A GRAND establishment in Oxfordshire has been named the best hotel in Britain by judges from across the industry.

Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Great Milton, established by chef Raymond Blanc in 1984, was named number one overall hotel in the UK as well as ‘Food Hotel of the Year’ in The Caterer’s 2017 Hoteliers’ Hotels Top 100 list.

The luxury manor house hotel also featured in the top three for ‘Countryside Hotel of the Year’.

Meanwhile Soho Farmhouse, a members’ club set in 100 acres of countryside in Great Tew with numerous famous guets including Prince Harry and David Beckham, was also welcomed to the list for the first time with an impressive ranking of 24.

General manager Jan-Paul Kroese accepted the award for Le Manoir at a ceremony in London on Monday.

He said: “I am so proud to accept this award on behalf of our entire team at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. 

“A massive thank you to Raymond for his continued passion and inspiration and always pushing us to be our best.”

Murray Ward, general manager at Soho Farmhouse, added: “We are so pleased to have made it into The Caterer’s top 100 hotels this year. It’s great to be recognised by our peers in the hospitality business; we are honoured to have been selected.”

Judges this year included Telegraph hotel critic Fiona Duncan, hotel consultant Giovanna Grossi and editors from industry publication The Caterer.

Amanda Afiya, editor at The Caterer, said, “We were delighted by the response to the launch of the list last year.”