England is all geared up to receive large number of guests from around the world for two major events taking place in quick succession. The Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations will be followed by London 2012 Olympic Games. It was the best time to celebrate the best of English. The VisitEngland Awards for Excellence were announced last week. The award winners ranged from converted castles to wooden lodges but all of them offered the warmest and the very best accommodation. The gold awards were given to two of the B&Bs. Pentillie Castle and Estate is located in St Mellion, Cornwall. The castle has historical significance and celebrity status as it is the Grade II-listed building featured in Channel 4’s Country House Rescue. Its location overlooking the River Tamar and Dartmoor adds to the luxuriously done up nine rooms of the castle. The tariff for the rooms starts at £130.
The other establishment to receive the gold award is located on the edge of the beautiful Trough of Bowland in Lancaster. The boutique B&B called The Ashton boasts of all the amenities associated with a luxury hotel. It has only five bedrooms and each one of them have been designed individually. The prices start from £125. There was more variety witnessed in the self catering category where the gold went to Belle Grove. Located in Westhall, Suffolk it is a group of five former barns which have been converted beautifully and now even boasts of a private walled garden. For The Stable that sleeps two, the weekly rates start from £505 and for the Upper Barn which can sleep up to eight you will have to pay a minimum of £815. Another winner of the Gold in the self catering category was the Compton Pool Farm in South Devon. The original construction of the establishment dates back to 12th century. Spread over a 14 acres ground it has a total of 11 cottages in different sizes with accommodations to sleep from two to six. The establishment boasts of lake fishing, an indoor pool and a tennis court. The cottages are normally rented out on weekly basis with rents starting at £400 for a cottage sleeping two. You can book your cottage on www.premiercottages.com.
The caravan holiday park is an interesting category and the winner of the gold in this category is equally interesting. The winner was the five-star Gwel an Mor in Portreath, Cornwall. The wooden lodges here have been built in Scandinavian-style and have been outfitted with the best of facilities including balconies and sundecks. The lodges have been built to accommodate four to six people. The rentals start at £549 for a week. The Bath Priory Hotel, Restaurant and Spa was declared the best small hotel by the jury. The winner of gold in the category is a country house hotel is tucked in a quiet corner of Bath. It scored because of its warmth like a welcoming private home. At the same time the best small hotel has a restaurant overseen by two Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines. A double room in the hotel would cost you £210 including breakfast, use of spa facilities and car parking.
Via: mirror
