Pictured: The UK hotels that received gongs at the National Geographic Traveller Hotel Awards… including a Manchester retreat that’s been named the best budget stay in the WORLD

• Six UK hotels have been named as winners and runners-up in the National Geographic Traveller awards
• One British retreat, a 17th-century Kent hideaway, has been declared the world’s best country retreat 
• READ MORE: Would YOU spend £540,000 on a bed? The ‘sleep instruments’ selling like hotcakes

Brits – that’s your next staycation sorted.

The UK winners and runners-up in the global 2023 National Geographic Traveller Hotel Awards have been revealed, from a budget retreat in Manchester to a boutique pad in Scotland.

The travel site says that each property guarantees a ‘memorable stay’, offering ‘unique interior design, world-beating food, incredible value or simply a chance to escape the world for a day or two’…

WORLD’S BEST COUNTRY HOUSE RETREAT – BOYS HALL, ASHFORD, KENT 

The UK winners and runners-up in the 2023 National Geographic Traveller Hotel Awards have been revealed. Boys Hall, the world’s best country house retreat, lacks ‘the stuffiness you’ll encounter at many other countryside manors’. It’s shown in the three images above 

Behold, the world’s best ‘country house retreat’, according to National Geographic Traveller. 

It describes it as ‘one of Britain’s most stunning country house hotels’, noting that it lacks ‘the stuffiness you’ll encounter at many other countryside manors’.

Touching on the building’s history, it says: ‘The timbered Wealden hall house was built by aristocrat Thomas Boys in 1616, and has supposedly seen the likes of Charles I grace its delightfully wonky interiors.’

Today, the ‘intimate scale and thoughtful interior design — medieval enough to fit the structure, modern enough to feel stylish — lend a personable, homely air’. Rooms from £180. Visit boys-hall.com. 

WORLD’S BEST HOTEL FOR A BUDGET BREAK – LEVEN, MANCHESTER 

Leven (shown in the three images above) in Manchester is the world’s best hotel for a ‘budget break’ with rooms from £89

Manchester hideaway Leven has been declared the world’s best hotel for a ‘budget break’ by National Geographic Traveller. 

The travel site says the former cotton warehouse’s transformation into a 42-room hotel ‘celebrates the industrial heritage of the building, with the guest entrance in the loading dock, and preserved steel-framed Crittall windows throughout’. 

National Geographic Traveller adds that ‘room rates have been kept in check and there’s an extra incentive for the budget-conscious digital nomad: a spacious communal lounge with wooden canteen tables providing the perfect perch to work-from-hotel’. Rooms from £89. Visit liveleven.com. 

RUNNER-UP, WORLD’S BEST REVAMPED HOTEL – THE NICI, BOURNEMOUTH, DORSET 

The Nici – a contender for the world’s best ‘revamped hotel’ – is said to bring a ‘slice of cheery Americana’ to Bournemouth. It’s shown in the four images above  

Describing this hotel, a runner-up for the world’s best ‘revamped hotel’, National Geographic Traveller says: ‘The Nici has brought Miami to the English coast, transforming a tired old hotel into a slice of cheery Americana.’

The travel site adds that ‘tropical energy infuses the property, from the cabana-lined outdoor pool to the bold foliage wallpaper’. Rooms are priced from £230. Visit thenici.com.

RUNNER-UP, FOOD HERO – UPDOWN FARMHOUSE, NEAR DEAL, KENT 

Updown Farmhouse (shown in the three images above) has been named a runner-up in the awards’ ‘food hero’ category, thanks to the food plated up in its Italian-inspired restaurant

Updown Farmhouse’s restaurant ‘serves up seasonal flavours’ (above)

This Grade-II listed farmhouse hotel is a runner-up in the ‘food hero’ category, which celebrates hotels that offer ‘unforgettable gourmet experiences’. 

National Geographic Traveller says the hotel’s Italian-inspired restaurant ‘serves up seasonal flavours and a jovial atmosphere fuelled in part by a well-curated wine list’. 

Adding to its allure, the property also boasts ‘charmingly individual rooms’, a ‘home-from-home vibe’, a ‘well-stocked honesty bar’ and ‘quirky art on the walls’, the travel site adds. Rooms from £190. Visit updownfarmhouse.com. 

RUNNER-UP, WORLD’S BEST BOUTIQUE PAD – NO 17 THE PROMENADE HOTEL, OBAN, SCOTLAND 

A contender for the world’s best ’boutique pad’, Scotland’s No 17 The Promenade Hotel (shown in the three images above) boasts flickering fireplaces and an intimate residents’ salon

A runner-up for the world’s best ’boutique pad’, this Scottish retreat ‘majors in classic Scottish hospitality and has plenty of inviting cosy corners and flickering fireplaces’, says National Geographic Traveller. 

It continues: ‘There are only seven bedrooms, which mix vintage pieces with modern metallics, yet there are five dining options right on site, from an Italian restaurant to an intimate residents’ salon.’ 

While there, the travel site recommends grabbing a seat at the outdoor bar, which overlooks the nearby isle of Kerrera. Rooms from £145. Visit no17thepromenade.com. 

RUNNER-UP, ECO-STAY – BIRCH SELSDON, CROYDON 

Birch Selsdon, a hotel that lies in Croydon, south of London, is a runner-up in the ‘eco stay’ category. It’s shown in the four images above 

A runner-up in the ‘eco stay’ category, this hotel ‘aims to be one of London’s largest rewilding projects, turning its 200-acre grounds from a golf course back to its original biodiverse state’. 

So says National Geographic Traveller, adding that much of the furniture in the hotel’s guest rooms is upcycled. 

Rooms from £140. Visit birchcommunity.com/selsdon. 

Prices correct at the time of writing. For the results in full, go to nationalgeographic.com. 

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER (UK) HOTEL AWARDS 2023 WINNERS REVEALED 

WORLD’S BEST ‘CITY STAR’

Winner: Capella Sydney, Australia

Runner-up: Palihouse West Hollywood, US

Runner-up: Palazzo Vilòn, Italy

WORLD’S BEST ‘REMOTE ESCAPE’

Winner: Under Canvas Bryce Canyon, US

Runner-up: Caravan Agafay, Morocco

Runner-up: Klahoose Wilderness Resort, Canada

WORLD’S BEST ‘MOUNTAIN REFUGE’

Winner: Six Senses Crans-Montana, Switzerland

Runner-up: Anders Mountain Suites, Italy

Runner-up: The Bolder, Norway

WORLD’S BEST ‘FOOD HERO’

Winner: Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp, Belgium

Runner-up: SB Winemaker’s House & Spa Suites, Argentina

Runner-up: Updown Farmhouse, England

WORLD’S BEST ‘ROMANTIC BOLTHOLE’

Winner: Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel, Italy

Runner-up: Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, Bali

Runner-up: Domaine des Etangs, France

WORLD’S BEST ‘BEACH SANCTUARY’

Winner: Ahu Bay, Sri Lanka

Runner-up: Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach, Thailand

Runner-up: Casa Chablé, Mexico

WORLD’S BEST ‘BUDGET BREAK’

Winner: Leven, England

Runner-up: Nostos Sérifos, Greece

Runner-up: Ying’nFlo, Hong Kong

WORLD’S BEST ‘WELLNESS HAVEN’

Winner: Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai, Thailand

Runner-up: The Cōmodo, Austria

Runner-up: Trakt Forest Hotel, Sweden

WORLD’S BEST ‘ECO STAY’

Winner: Cap Karoso, Sumba, Indonesia

Runner-up: Le Bois de Chambres, France

Runner-up: Birch Selsdon, England

WORLD’S BEST ‘UNIQUE SPACE’

Winner: Canfranc Estación, Spain

Runner-up: Villa Palladio Jaipur, India

Runner-up: Shiguchi Hokkaido, Japan

WORLD’S BEST ‘COUNTRY HOUSE RETREAT’

Winner: Boys Hall, England

Runner-up: The Lodge, Majorca

Runner-up: La Nauve Cognac, France

WORLD’S BEST ‘REVAMPED HOTEL’

Winner: Life House, Berkshires, USA

Runner-up: AndBeyond Grumeti Serengeti River Lodge, Tanzania

Runner-up: The Nici, Dorset, England

WORLD’S BEST ‘CLEVER CONVERSION’

Winner: Sommerro, Oslo, Norway

Runner-up: Palácio Ludovice Wine Experience Hotel, Lisbon

Runner-up: Telegraphenamt, Berlin

WORLD’S BEST ‘BOUTIQUE PAD’

Winner: De Durgerdam, Netherlands

Runner-up: Vermelho Hotel, Portugal

Runner-up: No 17 the Promenade, Scotland

Source: National Geographic Traveller (UK) 

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