For her one-and- a-half days a week on behalf of Britain’s tourist industry, she receives £33,840.

VisitEngland's mission is to encourage both domestic and foreign tourism, which is why I thought a meeting might be of use. The low priority given to tourism by successive governments has contributed to a 40% decline in Britain’s share of the booming world holiday market in the past 30 years and an annual balance of payments deficit of nearly £20 billion. Ministers' neglect of tourism, reflected in the fact that it is not even mentioned in the title of its sponsoring department, is lamentable. As Britain’s fifth-largest industry, it employs over 1.4 million people and generates nearly £100 billion for the economy every year. Each pound invested in the industry results in an estimated 30-1 pay-back. Despite this huge return, the government decided to cut 20% off the £50 million budget of VisitEngland and its parent body, VisitBritain this year. Even the impoverished Caribbean island of Aruba now spends more to attract American tourists than Britain. Given this background, you might have thought that Lady Cobham needed allies. But, no doubt, I am naive.

Adam Raphael

Special offers

Springtime

.1.It may be getting warmer, but who can resist a steaming cedarwood hot tub before a dinner of locally sourced produce of perhaps ballottine of organic salmon, horseradish and potato mousse, or loin of local venison in pancetta. That is part of a special offer this month by Gilpin Lodge, a Relais & Chateaux hotel set in woodlands and gardens near Windermere in the Lake District. It is offering one night’s dinner, bed and breakfast from £230 for two (normally £290), with a complimentary upgrade on arrival.

2. Another special offer that caught my eye is the Bay Horse at Ulverston’s two-night spring break for £170 per person in a sea view room together with dinner, breakfast, and a complimentary bottle of champagne. 

3. There are some good value deals on the GHG website. One of the best is at The Rose and Crown at Romaldkirk where prices start at £89 per person per night.. Book any two nights mid-week and you get a free third night with just breakfast and dinner to pay for.

.More special offers below, and there are many more are on our Special Offers page.

Hotels, inns and B&Bs with a special offer (click and see)

Send in a Review

Win a free stay

This is the time of year when we research and write the next edition of the Guide. Our editorial team is hard at work sifting through the thousands of comments that readers’ have sent us over the year.

We track and record all those who write to us, as a guard against collusive and malicious reports. A single reviewt from a new reader is listed as an ‘N1’, a regular reader is listed as ‘R’, the next in line is ‘T’ for trusted. Lastly, there are detailed reports from our Inspectors, who are recruited mostly from the ranks of our readers. We pay for their dinner, a modest bottle of wine, and an overnight stay for two, but they do it for love, travelling long distances at their own expense.

Last month’s winner of a free night at The Evesham Hotel, goes to Mary Wilmer from Cambridge who sent us excellent reports on three London hotels. This month’s prize of dinner bed and breakfast for two is being kindly sponsored by The Punch Bowl at Crosthwaite, a 300- year-old inn which won one of our coveted Cesar awards in this year’s edition. So get cracking and click on Send a Review. Five minutes on the computer could win you a fantastic prize.

Hotel Tales

Basil Fawlty

1. 'The bedroom was musty. When we raised this point with the owner, we received the Fawlty-esque reply: ‘No-one has ever complained about it.’ This remark I had always considered to be one perhaps thought but never expressed by a hotelier. At dinner, we had to give up on the duck which was too tough. We don’t often complain, but in the past a comment like this has resulted in a brandy on the house. Not here. You’ve guessed it: ‘No-one else has complained.’

2. 'Are you able to accomodate an elderly blind border terrier please? We will be in the Stirling area later in the year and are considering a trip to Ullapool.'

3. 'We arrived about 6pm and were immediately offered tea and cake, gratefully received. We had said on booking that we would like to dine at about 8pm. The lady who greeted us on arrival asked if we could eat at 7pm. We agreed a 7.30 time, but were disconcerted at 7.35 by a knock on the door to say that dinner was ready. We went down. No question of a pre-dinner drink. We were shown to our table and the meal was immediately produced. The sample menus, which had been sent to us when we booked, suggested a choice of dishes. No way. We were served soup, halibut and a dessert, indifferently cooked. The dining room was ill let, with depressing black curtains, and was as inhospitable an eating area as the rest of the house was inviting.'

BUY tHE gUIDE

Plan that spring break

The 2010 edition of the Good Hotel Guide to Great Britain and Ireland is the gateway to your spring and summer holiday. Discount vouchers worth a total of £150 are included with each copy. They enable a 25% saving off the normal B&B price at participating hotels. A copy of the Guide costs £17.50 (including £2.50 p&p), compared to a retail price of £20.

Click here to buy now!

The Good Hotel Guide, founded 32 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 hotels 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 edit 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 30 years. Adam, who previously worked for the Guardian, the Observer, the BBC and the Economist, is the Guide's marketing director. Desmond Balmer, formerly travel editor of the Observer, is editor of the British guide. 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 as well as grand country houses and chic city hotels, all offering value for money in their price.range.