The Top 50 Boutique Hotels awards are voted for by the industry. It is a list of the best places to stay chosen by the industry, meaning these highly acclaimed venues are being given the credit by their peers as being the best in the business.
As well as the 1 to 50 list of the best sites, we also have a selection of special awards that are judged by the expert panel. Hotels put themselves forward for each award and are then visited and judged by a selection of specific criteria, dependant on the award.
Our voting academy
Our academy is made up of more than 100 voters from across the industry. These are industry experts who are either hotel operators, editors and travel writers or top suppliers. Voters are either approached directly or can apply by contacting us directly. Please email Charli on charli.tomney@wrbm.com
Voters represent regions across the UK to avoid any regional bias.
Each academy member has four votes that they cast in order: position 1 being their top choice of boutique hotel, descending to number four, which is their fourth favourite choice. One of their four votes must be from the region they represent. If you are a hotel operator, you are not allowed to vote for your own hotel or one that is associated with you.
Special awards judging process
Each special award can be entered by any boutique hotel within the UK. They are judged via a ‘paper’ entry to determine a shortlist of three per category and then visited by the panel of industry experts who will see the business in action. Entering a special award is an excellent way to get your hotel recognised by industry experts and perhaps then getting on to the top 50 list in future years. If your hotel is shortlisted, you also get to come to the awards event where you can meet many of the judges and the operators of the best boutique hotels in the country.
How do you get your boutique hotel on the list?
There is no short cut. You have to run a great boutique hotel… all of the time! However, if you are doing so but still not getting the recognition you think you deserve, we have put some tips together to help.
- Follow Top 50 Boutique Hotels on social media – our core site is Instagram, but we use others too. Engage with us and others here. Use the #top50boutiquehotels hashtag on your posts, we’ll reshare it too, and judges and possible customers will then become more aware of your presence and may visit.
- Email us directly. We hold some small events throughout the year and often visit venues too – let us know if we should come and see you.
- Become a part of the voting academy. It is a great understanding of what to look for and implement in your own hotel. By the way, you can’t vote for yourself! Email Charli on charli.tomney@wrbm.com with a small paragraph on why you should be considered as a voter.
- Enter our special awards and hopefully you can win and come to the awards event.