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The 2026 GHG Cesar Awards: The Best of British Hospitality

The updated Good Hotel Guide is now live online, and the winners of our annual César awards have been announced. Named after the legendary Swiss ‘King of Hoteliers’, César Ritz, our Césars, ‘the Oscars of hotel-keeping’, were launched in 1986, nine years after the Guide’s founding. César winners are the best of the best, judged by us to be the most outstanding in their region, or in each of our ‘Editor’s Choice’ categories. These categories vary slightly from year to year and have expanded from an initial ten to 21.

While we have no ‘Best Newcomer’ award this time, we are excited about two winners new to The Guide, the richly atmospheric Abbots Grange (Best Romantic - see image above), and The House of George W. Davies (Best Foodie), which thrilled our inspector when it opened in August 2025. Though both hotels, by chance, are in Broadway, Worcestershire (increasingly a hotel hotspot), they are strikingly different, one steeped in history, the other, behind its traditional façade, at the cutting edge of fashion.

Abbots Grange could equally have been a contender for ‘Best Historic’, introduced in collaboration with Britain magazine, but that accolade went to Hartwell House in the Chilterns, a grand mansion in parkland, beautifully maintained by the National Trust, with the ambience of a stately home, artworks and antiques.

Best for Garden Lovers, the Pig in the Cotswolds is both new to the Césars and an old awards favourite. The former Barnsley House in Gloucestershire, it is the latest addition to the burgeoning Pig collection, with landscaped gardens laid out from the 1950s by Rosemary Verey, doyenne of the English garden style.

As regular readers will know, certain special hotels may crop up more than once on our awards lists, simply because they are so consistently excellent. The Nare and The Scarlet (Best Seaside and Best with Spa), both in Cornwall, are no strangers to our lists, nor is Newforge House in Co. Armagh (Best in Ireland), which is run with such heart and soul by Louise and John Mathers.

Hart’s Hotel in Nottingham, which scooped Best in City/Town, is an eco-friendly contemporary venture for Tim and Steffa Hart, whose former hunting box, Hambleton Hall, overlooking Rutland Water, has been repeatedly recognised by this Guide for country-house comforts, delightful grounds and Michelin-starred cuisine.

Then, even as Henry Hunter’s friendly and affordable Castle Hotel in Shropshire has been rated Best for Dogs, the Hunter family’s Pen y Dyffryn is sitting pretty as Best in the Midlands.

As always, the César winners are diverse, reflecting the eclecticism that is so characteristic of the Guide. They range from Sam and Claire Mercer Nairne’s quaint and characterful pub with rooms and fishing hotel, The Meikleour Arms (Best in Scotland), to the ever-innovative, luxurious but family-friendly Chewton Glen on the edge of the New Forest (Best in the South), and the sensational Gilpin Hotel and Lake House, Windermere (Best in the North). Gordon’s in coastal Inverkeilor, an intimate mother-and-son enterprise (Best Restaurant with Rooms), and Chad Pike’s The Three Daggers in Wiltshire (Best Pub with Rooms), comfortably hold their own alongside Congham Hall in Norfolk, a Georgian manor house so brilliantly restored and cared for by Nicholas Dickinson as the nightmare von Essen years fade from memory.

When choosing hotels for awards – and, indeed, awards for hotels – we are heavily influenced by readers’ feedback and, of course, by our inspectors’ reports. Some hotels attract perennial flurries of reports, including from readers whom we have long known and trusted. Now and then we receive a single report so detailed, plausible and perceptive that we are bound to take notice.

No hotel is a shoo-in, and all are eligible for consideration. In this, you can play an essential part by dropping us a line to let us know of recent positive experiences, a warm welcome, a great meal, a fabulous room, exceptional service… As we have so often said, readers’ reports are the life blood of the Guide, and you, too, can have your say, so please stay in touch and send us a review here.

See our full list of GHG Cesar Award winners here.

New Partner announcements

We are proud to welcome the following partners:

ZENO - ALCOHOL-FREE ENJOYMENT, WITHOUT COMPROMISE

Good Hotel Guide introductory discount - ZENO alcohol-liberated wines.

Website 10% discount code: GHG10

www.zenowine.com

“Our mission is to craft wines of virtue with regional and varietal expression and gently liberate them from alcohol, for the more discerning wine drinker on occasions when they choose to abstain.” Passionate foodies, wine trade veterans David & Will crafted ZENO wines to pair well with food, with low residual sugar and excellent flavour, texture & balance. They are also delicious on their own.

ZENO alcohol-liberated wines are vegan and from single estate, family-owned organic vineyards in central Spain. Their first release wines all took awards at the International Wine & Spirits Competition, the Global Wine Masters Competition, the World Alcohol Free Awards and the Great Taste Awards, which underpinned their commitment to quality and redefining alcohol-free wine enjoyment.

2024 & 2025 have proven the ZENO range to be a consistent award winner in the young and dynamic AF wine segment. In fact, the London International Wine Competition also awarded ZENO with "Non-Alcoholic Producer of the Year 2025."

ZENO, the ancient Greek philosopher, championed mindful living by practicing four timeless virtues - "Moderation, Wisdom, Justice & Courage", which are the essence of the ZENO brand.

David & Will's mission is to liberate wine & food lovers, by giving them the opportunity of enjoying a great glass of wine when choosing not to drink alcohol for any reason. They don’t wish to preach sobriety, but champion freedom of choice, balance & conscious joy.

That choice can now be made without compromise.

ZENO – “Happiness is a good flow of life.”

www.zenowine.com

@drinkzeno

Website 10% discount code: GHG10

Hoogly Teas: Looking for a gift for a tea lover? Hoogly Teas have a wide range of indulgent blends including Marzipan, Ginger Biscuit and Chocolate Brownie. Gift sets and perfect stocking fillers. Tina Gloggengeiser says: "All our teas are hand blended in the UK using the finest natural ingredients, sustainable and vegan."

Use GHG at check out for 10% Off at https://hooglytea.com

And we also welcome our continuing partners...

We are pleased to announce that we are partnering once again with the wonderful Bramley for the next few months. Bramley are known for their naturally fragrant bath and body products, which you’ll find in many of our incredible hotels, crafted with botanical extracts and pure essential oils. See more at bramleyproducts.co.uk.

Quote of the month: “Making exceptional wine takes craftsmanship, respect for nature… and uncompromising attention to detail.” Andrew Weeber, Gusbourne Founder. See more about Gusbourne here.

This year there is no updated print edition of the Guide. Entries have been updated online.

You can still buy a copy of the 46th edition, which was published in October 2022.