Hotel guide laments ‘neglect' of tourism
The Government's "shameful neglect of British tourism", paid-for hotel guides, inflexible mealtimes and draconian dress codes all come in for criticism by the editors of the Good Hotel Guide 2002.
The editors point out that five days after winning the election, 10 Downing Street could not name the new minister for tourism and were barely aware of the department he was in.
Tourism has created 20% of all new jobs in the past decade, generating £500b in revenue, but while "sport and arts have a minister of state, tourism gets a mere parliamentary secretary, the lowest form of ministerial life", says the introduction to the 25th guide, which details more than 750 hotels, inns, guesthouses and B&Bs.
It also points out farmers receive subsidies of around £3b a year, while the British Tourist Authority gets £36m.
The guide stresses that "unlike many of its competitors, [it] takes no advertising, no hospitality and no payment of any kind".
Warnings to hoteliers come over the inflexibility of mealtimes exhibited at some hotels, and overcharging for table d'h"te meals when guests eat only a single course. Another sure way to lose the customer is to impose a "draconian dress code", it says.
"Hotels should move into the 21st century before they put off more guests," says the guide.
Premises that are not regularly mentioned fall out of the guide, and this year 99 have been omitted, while there are 103 new entries.
Although the guide generally shuns chain hotels, small independent chains fare well.
Luxury Hotel Management's two Alias hotels both get entries, with the 46-bedroom Hotel Barcelona in Exeter winning the guide's Caesar award for hotel design. Duke's hotel in Bath and sister hotel St Olaves in Exeter, which are both run by Holne Chase Hotels, merit new entries and the Hotel du Vin & Bistro in Birmingham joins its three sister properties in the guide.
Bed and breakfast rates 1978 v 2002
Only five hotels in England have appeared in every Good Hotel Guide since 1978. Bed and breakfast rates have changed considerably, as this table illustrates.
| Property | Cheapest Double | |
| *1978* | *2002* | |
| Chewton Glen, New Milton | £15.25 | £250 |
| Rothay Manor, Ambleside | £11.00 | £110 |
| Lastingham Grange, Lastingham | £7.50 | £160 |
| Sharrow Bay, Ullswater\* | £19.50 | £115 |
| The Connaught, London\*\* | £19.00 | £390 |
| \* DBB \*\* Room only |
by Sara Guild
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper, 6-12 September 2001
