Awards
Autumn was exceptionally rewarding for Rocco Forte Hotels. In particular, we are proud to have collected a number of illustrious awards and accolades across our collection. Here, we’ve collated the most noteworthy for you to share with your clients.
CondéNast Traveller Readers’ ChoiceAwards
Every one of our hotels was recognised in the 2019 Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards, with a record 600,000 individuals submitting their nominations. The results are in, and we’re delighted to announce that we’ve achieved in a variety of prestigious categories.
Hotel Astoria has placed 5th in the Top 10 Hotels in Europe – the only Russian hotel to feature in this category – and 2nd in the Top 25 Hotels in Northern Europe.
Also recognised in the Top 25 Hotels in Northern Europe are Munich’s The Charles Hotel at ninth place, and Hotel Amigo in Brussels coming in 24th.
Hot on the heels of its World Travel Awards for Scotland’s Leading Hotel and Scotland’s Leading Hotel Suite for the third year running, The Balmoral has been voted the UK’s number one hotel in the Top 35 Hotels in the UK category.
Regionally, seventh in the Top 40 Hotels in London is Brown’s Hotel; Hotel de Russie came third in the Top 10 Hotels in Rome, while Hotel Savoy placed sixth in the Top 10 Hotels in Florence.
Our Sicilian Verdura Resort has also been rewarded, achieving 21st place in the Top 30 Resorts in Europe amongst the hundreds nominated.
A Michelin Star
The Balmoral’s Number One first received a Michelin star in 2003 and has retained the badge of honour ever since. Following the appointment of Mark Donald as new Head Chef of this exceptional restaurant earlier this year and the appointment of Executive Chef Gary Robinson, we’re elated to announce that Number One has retained its Michelin star for the upcoming year – a brilliant start for an all-new team.
Appointments
This November sees Jan Arnold join the Rocco Forte Hotels family as our Vice President of Sales. Following 16 years as Director of Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Four Season Hotels & Resorts, where he supported the activities of 115 luxury hotels across the globe, Jan will be based at Villa Kennedy with an office in London. We look forward to announcing his attendance at future events.
To understand Baroque, you have to understand its ambition. To fully appreciate it, you have to go to southern Italy. Emerging from the Counter-Reformation in early 17th-century Italy, the movement harnessed drama, ornamentation and light in service of devotion – art designed to engage the senses as much as the intellect.
Some travellers fall in love with a city all at once. Others come to know it gradually, season by season, until they understand not just where to go, but, perhaps more vitally, when. London, with its Royal parks and cobbled courtyards, layers of heritage and history, rewards the latter handsomely.
Belgium does not apologise for its obsessions. In a country that has elevated brewing, architecture and surrealism to the level of national philosophy, chocolate occupies its own distinct place: something closer to culture than craft, as central to the country's identity as its quirky humour. To understand this is to understand Brussels itself.
