Newt like it: Somerset property ranks number one on the Top 50 Boutique Hotels list

The Top 50 Boutique Hotels list was announced earlier today (22 November 2023) on the brand’s Instagram page having been released in unranked form last month. ​​

Ranked second on the list last year, The Newt (pictured above) is described as being ‘nestled in the grounds of an alluring working estate that is home to acres of resplendent gardens, enchanting woodland and traditional cyder orchards’ with ‘both the accommodation and common rooms in the house and surrounding buildings having been sensitively designed to showcase the Newt’s history’. 

Hampshire’s Lime Wood and Gilpin Hotel and Lake House in Cumbria took second and third place respectively (see full list, below). 

This year’s Highest New Entrant is Boys Hall near Ashford, which has come in at number 16. Highest Climber went to The Grove of Narberth in Pembrokeshire, which went from 49 to 36 and also won the Service Award. 

Raymond Blanc's  Oxfordshire flagship Le Manoir aux Quat’saisons took home the Food & Drink award. Other venues with renowned restaurants to make the list include Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms, Heckfield Place, Lympstone Manor and Grantley Hall.   

Voted for by the hospitality and travel industry, the Top 50 Boutique Hotels list​​ is from the same stable as Top 50 Gastropubs and Top 50 Cocktail Bars.

“We are delighted to be revealing this fantastic new list for 2023,” says group director, hospitality and manufacturing at William Reed Chris Lowe,  This year’s number one The Newt is a worthy winner and the highest new entry Boys Hall shows the innovation taking place within the sector.  It is so encouraging to see so many new entrants in the Top 50 this year as well as being able to showcase such a range of unique hotel experiences available across the UK.”

The Top 50 Boutique Hotels list was conceived in 2020 with the first ‘list reveal’ in November 2021.