Celebrating ten years of Hand Picked Hotels

                              
Hand Picked Hotels, the award-winning hotel collection, recently celebrated its ten year anniversary, continuing a centuries-old tradition of offering guests the indulgence of a country house visit - with a modern twist.

The celebration was marked at the Wallace Collection, London on the 30th June 2011. Approximately 120 key clients, media and employees were joined by Hand Picked Hotels CEO Julia Hands and guest speaker Sandie Dawe, CEO VisitBritain. Guests were treated to a Champagne and canapé reception and private tours of the Wallace Collection, along with a speech from both Julia Hands and Sandie Dawe.

The Wallace Collection is probably best known for its paintings by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, Hals (The Laughing Cavalier) and Velázquez and for its superb collections of eighteenth-century French paintings, porcelain, furniture and gold boxes, probably the best to be found anywhere outside France.

A brief history of Hand Picked Hotels

Former city lawyer Julia Hands created Hand Picked Hotels in 2001 from a group of hotels purchased with her husband, financier Guy Hands. Julia “hand picked” 14 hotels that reflected the vision she created for the company, which remains unchanged today. In 2008, three new properties were acquired, bringing the collection to 17 hotels. 

The Hand Picked brand, with its emphasis on informality and a relaxed, unstuffy atmosphere, has attracted a string of awards, from AA Hotel Group of the Year, to recognition for the quality of staff training, customer service and its website.

Julia Hands, Chairman and Chief Executive, who was awarded an MBE for services to the hospitality industry in 2007, said: “We have created and developed an award-winning brand, while retaining the individual history and character of each hotel and the tradition of hospitality, yet with the latest spa treatments, wi-fi and informality.

 “Over the past 10 years, we have built a loyal and ever-expanding following of Hand Picked guests who love staying in our hotels, backed by a first-class team across our hotels and at our headquarters in Sevenoaks, Kent. We are focusing on growing Hand Picked and we are keen to build the collection to 20 hotels. We are looking for properties in strategic locations with the history and character to become part of Hand Picked.”

Hand Picked Hotels are in outstanding locations across the UK, and are renowned for exquisite food, fine wines and excellent service in relaxing surroundings. The hotels are all architecturally splendid former private country houses with fascinating histories, mainly built in the 18th and 19th centuries to enable their owners to entertain guests on a grand scale -  including royalty, prime ministers, captains of industry, writers and film stars. 

The hotels range from mediaeval, to Georgian Palladian, from rural manor house to stately Edwardian grandeur, representing centuries of hospitality. Today, the hotels offer the opportunity to experience the indulgence of a country house visit without needing to be on an exclusive guest list.

The hotels have been transformed over the past 10 years. More than £94 million has been invested in restoring and developing the 17 properties by creating new spa/health club facilities, state of the art conference facilities, the latest technology and additional bedrooms to stimulate growth in conferences and meetings, leisure, weddings and spa breaks.

Julia Hands has encouraged the chefs at her hotels to grow their own produce, including herbs, fruit and vegetables in the style of the traditional private country houses they once were. Several hotels are producing their own honey for guests to enjoy. Local meat, fish and cheeses are sourced to reflect the specialities of the area of each of the hotels.

The hotels’ wine list also reflects Julia’s philosophy and interest in wine, with a Hand Picked wine – Raccolto a Mano – “harvested by hand”, from the Hands’ estate they have created in Tuscany.  A further feature of the wine list is the extensive collection of Bordeaux wines from the classic 2000 vintage bought by Julia en primeur.

The quality of its service and cuisine is reflected by 15 hotels having achieved two AA rosette status, with Norton House Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh winning three AA rosettes.  In addition Norton House Hotel & Spa was awarded AA Hotel of the Year for Scotland 2008-2009.  Six hotels have achieved red star status, being recognised as amongst the AA's Top 200 hotels in the UK & Ireland.

Click here to view the Hand Picked timeline