LONDON, January 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

LONDON, January 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Ninth Annual Awards Dominated by Small, Independent PropertiesTripAdvisor(R), the world’s largest travel site, today unveiled the very best of British hotels in its ninth annual Travellers’ Choice(R) Hotel awards.The awards recognise the best hotels around the world across categories including best budget, best luxury, best B&B and best service. Unlike any other hotel awards, TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice awards are based on the experiences of millions of travellers from around the world.This year small and independently-owned properties dominate the UK’s Top 25 hotels category. This follows on from a recent TripAdvisor poll revealing that more than half (56%)* of Britons consider a hotel’s brand ‘not important’ in their holiday selection.”These awards celebrate the stars of the British hotel industry, yet global brands are conspicuously missing from the Top 25 list this year,” comments Emma O’Boyle, TripAdvisor spokesperson. “British B&Bs have performed extraordinarily well too, but in terms of value there is still work to be done to convince tourists that British hotels offer good value for money.”Despite good news for Britain’s B&B industry, with the UK all but dominating this global category, the same cannot be said for those hoping for a value break – not a single UK property features in this year’s European Top 10 ‘Bargain Hotels’ category, despite a favourable exchange for most travellers coming to Britain this year.Best of British Second Year RunningFor the second consecutive year, Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire has been awarded the coveted accolade of Britain’s Best Hotel.Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park comments on his 2011 Travellers Choice Hotel award, “We are thrilled to be recognised by TripAdvisor users as the best hotel in the UK, and to win the award for the second year running is incredible.””Our staff always go that extra mile to make guests feel welcome and we’re pleased to see this effort paying off. At Rudding Park we believe that TripAdvisor is one of our most powerful marketing and service improvement tools; we check the website daily and send a personal response to every reviewer.”The second best hotel in Britain this year is The Old Rectory in Exmoor, Devon and third place goes to Boskerris Hotel in St. Ives, Cornwall.Budget Blow for British HotelsAs VAT rises and the budget cuts take hold, budget-conscious travellers will be disappointed to hear that not a single British hotel made it into this year’s European ‘Bargain Hotels’ list, which was highly populated with Eastern European hotels.”The recent TripAdvisor 2011 Travel Trends research revealed that fewer Brits are planning to take a domestic holiday this year, a trend which could be attributed to the perceived lack of high-quality, low-price accommodation in the UK made clear through the Traveller’s Choice Awards,” continued TripAdvisor’s Emma O’Boyle.London Left BehindWhile parts of the country, particularly Devon, excel in this year’s awards, the UK’s capital is not shining as brightly. With the 2012 Olympics on the horizon, the world’s eyes will soon be on London – a city conspicuous in its absence from the UK’s top 25 hotels.This is the second consecutive year in which the capital failed to produce finalists in the top 25 UK hotels list. With the countdown on and only 18 months to go, it’s likely London’s hospitality industry will be working hard to make sure Londonperforms as a world-class tourism destination next year.World-Class British B&BsThe good old B&B is a UK institution so it’s fantastic news that Britain’s B&Bs are officially the best in the world, with six British properties ranking among the world’s top ten. Scotland’s The Old Manse in Invermoriston has been crowned number one in the world.For the complete 2011 Traveller’s Choice list and for more reviews, opinions and candid holiday photographs, go tohttp://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravelersChoiceNOTES TO EDITORS:AWARDS SELECTIONThe TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice award winners for 2011 were determined by a combination of TripAdvisor’s Popularity Index and traveller ratings of specific property attributes. TripAdvisor’s Popularity Index is a proprietary algorithm that determines traveller satisfaction based on a variety of sources, including TripAdvisor hotel reviews. The hotel review process on TripAdvisor also allows travellers to “grade” hotels based on a variety of attributes, including cleanliness, value and suitability for specific types of travellers.+Poll carried out on 1,265 TripAdvisor users on http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk in January 2011.About TripAdvisorTripAdvisor(R) is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with seamless links to booking tools.TripAdvisor(R) Media Group, operated by TripAdvisor LLC, attracts more than 50 million unique monthly visitors* across 17 popular travel brands**. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 40 million unique monthly visitors***, 20 million members, and over 40 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 27 countries worldwide****, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also operates TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor’s millions of monthly visitors. The division includes Business Listings, which allows hoteliers to connect directly to millions of researching travelers, and Vacation Rentals, which helps property managers and individual home owners list their properties and showcase hotel alternatives.TripAdvisor Media Group websites have been recognized as top travel resources in 2010 by Conde Nast Traveller, Good Housekeeping, TIME magazine and Travel + Leisure.TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Group are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE).TripAdvisor, Travelers’ Choice and the TripAdvisor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.(c)2011 TripAdvisor LLC. All rights reserved.*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Media Group Sites, Worldwide, August 2010** In addition to TripAdvisor, The TripAdvisor Media Group of websites includes: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com,http://www.bookingbuddy.com, http://www.cruisecritic.com, http://www.familyvacationcritic.com, http://www.flipkey.com,http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk, http://www.holidaywatchdog.com, http://www.independenttraveler.com,http://www.onetime.com, http://www.seatguru.com, http://www.sniqueaway.com, http://www.smartertravel.com, http://www.travel-library.com, http://www.travelpod.com, http://www.virtualtourist.com and http://www.kuxun.cn.***Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, August 2010**** TripAdvisor sites operate in 27 countries worldwide: http://www.tripadvisor.com, http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk,http://www.tripadvisor.ca, http://www.tripadvisor.it, http://www.tripadvisor.es, http://www.tripadvisor.de, http://www.tripadvisor.fr,http://www.tripadvisor.jp, http://www.daodao.com, http://www.tripadvisor.in, http://www.tripadvisor.se, http://nl.tripadvisor.com,http://www.tripadvisor.com.br, http://www.tripadvisor.com.tr, http://www.tripadvisor.dk, http://www.tripadvisor.com.mx,http://www.tripadvisor.ie, http://www.tripadvisor.com.au, http://www.tripadvisor.com.sg, http://www.tripadvisor.co.kr,http://no.tripadvisor.com, http://pl.tripadvisor.com, http://th.tripadvisor.com, http://www.tripadvisor.ru,http://www.tripadvisor.com.gr/, http://www.tripadvisor.co.id and http://www.tripadvisor.com.ar.    2011 TRIPADVISOR TRAVELLERS’ CHOICE AWARDS HIGHLIGHTS :    For the full results, please see link    TOP 25 UK HOTELS (as voted by Europe)    Figure in brackets denotes 2010 ranking    1. Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate, Yorkshire (1)    2. The Old Rectory Hotel, Exmoor National Park, Devon (11)    3. Boskerris Hotel, St. Ives, Cornwall (3)    4. Charterhouse Hotel, Torquay, Devon (5)    5. Abbot’s Brae Hotel, Dunoon, Scotland    6. Overwater Hall, Lake District, Cumbria    7. Elmdene Hotel, Torquay, Devon    8. Can-y-Bae, Llandudno, North Wales (4)    9. Haytor Hotel, Torquay, Devon    10. Apsley House Hotel, Bath, Somerset (12)    11. The Seawood Hotel, Exmoor National Park, Devon    12. Yeoldon House Hotel, Bideford, Devon (16)    13. Kingsley Lodge, Peak District, Derbyshire    14. Dunkery Beacon Hotel, Exmoor National Park, Devon (9)    15. The Clarence Hotel, Portsmouth, Hampshire (14)    16. The Clontarf Hotel, Llandudno, Wales    17. Tara Lodge, Belfast, Northern Ireland    18. Hillside, Ventnor, Isle of Wight    19. Avalon Beach Hotel, Bournemouth, Dorset (8)    20. Broad House Hotel, Wroxham, Norwich    21. The Plough Inn, Llandeilo, Wales    22. Hotel Una, Brighton, East Sussex (18)    23. Swinside Lodge Hotel, Keswick, Cumbria    24. Green Bough Hotel, Chester, Cheshire    25. Tremarne Hotel, Mevagissey, Cornwall (15)    BEST B&Bs IN THE WORLD (as voted by the world)    1. The Old Manse, (Invermoriston, Scotland)    2. Casa Portagioia, (Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy)    3. Saltcote Place (Rye, East Sussex, England)    4. Riverside Hotel (Ambleside, Cumbria, England)    5. Number One B&B (Deal, Kent, England)    6. The Twenty One (Brighton, East Sussex, England)    7. Sedona Views Bed and Breakfast (Sedona, USA)    8. Creston Villa Guest House (Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England)    9. Wildwood Manor Bed and Breakfast (San Juan Island, USA)    10. Saubhag Bed and Breakfast (New Delhi, India)    BEST SERVICE IN EUROPE (as voted by the world)    Figure in brackets denotes ranking in Top 10    Abbot’s Brae Hotel, Dunoon , Scotland (7)    Boskerris Hotel, St. Ives, Cornwall, England (8)    TRENDIEST HOTELS IN EUROPE (as voted by the world)    Figure in brackets denotes ranking in Top 10    Hotel Missoni, Edinburgh, Scotland (2)    MyHotel, Brighton, East Sussex, England (4)