Insolvency

The worst of times

One distinguished Irish hotelier wrote to me this week: 'If I hear that word 'challenging' any more, I shall shoot someone.' The notion that only badly run businesses go to the wall is disproved by the fate of a few of the Guide's hotels in recent weeks. Gravetye Manor at East Grinstead in West Sussex, Egerton Grey at Porthkerry, and An Lochan at Tighnabruaich in Scotland are now in the hands of adminstrators. All three were well-established, excellent hotels, well liked by our readers. So what went wrong? Individual circumstances of course differ, but the current recession, the most severe in a generation, is taking its toll on leisure businesses across the country. Hotel insolvencies,which increased by more than 160% last year are predicted to increase for at least another twelve months.

Suprisingly, many of our selected hotels and B&Bs reported doing well last year. Michael Cooper, owner of Cnapan, a Welsh restaurant-with-rooms, which has been in the Guide for more than 20 years, told me that they were running at 90% capacity through spring and summer of 2009. But this year things are different. 'The credit crunch and then the recession has been a double whammy,' one hotelier in the North of England told me this week: ' We are located in a beautiful and peaceful part of the country... but during this current climate we have struggled to tempt people to try our unique location. People seem to be reducing the amount of breaks they take each year....we are seeing a drop in bookings.'

The recession is undoubtedly having a delayed effect. Many readers of the Guide plan holidays, even short breaks, a long way ahead. Last year, they were reluctant to cancel bookings already made despite the gathering storm clouds. This year despite signs that the economy is improving, they are more cautious. This mood will pass, but until it does, life will be difficult even for exceptional hotels.

One final point I can't resist making. When times are tough, it makes no sense to cut back on marketing. Successful hotels know how vital it is to promote themselves. There are many outstanding hotels in the Guide; few are as skilled at marketing as they are at running their hotels.

Adam Raphael

Special offers

Spring time

1. Where better place than Devon for a spring break? Nonsuch House at Kingswear, which has stunning views of the Dart estuary, is offering a three-night holiday from Sunday to Thursday for £300. The offer in this charming Edwardian guest house includes a three-night stay for two in an ensuite room with dinner on one evening.

2. Fancy a box of smoked salmon, prawns and mackerel from a world-famous oysterage? Then take yourself off to the Crown and Castle at Orford, Suffolk which has a mid-week offer which includes this in a three night package starting at £390 per couple. Great value and an enchanting part of England. The offer is available until March 31st.

3. Nor can I resist the romantic spiel of Gilpin Lodge's one-night dinner, bed and breakfast for £230 per couple. 'After a bracing country walk, sink into deep sofas beside blazing fires, or perhaps enjoy a steaming cedarwood hot tub before a fabulous dinner of locally sourced produce.' More special offers below, and lots 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 freebie

Any fool can find an expensive hotel which charges fancy prices. Finding good-value hotels and B&Bs when they are building up their reputation is more difficult. That is why the Guide relies on its readers to come up with these new discoveries. To encourage them to do so, we are offering a prize this month of dinner, bed, and breakfast for two at the Evesham Hotel, a family-friendly, quirky and informal hotel, run by John Jenkinson, a splendid eccentric who refuses to serve French wines. The prize will go to whoever our editorial team judges has come up with the most promising hidden gem. So don't delay. Get cracking and click on Send a Review. Last month's winner for the best written review was Mr Frank Millen from Northolt, who wrote an entertaining few lines about The Evesham. He wins a free night at the Traddock, a fine hotel in the Yorkshire Dales.

Hotel Tales

Basil Fawlty

1. 'Hi, we're at Abergavenny station and want to get to your pub.' Julie, the host at a hotel near Brecon: 'The best way to get to us is by taxi. Can I get you a number?' Customer: 'No, a taxi is too expensive. Do you not have transport available to get us?' Julie: 'Sorry, afraid not'. Customer: 'You can't be far away, you are not being very helpful. How far are you away? We'll walk.' Julie: '50 minutes by car, are you sure I can't get you a taxi number?' Customer: 'What...expletive'.....dial tone.

2. In the drawing room before dinner, a young woman began to kiss her male companion with such fervour and thoroughness that the low-key conversations around them ceased. This continued for about 20 minutes, until they were called for dinner. As she passed our sofa, the woman said to my wife: ‘I’m trying to give up smoking.’ Of course, why hadn’t that occurred to us?

3. Breakfast service was very slow. There was no buffet. The staff had a long journey from the kitchen, and carried only a single item each time. It took 45 minutes for us to be served. We thought the place expensive, and wrote to complain. The proprietor effectively replied: ‘Tough luck, you won’t be coming back again, so why should I bother with you?’

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 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.