The inaugural AA Hospitality Awards were held last night (17 September) at a ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel Park Lane in London.
Big winners included Macdonald Hotels (Hotel Group of the Year), the Donnington Valley Hotel & Spa in Newbury (English Hotel of the Year), the Durham Ox in Crayke (English Pub of the Year) with chef Tom Aikens winning the 5 AA Rosette Award for his namesake London restaurant.
Michael Caines – who recently received an MBE for services to the hospitality industry – won the Chef’s Chef Award and chef brothers Albert and Michel Roux won the award for Lifetime Achievement.
Chief hotel and restaurant inspector, Peter Birnie, said: “We have seen a lot of outstanding candidates this year and the final decisions have been difficult, but we feel confident that we have picked the best and that they deserve to be acknowledged for their excellence.”
The awards were created to recognise and reward the services provided by the finest AA-inspected and rated hotels, restaurants and pubs in the UK.
