Cotswold House Hotel

This is a double whammy. It’s the first time a business has won two Cateys in one year. After a heated debate, the judges voted the 22-bedroom Cotswold House Hotel their Hotel of the Year, adding to the Independent Marketing Campaign award the business also bagged in 2005.

All the judges cited the hands-on approach of the owners, Ian and Christa Taylor, as a big contributor to the business’s success. It all started in 1999 when the Taylors bought what was then a rather sorry-looking Regency townhouse property in the Cotswold town of Chipping Campden. They have been busy refurbishing, adding rooms and introducing customer-focused innovations ever since.

The panel praised qualities such as innovation, customer service and attention to detail, combined with a lack of pretension and stuffiness. The bedrooms were described variously as “innovative” and “quirky”. But, noted the judges, elements such as “great lighting”, DVD/CD players and ISDN lines were not introduced at the expense of the basics, with power showers, comfy beds and quality toiletries all combining to ensure a positive guest experience.

One of the judges, Richard Ball, described the Taylors’ achievement as “quite extraordinary” and said they had transformed the hotel over the past two-to-three years. “All the rooms are full of the wow factor,” he said. “It’s a hotel that is really going places.”

Ball’s comments struck a chord with fellow judge Jill Cranshaw, who has stayed at the hotel. “It’s not easy with town-centre hotels, as you are quite limited with what you can do, but it was excellent from start to finish,” she said.

The Taylors have certainly gone the extra mile to provide their guests with the ultimate personalised service. The judges especially liked the way guests could personalise elements of their room on the website, such as choosing the type of bedlinen and specifying the contents of the drinks cabinet. “It’s a good marketing ploy,” said the AA’s Albert Hampson. Yet despite the personal touches, innovation and quality products, the hotel manages to offer real value for money, with rack rates for double bedrooms at just £50-£70, and singles at about £30-£32.

“For a three-star product this really is excellent value for money,” said Ian Tate, regional director, specialist property finance, Bank of Scotland. “It’s a high-quality product, and from the financial perspective I would say it is doing very well. They’ve invested heavily in the business and it’s come through in the figures.”

This heady combination of exceptional service and good pricing ultimately proved to be too much for the competition.

“This seems to me to be the best of its type for the three-star market, which gets a terrible press,” said Hugh Taylor, regional vice-president – South, Hilton UK & Ireland. “The personality and feel of it is absolutely that of an independent hotel. And it’s very personalised – when you go into the restaurant they know your name.”

The judges

• Jill Cranshaw, freelance journalist, The Times
• Richard Ball, managing director, Calcot Manor
• Albert Hampson, business manager hotel services, AA
• Ian Tate, regional director, specialist property finance, Bank of Scotland
• Hugh Taylor, regional vice-president – South, Hilton UK & Ireland

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