Bath’s family-owned, boutique hotel The Queensberry and its Michelin-starred Olive Tree Restaurant went home with a hat-trick of Gold honours, including the ‘Winner of Winners’ at the recent Bristol, Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards.
The Queensberry Hotel, with its acclaimed Michelin-starred restaurant, The Olive Tree, is the brainchild of Laurence and Helen Beere who have used their combined 50 years of experience in the hotel industry to bring alive this quirky property.
The Queensberry won Gold for Small Hotel of the Year, Gold for Restaurant of the Year (as The Olive Tree) and Overall Winner of Winners at the event which took place at The Bristol Hotel on 30th November.
Helen and Laurence Beere
Judges cited The Olive Tree’s winning attributes as being, ‘formalised fine dining in a contemporary restaurant coupled with classic flavours and modern cooking techniques.’ Giving the Small Hotel of the Year award, they said ‘The unique experience of this hotel (The Queensberry) envelops guests the moment they step inside the front door, it is undoubtedly one of a kind.’
When it came to the Winner of Winners, they described The Queensberry as ‘Consistent exemplars in a number of categories over recent years, they really set the standard in their sector and have regularly impressed the judges with their continued improvement and desire to keep raising their already high standards.”
Over the last two years, working with South West-based, multi-award-winning design agency, Absolute and Bath-based maximalist wallpaper and fabric creators Divine Savages, the Queensberry team has spent a huge amount of time updating all of its individualistic bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as The Olive Tree restaurant and extensive public areas around the hotel.
The Olive Tree Restaurant, headed by Executive Head Chef, Chris Cleghorn received its first Michelin Star back in 2018 which it has retained ever since.
The hotel and its restaurant are now waiting to find out if they will be shortlisted for the regional finals of the South West Tourism Awards.
Also representing Bath on the night were West of England Falconry and 1 Royal Crescent – who picked up Gold and Bronze respectively in the ‘Small Visitor Attraction of the Year’ category. Additionally, Bath World Heritage Centre won Silver in the ‘Visitor Information Service of the Year’ category.
Laurence Beere, Founder and Owner of The Queensberry Hotel, said, “We are incredibly honoured to work amongst such a terrifically high standard of hotel and hospitality colleagues across Bristol, Bath and Somerset at large. The fact that we have such incredibly respected competition makes our winning of this hat-trick of Gold awards such a rewarding recognition for each and every member of our hard-working Queensberry and Olive Tree teams.
“We’re constantly challenging ourselves to continue to develop our individualistic, contemporary, but classic take on the provision of the optimum level of care and hospitality to our hotel and Michelin-starred restaurant guests. This much-appreciated validation from the highly experienced Tourism Awards judges means everything to everyone who is working so hard, alongside myself and Helen, to keep both The Olive Tree and The Queensberry at the absolute pinnacle of our own highly-set objectives.”
