The Good Hotel Guide 2015 names remote, tech-free property as Newcomer of the Year
A hotel which eschews modern technology in favour of games, books and wood burning stoves, has been named Newcomer of the Year in the The Good Hotel Guide 2015, published today.
The five-bedroom, 19th century Moor of Rannoch hotel in Rannoch Station in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, has been "reinvigorated by the personable new owners", Scott Meikle and Stephanie Graham. It is praised by the guide for being "blissfully isolated", offering no TV, no radio, no Wi-Fi and poor mobile reception.
The accolade is one of 10 César awards, named after celebrated hotelier César Ritz, selected from more than 400 main entries across the guide.
Editors Adam Raphael and Desmond Balmer, who head a team of team of anonymous inspectors and writers, said that a good hotel should be better than home.
"A good manager will have slept in every bedroom to ensure it's up to scratch," they explained. "Breakfast is also a very good benchmark; it's the guest's last meal before check out, so good-quality coffee, freshly-squeezed orange juice and free-range eggs should be a given. Finally, the guest may not always be right, but they should always come first.
Hotels do not pay to be included in the guide, which selects entries on merit alone, taking into account reports from readers which are then monitored and graded by the editorial team according to the number of reports submitted and their accuracy.
The full list of César award winners are:
Newcomer of the Year: Moor of Rannoch Hotel, Rannoch Station, Perth and Kinross
Family Hotel of the Year: Fowey Hall, Fowey, Cornwall
Dog-friendly Hotel of the Year: Overwater Hall, Ireby, Cumbria
Small Hotel of the Year: Yalbury Cottage, Lower Bockhampton, near Dorchester, Dorset
Country House Hotel of the Year: Lords of the Manor, Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire
Pub-With-Rooms of the Year: The Talbot Inn, Mells, Somerset
Country Hotel of the Year: The Pear Tree at Purton, Purton, Wiltshire
Newcomer of the Year: Moor of Rannoch Hotel, Rannoch Station, Perth and Kinross
Scottish Hotel of the Year: The Green Park, Pitlochry, Scotland
Welsh Hotel of the Year: Milebrook House, Knighton, Powys, Wales
Irish Guest House of the Year: Newforge House, Magheralin, Craigavon, County Armagh
The Good Hotel Guide 2015: Great Britain & Ireland is available, priced £19 (including p&p) from The Good Hotel Guide, 50 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QP (www.goodhotelguide.com) or priced £20 from bookshops. Free Good Hotel Guide apps for iPhones, Android and Windows can also be downloaded.
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