Windermere’s Cedar Manor Hotel and Restaurant has reached the finals of the “small hotel” category of the prestigious VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2015.
As a finalist, the hotel, run by Jonathan and Caroline Kaye, now goes forward to the glittering awards ceremony which is being held on Monday 11 May at the Sage, Gateshead.
The VisitEngland Awards attracted a total of 345 applications. Cedar Manor will have to wait until the ceremony to find out which award they will receive. All finalists are guaranteed to receive either a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Highly Commended Award.
The Cedar Manor is currently the holder of the Cumbria Tourism “best small hotel” title. They were also highly commended last year in the nationwide Hilden style awards, and the Lancashire Life “Lakeland hotel of the year” awards. The hotel has AA three-star accreditation with 86% quality rating.
Among other commendations, the Cedar Manor was awarded AA rosette culinary excellence for 2014-15, the latest Cumbria Business Environment Network gold award, and luxury hotel approval from Conde Nast/Johansens, the leading reference guide for independent travellers. It has also been the top rated hotel in Windermere on TripAdvisor for more than a year.
A country house hotel with a boutique style, the Cedar Manor is personally managed by Jonathan and Caroline who have won plaudits for their customer service. There are ten bedrooms including a detached coach-house suite with its own dining room, mini conference facilities, a twin-spa bathroom and carpets made from a blend of wool from Herdwick and Swaledale sheep.
They have worked with local designers and craftsmen to create a distinctive interior style, and recently created a welcome lounge to replace a check-in desk, and a patio under the shade of their signature Cedar tree. The Cedar Manor was judged best international hotel interior a couple of years ago on the strength of designer Alison Tordoff’s décor plans. She recently created a“faux-library” wallpaper with whimsical Lake District titles on the “shelves” for the welcome lounge.
The restaurant, which is open to non-residents, is led by head chef Roger Pergl- Wilson who creates distinctive dishes using local produce.
James Berresford, Chief Executive of VisitEngland said: “It’s been another successful year for our Excellence Awards as we’ve received hundreds of applications of an extremely high standard. That’s why all the finalists should be incredibly proud that they’ve been short-listed against such tough competition. I’d like to congratulate all the finalists who now represent the top five in their category in England and wish them all the very best of luck on Awards night at the Sage Centre in Gateshead – a spectacular venue to celebrate the industry’s best.”
Jonathan Kaye said: “We are really thrilled to know that we are already among the top hotels in England. We have set a very high standard here and it is good see recognition of all that we and our staff have achieved.”
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