Adrian Ellis and Tom Aikens win top honours at AA Hospitality Awards 2024

Hotelier Adrian Ellis and chef Tom Aikens led the list of winners at the AA Hospitality Awards 2024.

Around 900 guests from across the UK hospitality sector gathered for the awards ceremony at JW Marriott Grosvenor House on Monday night.

Ellis was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his 40-year career running hotels in the UK and abroad, as well as launching the Hotels and Schools project to educate young people about hospitality.

 

He said: “I am delighted and honoured to receive this award in recognition of my commitment both to the industry and to developing educational initiatives and tackling the recruitment challenges that the industry still faces."

Tom Aikens was named Chefs’ Chef of the Year, an award voted for by industry peers whose restaurants hold AA Rosettes. He said: “There was such an amazing group of chefs up for this award. It’s truly incredible to have actually won it. It’s not just about me, it’s about the whole team. I’m absolutely thrilled, it’s fantastic.”

 

Meanwhile, hotelier and sustainability expert Sue Williams was given the Outstanding Contribution Award. “I love surprises and for sure this news has come out of the blue, I am over the moon,” she said. “When you plug away at your craft, all these years, you like to think you make a difference along the way and it is moments when you receive news like this that you dare to believe that perhaps I was able to make a worthwhile contribution along the way.”

 

The Restaurant of the Year (England) went to the Greyhound in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. Daniel Crump, co-proprietor at the Greyhound, said: “When we opened in 2019 – and were closed again by coronavirus shortly afterwards – the possibility of receiving one of the most esteemed awards a restaurant in the UK can get felt so far away. This means so much to us and the team and we’re so honoured to receive this recognition from the AA.

 

“We are so proud of how hard our Greyhound family works day in, day out, front of house and in the kitchen, to make sure that our guests have the best possible experience from the moment they walk in the door, and it’s phenomenal to see their skills, passion and talent recognised at a national level."

 

The ceremony also saw three new restaurants awarded the maximum five-AA-rosette rating: Woven by Adam Smith at Coworth Park in Berkshire, the Glenturret Lalique restaurant in Perth and Kinross, and the Angel at Hetton in North Yorkshire.

No new hotels were awarded the maximum five AA red stars, but four venues were given four red stars and there was one new three star.

Simon Numphud, managing director at AA Media, said: “This incredible celebration is a true testament to the strength and innovation within our industry. The dedication and excellence demonstrated by all the hospitality teams have been nothing short of inspiring.

 

“Congratulations to all the winners, nominees, and new rosette holders for their remarkable contributions.”

 

The full list of AA Awards winners 2025

 

Chefs’ Chef of the Year

 

Tom Aikens, Muse, London

Lifetime Achievement Award

 

Adrian Ellis, former general manager of the Lowry hotel, Manchester

 

Outstanding Contribution Award

 

Sue Williams, Positive Hospitality, director and formerly general manager of Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa

Restaurants of the Year 

England – the Greyhound, Buckinghamshire

London – the Silver Birch, London

Wales – Thomas by Tom Simmons, Cardiff

Scotland – Loch Bay restaurant, Isle of Skye

Hotels of the Year

 

England – Down Hall Hotel & Spa, Hertfordshire 

 

London – the Dorchester

 

Wales – the Parkgate hotel, Cardiff 

 

Scotland – Cromlix, Stirling 

 

Northern Ireland – the Ebrington hotel, Londonderry

Group of the Year 

 

Red Carnation Hotel Group

Small Hotel Group of the Year 

Eden Hotel Collection, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Wine Award 

England – Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms, Lancashire

 

Wales – Plas Dinas Country House, Gwynedd

 

Scotland – the Balmoral, Edinburgh 

 

Shortlisted categories (excluding Chefs Chef):

Housekeeper of the Year 

Paula Seddon – Crow Wood Hotel and Spa Resort, Lancashire
 
Sustainable Award 

1 Hotel Mayfair, London

Inn of the Year

The Cartford Inn, Lancashire  
 
B&B of the Year

Mallard Grange, North Yorkshire 
 
Restaurant with Rooms of the Year

Mingary Castle, Highlands

 

Spa Hotel of the Year

Carden Park hotel, Cheshire

Food Service Award

The Seafood restaurant, Cornwall

 

College Restaurant of the Year

Senara – Truro & Penwith College

New five rosettes

Woven by Adam Smith (Coworth Park), Berkshire 

 

The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, Perth & Kinross 

 

Angel at Hetton, North Yorkshire 
 
New four rosettes

Restaurant 1890 by Gordon Ramsay (Savoy hotel), London

 

Olive Tree at the Queensberry hotel, Somerset

 

Bybrook at the Manor House hotel, Wiltshire

 

Lumiere, Gloucestershire 

 

Atrium (Lords of the Manor), Gloucestershire

New three rosettes

The Flintlock at Cheddleton, Staffordshire

 

The Old Deanery, North Yorkshire 

 

Humo London, London 

 

Pignut, North Yorkshire

 

The Vines restaurant, Cheshire 

 

Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa, Cheshire 

 

The Three Horseshoes, Essex

 

The Cottage in the Wood, Cumbria

 

Chartwell at Aldwark Manor, North Yorkshire

 

Mallory Court Country House Hotel & Spa, Warwickshire

 

Skosh, North Yorkshire

 

Musu, Greater Manchester

 

The Fanny Talbot, Gwynedd

 

New four red stars

Farlam Hall Hotel & Restaurant, Cumbria

Douneside House, Aberdeenshire

The Angel hotel, Suffolk

Lygon Arms hotel, Worcestershire

Nutfield Priory Hotel & Spa, Surrey

 

 

New three red stars

Penally Abbey, Pembrokeshire