Drum roll, please, as we prepare to announce the winners of the 2013 'Cotsies'
Cotswolds Tourism Awards 2013
Drum roll, please, as we prepare to announce the winners of the 2013 ‘Cotsies’
The Cotswolds Tourism Awards 2013 (known affectionately as ‘Cotsies’) are organised annually by Cotswolds Tourism, and this year Cotswold Life is delighted to be part of the excitement.
Celebrating quality, service and success in our tourism industry, the coveted awards acknowledge excellence in each of the categories, with gold winners being eligible to go forward to VisitEngland’s National Tourism Awards.
Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year
Gold – East House, Broadway
Silver – Whittington Farm Lodge
Bronze – Seagrave Arms, Chipping Campden
East House B&B covers the essentials of friendliness and cleanliness perfectly but has additional touches that raise it to most excellent.
Large Hotel of the Year
Gold – Montpellier Chapter
Silver – Three Ways House Hotel
Bronze – Cotswold Four Pillars
Very good hotels have a way of becoming part of the local community as well as being great for visitors. Montpellier Chapter has achieved this in Cheltenham.
Small Hotel of the Year
Gold – Calcot Manor
Silver – The Lamb Inn, Burford
Bronze – The Manor House Hotel, Castle Coombe
Calcot Manor is recognised across the Cotswolds tourism industry as a terrifically well-run business, and has remained busy throughout a tough year.
Self Catering Holiday Provider of the Year
Gold – Eco Chic Cottages
Silver – Barncastle, Pitchcombe
EcoChic Cottages resists the idea that responsible tourism needs to be worthy or dull, and the aim is to exceed customer expectations.
Caravan Holiday Park/Holiday Village of the Year
Gold – Cotswold Farm Park Camp Site
Silver – Cotswolds Hoburne
Cotswold Farm Park Camp site provides friendliness, rare breed sausages and the special character of the 650-acre Bemborough estate.
Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
Gold – Batsford Arboretum
Silver – Cotswold Farm Park
Bronze – Sudeley Castle
Batsford Arboretum, near Moreton-in-Marsh has invested in a new garden shop, plant centre and café, and is respected locally for professional business planning and marketing.
Small Visitor Attraction of the Year
Gold – Corinium Museum
Silver – Bourton House Garden
Bronze – Stanway House
‘Scratch Gloucestershire and find Rome’ goes the saying and Cirencester’s Corinium Museum is an absolute treasure house of Roman history in Britain.
Tourism Experience of the Year
Gold – Cotswolds Olimpick Games
Silver – Giffords Circus
Bronze – Lechlade Festival
The Cotswolds Olimpicks is a great example of a ‘genuine’ event run with pride and passion by local people, celebrating 400 years in 2012.
Tourism Pub of the Year
Gold – Plough at Kingham
Silver – Gloucester Old Spot
Bronze – The Mount at Stanton
The Plough at Kingham is loved by locals and visitors alike, and standards are high across the board, with a proper bar, serious bar snacks and a fiendish pub quiz.
Business Tourism Award
Gold – The Barn at Calcot
Silver – The Manor House Hotel, Moreton
Bronze – Cheltenham Racecourse
The Barn at Calcot sets the standard for sophisticated business meetings and events. Simple as that.
Visitor Information Provider of the Year
Gold – Moreton-in-Marsh
Silver – Cirencester
Bronze – Gloucester
Standards in the Cotswolds are extremely high and Moreton-in-Marsh Tourist Information Centre can therefore claim to be very, very good indeed.
Taste of England Award
Gold – Curry Corner, Cheltenham
Silver – Cotswolds Chef, Food Experiences
Bronze – Owler, Charles Martell’s local ‘Poire William’
Curry Corner is where an English institution (curry) meets the new mantra of restaurant dining... ‘local’, and is the oldest and most highly regarded Bangladeshi restaurant in the country.
Access for All Tourism Award
Gold – Star Bistro
Silver – Tramper (off-road mobility scooter) hire and trails on the Cotswold Way
Bronze – Westonbirt Arboretum
The Star Bistro at National Star College is a very good restaurant indeed, plus its Access for All credentials are impeccable, without a whiff of being patronising to any of its customers.
Sustainable Tourism Award
Gold – Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
Silver – Eco Chic Cottages
Bronze – Cotswolds Conservation Board (a European Charter for Sustainable Tourism)
With over 500 active volunteers and a wider membership, the Wildlife Trust’s activities have a great impact on visitors to the area through their work in protecting habitats, opening nature reserves and an energetic programme of events.
