We give our Cesar Awards to the twelve best hotels of the year. Named after Cesar Ritz, the most celebrated of hoteliers, these have been called the Oscars of hotel keeping.
Cesar Winners 2023
Cesar Winners

Morston Hall
Holt
Best hotel in East Anglia. Birdwatchers and bon vivants alike beat a path to Tracy and Galton Blackiston’s Michelin-starred restaurant-with-rooms in a flint farmhouse with Blakeney nature reserve on the doorstep. Even though it has a Michelin star, it is still friendly and relaxed, with a contemporary country house look in the bedrooms. At night, feast on the seven-course tasting menu of locally sourced or home-grown produce, and awake to locally smoked fish or a full English with boudin noir and kidneys.

Eddrachilles Hotel
Scourie
Best hotel in Scotland. A youth hostel in the 1950s, this magical place overlooking Badcall Bay is as far as you can imagine from a world of dormitories with lumpy beds and lumpier porridge. A cream tea is served in the conservatory, there’s a choice of 60 malt whiskies in the lounge bar, and readers report by the dozen that both the nightly-changing menu of food and the porridge are delicious. Bedrooms have had a swish make-over, and some have beautiful loch views.

The Falcon
Castle Ashby
Best hotel in the Miclands. There’s a reason they call Lord Northampton the Mystic Marquess. He and his wife Tracy have placed well-being right at the core of their reinvented 16th-century coaching inn on the Castle Ashby estate. Take a yoga class or a gong bath, book a nature trail in the castle grounds and swim in the lake designed by Capability Brown. It’s not posh in the least, with a relaxed air throughout the beautiful interiors, in earthy, mossy tones to reflect the surrounding countryside.

The Mustard Seed at Echo Lodge
Ballingarry
Best hotel in Ireland. Warm Irish hospitality and superb food are on offer at this Victorian country mansion, where the restaurant is a destination in its own right. Angel Pirev uses food from the kitchen garden and orchard to help create his well-received menus, served in the deep-blue restaurant with its wedding-cake plaster ceiling. Traditional-style bedrooms have fabrics and wallpaper by Zoffany, Jane Churchill, Cole & Son; everywhere there is carefully chosen artwork and furniture, plus vases brimming with flowers.

The Henley
Bigbury-on-Sea
Best hotel in the South West. It’s worth booking into this seaside bolt-hole just for the spectacular views over the sands to Burgh Island (rooms come with binoculars). But guests also really appreciate the friendliness of owners Petra Lampe and Martyn Scarterfield, who make everyone feel at home. Take the path down to the beach, sit on the inviting decked terrace, and tuck into Martyn’s nightly-changing evening meals in the garden room, where the seascape provides a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.

The Pig in the Forest
Brockenhurst
Best hotel in the South of England. A whole litter of pigs has entered the world since Robin Hutson opened the first of a new breed in 2011. While they’re all special, it’s the mother pig in the New Forest that reinvented the English country hotel, with food sourced from within a 25-mile radius and its kitchen garden. The ethos is hip not hooray, with nothing too hammed up about Judy Hutson’s shabby-chic interiors. The only fly in the pigpen is that Pigs aren’t for pups: dogs have to stay at home.

Penally Abbey
Tenby
Best hotel in Wales. Owner Melanie Boissevain is an interior designer and it shows: together with her family she has created stylish, relaxing rooms in this Strawberry Hill Gothic house on the coast a five-minute drive from Tenby. Antiques rub shoulders with French market finds, blowsy wallpapers and Persian rugs. Enjoy Modern British cuisine in the romantic dining room, with Arcadian-print wallpaper and candlelight, as well as views over the bay to the Gower peninsula through romantic cusped windows.

Westmorland Hotel
Penrith
Best hotel in the North of England. Talk about reinventing the motorway service station. Formerly Tebay Services Hotel, this Lake District hotel on the M6 was created by the resourceful Dunning family after the M6 carved up their hill farm. It offers quiet rooms with fell views, tasty Cumbrian food, excellent value for money and what readers describe as a feeling of ‘peace and well-being’. Its delicious but unfussy food features fresh farm produce; there is also a farm shop on site. It’s a world away from the usual motorway chain hotels.

No.15 by GuestHouse
Bath
Best City Hotel. Named after the three brothers Guest who own it, this boutique property occupies a trio of Grade I listed town houses in a Georgian terrace. Rooms are all different, with touches of whimsy that might include a coffee maker in a doll’s house or exotic bird wallpaper inspired by the pergola in Henrietta Park opposite. All have a record turntable, a Dyson hairdryer and access to the complimentary pantry. Return from exploring and wallow in a circular copper bath for two in the basement spa.

The Double Red Duke
Bampton
Best pub with rooms. As pubs with rooms become more and more stylish, the Duke stands head and shoulders above the crowd. Georgie and Sam Pearman’s 17th-century Cotswold stone inn comes with a country-chic air in its carefully designed rooms, with luxurious fabrics, hand-blocked wallpaper, wooden furniture and perhaps a red bathtub in a red and white tiled nook. For something a bit different from your average pub grub, they grill meat and fish over charcoal, cherry and apple wood.

Cambridge House
Reeth
Best B&B. A warm welcome with cake isn’t the only thing guests get at Sheila and Robert Mitchell’s B&B. Rooms have sweeping views over Swaledale, exposed-stone walls, bathrobes and Noble Isle toiletries. Sheila and Robert can advise on the local area, including the best walks and good places for dinner. Particular praise is heaped on the breakfasts, with an extensive choice that includes pancakes, smoked haddock, local eggs, croissants from the village bakery and Sheila’s award-winning marmalade.

Forest Side
Grasmere
Best Country Hotel. Michelin-starred cuisine, elegant bedrooms and red squirrels in the garden are the successful recipe for this 20-room hotel. Chef Paul Leonard sources 90 per cent of produce from a ten-mile radius of Forest Side, much from the vast kitchen garden, to create his inventive dishes. Light and airy bedrooms come with Zoffany fabrics, Herdwick wool carpets, beds by local company Harrison Spinks, and Bramley toiletries. The icing on the cake? There are walks from the door.
Cesar Winners 2022
Cesar Winners

Askham Hall - Spring Three Night Special Offer
Penrith
It’s relaxed rather than grand at Charles Lowther’s comfortably cluttered ancestral pile, with its classic English country garden, a 17th-century pele tower, family heirlooms and a Michelin-starred restaurant. Dogs and children are welcome.

Helen Browning’s Royal Oak - Up to 25% Discount Special Offer
Swindon
There’s character aplenty at this pub on an organic farm, with bedrooms named after different fields, a communal area called The Wallow with table football, and everything from milk to meat supplied from the surrounding fields.

Porth Tocyn Hotel
Abersoch
It’s the relaxed atmosphere together with everything from a games room and outdoor pool to cots and baby- listening devices that make this hotel a firm family favourite. There is no charge for children sharing their parents' room either.

The Bell at Skenfrith
Skenfrith
A firm favourite with readers, The Bell faced a challenging time when the River Monnow flooded and flowed through its ground floor. Now the dog-friendly pub is better than ever, with a fresh look, great food and riverside walks.

Plantation House
Plymouth
Chef/patron Richard Hendey cooks as much as possible on the premises at his small hotel, from bread to ruffles. Readers rave over his nightly-changing menus, which feature local Devonshire produce and fresh food from the kitchen garden.

Hillside
Ventnor
There’s plenty of Scandi chic at Gert Bach’s thatched cottage with its stripped-back pale interiors highlighted by colourful abstract art canvases and Solent views. The terraced gardens supply the kitchen, which produces simple but superb dishes.

Newbegin House
Beverley
Guests receive a warm welcome plus a garden tour at Walter and Nuala Sweeney’s refined Georgian town house. Bedrooms are supplied with sherry, fresh milk and flowers, there’s a superb choice at breakfast, and everything is great value.

Locanda on the Weir
Porlock Weir
Italian foodie flair meets West Country charm at this uber-stylish restaurant with rooms on Exmoor’s coast, where chef Pio Catemario di Quadri cooks up a storm while Cindy Siu creates eclectic, appealing interiors worthy of the food.

Rayanne House
HOLYWOOD
On certain nights, chef/patron Conor McClelland replicates the entire nine-course meal served on the Titanic the night she sank. Lavish rooms include the golf-themed Rory McIlroy bedroom, and a breakfast of titanic proportions is served.
Cesar Winners 2021
Cesar Winners

La Sablonnerie - Suite Upgrade Special Offer
Little Sark
Reached by horse-drawn carriage over a scenic isthmus, Elizabeth Perrée’s 400-year-old farmhouse on car-free Sark is as charming as its owner. There are cliffs and coves to explore before returning to tuck into local lobster and scallops.

The Scarlet - 'Two Night Spend Time Together' Special Offer
Mawgan Porth
Readers’ complimentary reports on this adults-only hotel flood our inbox. The seaside setting, spa and smiling service, alongside an effective environmental policy, win repeated praise. Over the past year we haven’t had a single negative comment.

Lewtrenchard Manor
Okehampton
With stucco ceilings, antique-filled rooms and ornate fireplaces, the Murray family’s manor house is clearly made to be shared with someone special. After dinner à deux in the wood-panelled dining room, you can retire to a sleigh bed or four-poster.

The Peat Inn
Cupar
Our inspectors were bowled over by the food created by Michelin-starred chef/patron Geoffrey Smeddle in his old coaching inn with modern interior. Dishes might include pastrami of sea trout, loin of deer.

Baraset Barn
Stratford-upon-Avon
Fantastic food, amazing value and a side serving of culture in nearby Stratford-upon-Avon are the hallmarks of this restaurant-with-rooms. The barn is as atmospheric as they come, with a flagstone floor and an impossibly high vaulted ceiling.

The Grasmere Hotel
Grasmere
Walks from the doorstep, views of Helm Crag, and fires to gather round for pre-dinner drinks make the Winsland family’s Victorian country house hotel a clear winner. As is the food, with imaginative menus, homemade bread, and kippers for breakfast.

Roundwood House
Mountrath
There’s a library in the double-height stables and a delicious dinner is served with a serenade from chef Paddy Flynn, who runs this 18th-century country house with his wife, Hannah. The Georgian interiors have a relaxed, homely atmosphere.

The Angel Inn
Skipton
Local ales are served as well as Michelin-starred food at this Dales pub with beams and luxury rooms. Chef/patron Michael Wignall uses local food but global inspiration to create such dishes as Yorkshire duck with soy, black bean and miso.
From £70 per night
Cesar Winners 2020
Cesar Winners

The Old Coastguard - Winter Escape Special Offer
Penzance
Readers feel thoroughly spoilt at the Inkin brothers’ informal dining pub in a pretty fishing village. Most bedrooms have a sea view. In sunny weather, you can eat local seafood on the terrace in the palm-filled garden. Simple things done with style.

The Angel Hotel - 'Sunday Showstopper' Special Offer
Abergavenny
William Griffiths’s Georgian former coaching inn is the very model of a town hotel; family run, with friendly staff, a relaxed locals bar, eclectic menus, modern artworks. Afternoon tea is a particular treat, with cakes from the hotel’s own bakery.

Southernhay House - Complimentary Cocktail Special Offer
Exeter
Silk, Spice… the bedrooms at Deborah Clark and Tony Orchard’s boutique hotel recall the original owner. A Georgian Orientalist and diplomat, he’d have enjoyed drinks on the pretty veranda, dinner alfresco, a free- standing bath in a glamorous bedroom.

Underleigh House
Hope
Perfect hosts Vivienne and Philip Taylor set high standards at their Peak District longhouse home. Three of four well- equipped guest bedrooms are suites. A log burner warms the cosy lounge. Breakfast brings an array of fresh and very local produce.

Old Downton Lodge
Ludlow
Deep in the countryside, Willem and Pippa Vlok have created superb accommodation in historic farm buildings around parterre gardens. From dinner in a room resembling a medieval great hall, to a perfect breakfast, everything delighted our inspectors.

Foresters Hall
Cowes
Just minutes from the yacht-filled Solent lies Luke Staples and Lewis Green’s chic, immaculately run boutique hotel, with top-notch, locally sourced food, a pretty garden for alfresco dining, hands-on owners and thoroughly charming young staff.

Read’s
Faversham
Our inspectors loved everything at David and Rona Pitchford’s Georgian manor house, but it’s Mr Pitchford’s cooking that really sets it apart. A typical dish: roast Kentish lamb, smoked potato puree, haggis and lovage tart, roasted onion, lamb sauce.

The Pipe and Glass Inn
South Dalton
With a cosy, beamed bar and Michelin-starred cooking in the child-friendly, veggie-friendly restaurant, James and Kate Mackenzie’s former coaching inn is a winner. Smart bedrooms have a terrific bathroom, and everything in the garden is edible.
Cesar Winners 2019
Cesar Winners

The Nare - 'Four Day Easter Break' Special Offer
Veryan-in-Roseland
With its spa, its pools, balconies and sub-tropical gardens overlooking sandy Carne Beach, Toby Ashworth’s hotel is the perfect mix of family-friendliness and luxury. Top marks for Cornish cream teas, local seafood, a talented new chef, smiling staff and traditional values.

Tudor Farmhouse - Three Nights for the Price of Two Special Offer
Clearwell
Hari and Colin Fell have created luxurious contemporary accommodation within historic, rustic farm buildings. Eggs from the ducks and hens in the paddock, vegetables from the kitchen garden, wild garlic foraged from the Forest of Dean supply chef Rob Cox’s 20-mile menus.

Knockendarroch Hotel - Book 2 nights and get a 3rd half price Special Offer
Pitlochry
Struan and Louise Lothian spare no effort to please guests at their friendly hotel. Fires burn in comfy lounges. There’s a cabinet of whiskies; rooms with balcony, with books, a four-poster, binoculars, loch views; a daily-changing menu of superb cooking.

Gregans Castle Hotel
Ballyvaughan
A generosity of spirit infuses Simon Haden and Frederieke McMurray’s Georgian country house, with magical views across the Burren to Galway Bay. Elegant interiors are filled with antiques, modern art, fresh garden flowers. The cooking is unpretentious but imaginative.

Kinloch Lodge
Sleat
There are glorious loch views from bedrooms filled with antiques, at Lord and Lady Macdonald’s former hunting lodge on Skye. Ancestral portraits abound. A ghillie organises fishing and stalking, while chef Marcello Tully cooks delicious fare. Speed, bonny boat!

Pentonbridge Inn
Penton
An exciting gourmet destination within sight of the Scottish border. Each smart bedroom is named after an infamous clan of Border Reivers – a daring departure.

The Star Inn at Harome
Helmsley
This chocolate-box-pretty-thatched village inn is infused with wit – the bar filled with odds and ends; a billiard table at the foot of a bed – but chef/patron Andrew Pern’s Michelin-starred cooking is seriously good. One room has both spa bath and piano.
Cesar Winners 2018
Cesar Winners

Hambleton Hall - Winter & Spring Escape Special Offer
Oakham
‘Fay ce que voudras’ reads a motto on the porch of Tim and Stefa Hart’s Victorian picturesque country house, an invitation to do as you please, and this year, as ever, readers have been pleased by their stay here.

Soar Mill Cove Hotel - Three Nights for the Price of Two Special Offer
Salcombe
A single-storey hotel enfolded in a gorse-clad valley, a stroll through National Trust land to the eponymous cove, has been in the Makepeace family for three generations.

The Red Lion Freehouse - Complimentary Glass of Bubbly Special Offer
East Chisenbury
A ‘laid-back, fire-in-the hearth, village pub atmosphere’ prevails at this thatched gastropub with riverside guesthouse on the edge of Salisbury Plain.

The Mash Inn
Radnage
Nick Mash wants guests to step back in time and reconnect with nature at his restaurant-with-rooms on a leafy back road in a scattered Chilterns village.

Forest Side
Grasmere
‘This hotel ranks amongst the very best that we have stayed in,’ says a reader about this Victorian Gothic mansion with its cool, relaxed style, vast kitchen garden and inspired culinary creations.
2017 Cesar Winners
Cesar Winners

Battlesteads - Two and Three Night Taster Menu Special Offers
Hexham
A ‘really good experience’, Dee and Richard Slade’s ‘well-run’ hotel, restaurant and village pub stand out for their ‘laudable’ approach to sustainable tourism.

The Blakeney Hotel
Holt
‘A wonderful reminder of the delight a well-run, imaginative hotel can offer,’ reads one of many good reports of this family-friendly hotel with shimmering vistas over estuary and salt marsh.

Hell Bay Hotel
Bryher
Sitting above a secluded cove on Bryher’s rugged west-facing coast, with 'nothing in between to Canada', this pretty blue-and-white weatherboarded farmhouse-turned-hotel is a '10/10 experience’, say smitten guests.

Gravetye Manor
East Grinstead
Deep in the Sussex countryside, a romantic Elizabethan manor house, built by an ironmaster for his bride, stands amid 1,000 acres of historically important gardens, pleasure grounds and woodland.

The Cross at Kingussie
Kingussie
Take afternoon tea on the terrace at this former Victorian tweed mill and you hear nothing but birdsong and the plash of the Gynack Burn that once powered the looms.

Ael y Bryn
Crymych
‘Creative and immaculate’ gardens surround this luxury, adults-only B&B in tranquil countryside outside the village of ‘Egg-lis-oo-roo’, with views to the Preseli hills and Carningli mountain.

Brocco on the Park
Sheffield
Behind the solid exterior of an Edwardian park-side villa lies a Scandi-chic boutique hotel and popular drop-in restaurant.

The Royal Oak
Salisbury
This 'welcoming hideaway inn' lies off the beaten track in a pretty village amid the Vale of Wardour.
Hotels chosen in 2016
Cesar Winners

Hazel Bank
Keswick
For many guests, Hazel Bank is the epitome of a small country house hotel with the bonus of a picturesque valley setting, captivating fell views and walks from the doorstep.

Augill Castle
Kirkby Stephen
With its towers and battlements this Victorian-folly castle, in 15 acres of grounds, looks imposing yet is ‘a wonderful place to relax, kick back and take it easy’.

Hotel Endsleigh
Tavistock
‘An enchanting destination’ is how readers describe Olga Polizzi’s Regency hunting lodge, which stands by the River Tamar in an Elysian landscape designed by Humphry Repton.

The Coach House at Middleton Lodge
Richmond
The good life just gets better at this tranquil retreat in 200 acres of Georgian parkland, with rooms in the Coach House and beautifully styled hideaways.

The Lord Crewe Arms
Blanchland
'A truly peaceful place to stay, potter about and walk in unspoilt countryside', this hotel in a 'spectacular building' is in a conservation village surrounded by grass moors.

Grove of Narberth
Narberth
Turn off a country lane down a tree-lined drive and your tensions will slip away when you glimpse this white stucco building with its pleasing Georgian symmetry.