RAC recognises the top hotels and guesthouses

The RAC has announced the winners of its annual hotel and guest accommodation awards for Great Britain and Ireland.

It has given Gold Ribbons to 13 hotels and Little Gems to 33 guesthouses, B&Bs, inns and farmhouses.

The winners will be commended at London's Café Royal on 8 November.

They will also appear in the RAC Inspected Hotels 2001 guidebook, which will be published before the end of the year.

Winners of the Gold Ribbon, the RAC's highest accolade for hotels, are: Glenlo Abbey, Galway; Hayfield Manor, Cork; Tinakilly Country House Hotel, Wicklow; the Merrion Hotel, Dublin; Queensberry Hotel, Bath; Sharrow Bay Hotel, Penrith; Lords of the Manor, Upper Slaughter; Longueville Manor Hotel, Jersey; Holbeck Ghyll Country House, Windermere; Gilpin Lodge Country House, Windermere; Stapleford Park, Melton Mowbray; the George, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight and the Lygon Arms, Broadway, Worcestershire.

Christina Deeny, sales and marketing director for the 145-bedroom the Merrion, said: "The award recognises the efforts of the staff who have worked so hard. It is a real boost to their morale."

Winners of the Little Gem, the highest accolade for guest accommodation, include: Sawrey House Country Hotel, Cumbria; Mal Dua House, Clifden, Eire; Beech Hill Country House, Newtownards, Northern Ireland; Kirkton House, Cardross, Scotland and Buttington Country House, Welshpool, Wales.

Stewart Macdonald, who owns the six-bedroom Kirkton House with his wife Gillian, said: "This is another feather in our cap. We will be using it in our promotional work."

Twenty-six hotels have received the Blue Ribbon, which signifies high quality.

This year the RAC extended its Blue and Gold Ribbons to include town houses. Six townhouses have won blue, and three gold. Gold winners are: Castle House, Hereford; Covent Garden Hotel, Covent Garden and the Milestone Hotel, Kensington.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 19-25 October 2000