Every year, CIE Tours acknowledges the best of British hospitality through our Annual Awards of Excellence. On April 8, 2025, we gathered at Ardoe House Hotel in Aberdeen to honor the hotels and tourism experience providers that have made our travelers' experiences truly exceptional. These awards celebrate the warmth and outstanding service our partners offer to our guests.

These CIE Tours awards are especially meaningful because they are based on the voices of our travelers. Over 12,000 CIE Tours guests who explored Britain in 2024 shared their feedback, helping us identify the partners who consistently exceed expectations in creating memorable journeys. These winners—and all our partners—contribute to CIE Tours' high guest satisfaction and represent the best of British hospitality. In 2024, 75 UK businesses received greater than 90% customer satisfaction, up from 53 in 2023.

The awards are based on guest feedback from approximately 200 tourism providers throughout Britain. Merit awards are given to all partners achieving a customer satisfaction rate above 90%, while the providers with the highest satisfaction scores in each category receive a Gold Award.

Gold Award Winners

• Best Overall Hotel: Norton House Hotel & Spa, Edinburgh
• Best Hotel Accommodation: Crieff Hydro Hotel, Crieff
• Best Hotel Dinner: Chilston Park Hotel, Maidstone
• Best Overall Hotel Service & Hospitality: Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry
• Best Overall Walking Tour: Windsor Walking Tour
• Best Special Event: Edinburgh Military Tattoo
• Best Overall Castle Experience: Glamis Castle
• Best Overall Loch Cruise: Cruise Loch Lomond
• Best Overall Visitor Attraction: Aberdeenshire Highland Cattle
• Best Overall Dinner & Entertainment: Norton House Hotel & Spa, Edinburgh

Hotel Merit Awards

• Hilton Cambridge City Centre, Cambridge
• 100 Queen's Gate Hotel London, Curio Collection by Hilton, London
• Briery Wood Country House Hotel, Windermere
• Doubletree by Hilton Edinburgh - Queensferry Crossing
• DoubleTree by Hilton Brighton Metropole, Brighton
• Ardoe House Hotel and Spa, Aberdeen
• Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club
• Castle Hotel, Windsor
• Edinburgh Marriott Hotel, Holyrood
• Bailbrook House Hotel, Bath
• Malmaison Hotel, Liverpool
• Novotel Edinburgh Centre Hotel, Edinburgh
• Doubletree by Hilton - West End, London
• Hotel Indigo, Liverpool
• The Balmacara Hotel
• Clayton Hotel, Cardiff

• Hilton York Hotel, York

   

   

Visit Merit Awards 

• Palace of Holyroodhouse
• Castle Howard
• Abbotsford House
• Windsor Castle
• Stonehenge
• Fyvie Castle, Garden & Estate
• Stirling Castle
• Canterbury Cathedral
• Dunvegan Castle
• Blair Castle
• Blenheim Palace
• Italian Chapel
• Dunrobin Castle
• Cardiff Castle
• Skara Brae
• Cambridge American Cemetery
• Bamburgh Castle
• Inveraray Castle
• Iain Burnett Highland Chocolatier
• Mount Stuart House
• York Minster
• Blair Athol Distillery
• Tintern Abbey
• Tower of London
• Culzean Castle
• Edinburgh Castle
• Drum Castle, Garden & Estate
• Eilean Donan Castle
• Scudamore's Punting Company
• Brodick Castle, Garden & Country Park
• Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
• Urquhart Castle
• Leeds Castle
• Glengoyne Distillery
• The Glenturret Distillery
• Culloden Battlefield Visitors Centre
• Hatfield House
• Armadale Castle, Gardens & Museum
• Inverewe Gardens
• The Scotch Whisky Experience
• Roman Baths
• Anne Hathaway's Cottage
• Port of Leith Distillery
• St Magnus Cathedral
• Kensington Palace
• Leault Farm - Sheep Dog Trials
• Andrew Gray, Piper in Edinburgh

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all the guests who made these awards possible!