Bolton Abbey hotel given special recognition at Good Hotel Guide Awards

The Good Hotel Guide, the only truly independent hotel guide in the UK, has revealed the winners of its 2026 César Awards. These 21 ‘Oscars of the UK hotel industry’, inspired by Swiss hotelier César Ritz, recognise the hotels, inns and B&Bs that set the benchmark for their category.

Four hotels in Yorkshire have been recognised as being amongst the best hotels in the country at last night’s Good Hotel Guide Awards. The Good Hotel Guide, the only truly independent hotel guide in the UK, has revealed the winners of its 2026 César Awards. These 21 ‘Oscars of the UK hotel industry’, inspired by Swiss hotelier César Ritz, recognise the hotels, inns and B&Bs that set the benchmark for their category.

This year’s 21 César winners include a pub with its own brewery, spa and farm shop; a former artists’ haunt whose guests included Claude Monet and Oscar Wilde; a new foodie hotel from King of the High Street George Davies; a stately home that housed Louis XVIII and the French court in exile, where they kept chickens on the roof; and a refurbished Georgian merchant’s house that now offers a home away from home that visitors rave about.

The Editor’s Choice Awards were also announced, highlighting properties that excel across 13 categories, including B&B, Pubs with Rooms, Hotels for Dogs, and a Historic Hotel category, which has been re-introduced this year.

The following four properties in Yorkshire have been selected for the 2026 Editor’s Choice lists:

Best hotels for walking: The Devonshire Arms: Set on the Duke of Devonshire’s Bolton Abbey Estate, The Devonshire Arms Hotel is a former 17th century inn. Ideally placed to explore the beauty of the moorlands, woodland and history of the Yorkshire Dales, it has 40 lovely rooms across the old wing and more contemporary options in the new wing, an indulgent spa and a tempting choice of food using the finest seasonal ingredients from afternoon tea and picnics to dinner in the brasserie.

Best restaurants with rooms: Grassington House: This award-winning restaurant with luxury rooms is set in the pretty village of Grassington, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Family-run since 2008, it offers elegant, seasonal dining created by Chef John Rudden.

Most romantic hotels: Grays Court: This lovely York boutique hotel, overlooked by the historic Minster, dates back to the Norman Conquest and was once home to the Treasurer of York Minster. It is truly romantic, with spacious, antique-filled bedrooms and a beautiful lawned garden dining is in the elegant Jacobean Long Gallery and Georgian Bow Room.

Best spa hotels: The Middleton Lodge Estate: This 200-acre privately owned estate near Richmond in North Yorkshire has been lovingly transformed by the Allison family into a gorgeous countryside escape with a focus on sustainability and conservation. With 30 bedrooms, two self-catered cottages and a Forest Spa with a pool and treatment rooms dotted in hamlets around the grounds, there are also two restaurants.

The awards were presented by the renowned hotelier and television personality Alex Polizzi, who stars in Channel 5’s popular The Hotel Inspector. As a hotel owner herself, Alex fully appreciates the challenges that hoteliers face on a day-to-day basis and she shared some of her insights with small hotel owners and operators earlier in the day.

Alex commented, “Running a hotel has never been easy and these are particularly challenging times for the industry. The Good Hotel Guide is a great network for smaller hotels, and it is important for us to focus on how we need to adapt so that we can support each other effectively. The essential thing to remember is that our customers are king. We have to give people a reason to spend their money with us rather than elsewhere. While good design is important, service is what makes great hospitality.”

2026 César Winners:

Best Historic Hotel *- Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire

Most Romantic Hotel - Abbots Grange, Worcestershire

Best in Cities & Towns - Hart’s Hotel, Nottingham

Best B&B - Number Thiry Eight, Bristol

Best for Dogs - The Castle Hotel, Shropshire

Best for Walkers - The Star, Sussex

Best Seaside – The Nare, Cornwall

Best Restaurant with Rooms – Gordon’s, Angus

Best Foodie Hotel – The House of George W Davies, Worcestershire

Best Country House Hotel – Cavens, Dumfries and Galloway

Best Pub with Rooms – The Three Daggers, Wiltshire

Best Hotel with a Spa – The Scarlet, Cornwall

Best Hotel with Gardens – The Pig in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire

Best Hotel in the South – Chewton Glen, Hampshire

Best Hotel in the South West – The Priory, Dorset

Best Hotel in East Anglia – Congham Hall, Norfolk

Best Hotel in the Midlands – Pen-Y-Dyffryn, Shropshire

Best Hotel in the North – Gilpin Hotel and Lake House, Cumbria

Best Hotel in Scotland - The Meikleour Arms, Perth and Kinross

Best Hotel in Wales – Plas Dinas Country House, Gwynedd

Best Hotel in Northern Ireland – Newforge House, Co. Armagh

The latest version of The Good Hotel Guide features more than 700 hotels, inns and B&Bs, with 58 new entries for 2026, and is now available online.

The editorial team is headed up by Jane Knight, former travel editor of The Times. Readers of the guide play a crucial role by reporting on existing entries as well as recommending new discoveries, which is complemented by GHG inspections.

For further information about César 2026 winners and Editor’s Choice 2026 winners, please visit goodhotelguide.com

*Best Historic Hotel has been introduced this year in partnership with Britain magazine.