‘Just to let you know two very different experiences with GHG entries. Moyness House Inverness. Booked for 17 May for 4 nights. Paid 30% deposit. I requested a refund on 16 April but no refund is in sight. It feels I have made a compulsory interest-free loan. I will not be re-booking. Trefeddian Aberdovey. Booked… Read more
By Adam Raphael So where are we? The short, unsatisfactory answer is inching towards normality. Hotels will probably be welcoming their first paying customers next month. Three- quarters of hospitality businesses say they are ready to open by July 4th. But the government has yet to publish the details on how they will be allowed… Read more
By Adam Raphael ‘If we are going to have to operate like a hospital and give second-rate service, we will remain shut. Guests do not want to come away to a sanatorium.’ A tough, not untypical comment. But the good news from our selected hotels is that a clear majority (58%) intend to open as… Read more
By Adam Raphael Hotels may be closed, but they are not down. The Guide’s postbag is full of tales from properties preparing for reopening. Deep cleaning and painting to staff training and improving websites are under way. When restrictions are eased, as I believe they will be in the next few weeks, the public will… Read more
By Annabelle Thorpe In many ways, travel is like fashion; trends come and go – one year every A-lister wants to be seen hanging out at a Moroccan riad, the next there’s nothing cooler than a Caribbean island retreat. So what’s the big news for 2020? Where should we all be holidaying, and why? The… Read more
By Adam Raphael Judging by the Guide’s postbag, the most common source of bad blood between guests and hotels is cancellation fees. A Devon hotel attracted headlines a few years ago when it sought to reclaim £1,000 from the estate of a woman who had cancelled six weeks in advance of her booking, just before… Read more
By Adam Raphael Breakfasts are under-staffed and under-rated but they are arguably the most important meal of the day . That is why the Guide has created a special web page: HOTELS WITH GREAT BREAKFASTS. The title is misleading because some of the best breakfasts are in B&Bs. And some of the worst are… Read more
By Adam Raphael New Year, new beginnings but also a very sad ending. To make your fame and fortune in hospitality, you need more than talent, taste and grinding hard work. Take the saga of the Salutation in Sandwich, Kent, a Lutyens-designed seaside hotel with a glorious garden. Eighteen months ago, it won one of… Read more
Getting ahead of the competition as a small or independent hotel The UK’s hotel industry is highly competitive. It is estimated that travellers have around 60,000 hotels nationwide to choose from, and PWC predicts that the industry will continue to grow, despite a challenging economic environment . For hotel chains, the answer to attracting customers… Read more