C&TH’s Great British & Irish Hotel x Polestar Sustainable Hotel of the Year Award 2024

C&TH’s Great British & Irish Hotel x Polestar Sustainable Hotel of the Year Award 2024

The Award

Launched last year in partnership with Polestar, the Swedish electric car brand with sustainability and design at its heart, Country & Town House’s Great British & Irish Hotel Guide x Polestar Sustainability Hotel of the Year award is back again for 2024. 

What are we looking for?

Looking back over last year and ahead into 2024 and beyond, what have you and your establishment done to turn up the dial on becoming more sustainable, regenerative and impactful? 

Our team of judges – including sustainability experts in travel, Francisca Kellett and Juliet Kinsman – is looking for the hotel/establishment that is going above and beyond in protecting and enhancing its environment, while looking after its staff and local community.

Where have you innovated? How are you leading the industry? How are you showing this to your clientele and local community? Are you explicitly communicating your sustainability journey? How have you measured your impact?  

The questions below will be a framework for our judges to see what you are doing, how you are measuring it and what impact you are having; not being able to answer any question fully should not be a barrier to entry. We understand that small businesses may not have expensive carbon measuring systems in place, for example, but are nonetheless integrating sustainability into their DNA. 

None of the above is any use, though, unless you’re also offering a wonderful experience. From food to service, and design to culture, a good hotel needs to hit lots of beats to attract guests back again and again. 

We really look forward to receiving your entries. First check your eligibility below, plus find all the details you need. 

Good luck! 

THE PRIZE

1. Two to four page feature on the winning hotel (and mentions of the 3 most highly commended) in our annual Great British & Irish Hotels Guide (published May)
2. Physical award to put at your reception desk
3. A logo for use in all marketing activities
4. Social/online support from Country & Town House

ELIGIBILITY

Please check that you are eligible for the C&TH x Polestar Sustainable Hotel of the Year 2024 Award before applying:

1. Your hotel/establishment is based in the UK or Ireland
2. Sustainability/regeneration forms a demonstrably important part of your establishment’s business plan and guest experience
3. You have both an environmental and a social programme in place that is measured and reported on

TIMINGS

FINAL DATE FOR SUBMISSION: 22 March 2024

JUDGING TO TAKE PLACE: w/c 25 March

SHOOT AT WINNING HOTEL TO TAKE PLACE: W/C 1 April

PUBLICATION DATE: 5 MAY

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE AWARD!

Meet The Judges

As well as Great British & Irish Hotel’s editor and one of The Telegraph’s leading hotel reviewers and travel writers, Fiona Duncan, we also welcome:

Juliet Kinsman

Juliet Kinsman’s North Star is sharing stories that inspire a better understanding of the causes and symptoms of the climate emergency — whether as a journalist, a broadcaster or as Condé Nast Traveller’s first-ever Sustainability Editor. The London-based writer and consultant has celebrated the world’s most special places in which to spend time, for almost three decades, authoring many guidebooks, most recently The Green Edit: Travel — Easy Tips for the Eco-Friendly Traveller (2020; Ebury) and The Bucket List: Eco Experiences (2022; Rizzoli). A talking head on the BBC through to Sky News, the founding editor of Mr & Mrs Smith has long since transitioned from celebrating boutique hotels to being a global expert in sustainable travel. Her purpose-led non-profit communications consultancy Bouteco amplifies stories that promote genuine change and cut through the greenwash. Bouteco’s 2019 award-winning documentary Changing Worlds in the Atlas Mountains highlighted the importance of educating girls in remote rural areas. Her six-part podcast series Funny Old World with broadcaster Simon London tackles the toughest topics in sustainability, while encouraging a little much-needed humour along the way. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @julietkinsman 

Francisca Kellett

Francisca Kellett is an award-winning travel writer and editor, having worked as the Travel Editor of Tatler magazine and the Digital Travel Editor of The Telegraph Media group. Currently the Travel Editor-at-large for Country & Town House, she also regularly contributes to The Times, The Sunday Times, The FT, National Geographic Traveller and others, as well as being the philanthropy columnist for Times LUXX. She began her career as a guidebook writer, before cutting her teeth on issues of environmental and community protection working for Minority Rights Group International, Tourism Concern and Amnesty International. She is regarded as an industry expert on sustainable travel.  

Petra Petterson

Petra joined the Polestar team as Inclusion Lead in 2021. In her role, she will promote Polestar’s vision and strategy on human rights, equality and diversity through the power of inclusion. She is part of the Sustainability team and will support activities throughout the organization with a special focus on the supply chain. Petra wants to make a difference and help Polestar, its partners, suppliers, and stakeholders to operate in a way that promotes human rights and inclusion, and inspires and leads others to the same route. Her vision is to continuously learn, adapt, and find new solutions for the challenges we are facing. She has a great drive and knowledge, having worked with everything from supply chain sustainability issues to innovative circular consumption solutions for the last 10+ years. She has previously worked with sustainability and human rights issues in the supply chains of MQ, Hemtex, and KappAhl. Petra holds a Master of Advanced Textile Engineering.

Lucy Cleland

Lucy has been driving C&TH’s sustainability and social agenda for the past few years. As such, the company has signed up to Race to Zero (to cut emissions by 50% by 2030) and has also achieved B Corp Accreditation in 2023. As editorial director of C&TH, she has rewritten all editorial guidelines to align with the values of promoting regeneration, sustainability and equity. She often talks about her journey in interviews and hosts events related to championing the businesses, products and brands that are making significant changes to become more sustainable. 

Fiona Duncan

Fiona Duncan has been reviewing hotels for well over 30 years. She began her career as an editor and writer of travel guides before launching her own series with her husband: the Charming Small Hotel Guides. She researched and wrote many of the guides, travelling in Britain, Europe and beyond, and in 1999 was asked to write about hotels for the Telegraph. She began her Telegraph hotel column in 2006 and continues to this day. She also writes for other publications, including Country and Town House magazine, whose annual Great British and Irish Hotels she also edits.

About Polestar

Polestar (Nasdaq: PSNY) is the Swedish electric performance car brand determined to improve society by using design and technology to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. Headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, its cars are available online in 27 markets globally across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

In the UK, Polestar is based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. A total of six retail locations, known as Polestar Spaces, are available for customers to physically engage with non-commissioned Polestar Specialists and arrange test drives.

Polestar plans to have a line-up of five performance EVs by 2026. Polestar 2, the electric performance fastback, launched in 2019. Polestar 3, the SUV for the electric age, launched in late 2022. Polestar 4, the SUV coupé transformed, is launching in phases through 2023 and into 2024. Polestar 5, an electric four-door GT and Polestar 6, an electric roadster, are coming soon.

The Polestar 0 project supports the company’s ambitious goal of creating a truly climate-neutral production car by 2030. The research initiative also aims to create a sense of urgency to act on the climate crisis, by challenging employees, suppliers and the wider automotive industry, to drive towards zero. polestar.com