Tripadvisor Hall of Fame

Being British we don't like to blow our own trumpet too often, but we're reluctant to sweep our recent win under the carpet too; it's cost us.

For five consecutive years Holdsworth House in Halifax has won the Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence, which puts the Jacobean manor made famous recently for its role in Last Tango in Halifax, into the Tripadvisor Hall of Fame.

So what? We hear you cry. Well it's more than a little badge to wear proudly on the hotel's lapel. It represents five years of saying yes to guests when the easy option is to say no. It's five years of beaming our way through (the occasional) day when we're feeling low. It's five years of toil and hard graft - and for anyone working in hospitality, you know it to be a tough job: lugging around furniture, cooking in a busy banqueting kitchen, and we reckon that's 49,300 beds housekeeping has changed in the time!

So this time we'll blow our little trumpet as loud as we can for our big team effort. It has been absolutely worth it to gain a loyal following of guests; the badge makes it all the more sweeter.

Last Tango in Halifax - The Wedding

So the secret is out, Alan and Celia are getting married and the gorgeous hotel chosen just happens to be... ahem... Holdsworth House in Halifax.

Hooray for writer Sally Wainwright for insisting as many scenes as possible were filmed in her native Halifax and hooray for Red Production Company for finding the right spots across Calderdale to do justice to Sally's brilliant imagination.

As the top independent hotel in Halifax, something like Last Tango certainly helps to put us on the global map. We've already welcomed guests from Scandinavia , where Last Tango is really popular. We've even had people enquiring about where to buy the fabric on our dining chairs (featured in episode 5).

A Romantic Weekend and A Wedding Venue

Episode 4 of Last Tango in Halifax showed Caroline and Kate escaping for a romantic weekend (also based on and filmed at Holdsworth House). The drama certainly unfolded and the weekend turned into a disaster for the less than romantic couple. At least Caroline thought Holdsworth House would be 'a good place for a wedding' in episode 5. Alan and Celia thought so too and booked the venue for Christmas Eve - so romantic.

The hotel's Last Tango in Halifax debut came when we saw Caroline and Kate arrive for their break and make their way down towards the manor's 380 year old entrance.

The next day's breakfast was filmed in our Mullioned Room (pictured left) where breakfast is really served to our hotel guests. It's a popular room for afternoon tea and dinner in Halifax too as it looks out over the landscaped gardens.

Pray Silence for the Filming

The filming took place in September 2013 and our team at the hotel remembers the week well. Throughout filming office phones had to be silenced, chairs on wheels were banned and office banter was stalled to ensure that no sounds were picked up on the microphones and no creaky floors creaked at the wrong moment in the offices above where filming took place.  We're quite used to this - we host many marriage ceremonies in the historic Hall so the team is well-rehearsed in being silent as important marriage vows are being made.

Kit and Caboodle

Holdsworth House has beautiful leaded mullion windows, historic beamed ceilings and large stone fireplaces giving it warm and cosy atmosphere. So not only did the film crew bring along their super high tech camera kit, we saw a temporary new cream carpet laid in the restaurant to help reflect the light upwards. Hey - whatever helps!!

We were pleased that the location team wanted to use Holdsworth House's restaurant food on screen. Plus we were delighted to have our actual wedding folders used by the wedding coordinator character.

Many people have asked if the wedding coordinator and the waiters were members of our team - no, they were all bona fide actors, although we're sure our team could have pulled off the roles perfectly too!

The Final Episode

What will the last episode bring? Well as Alan and Celia tie the knot on Christmas Eve we look forward to a few more key scenes from Holdsworth House being shown. We don't want to give anything away yet. But by 'eck, its a belter!

Huge thanks go to the production company and producer Karen Lewis for believing our team would handle the filming week professionally and without hitch. Of course we thank the brilliant Sally Wainwright, on behalf of the UK, for giving us all such a wonderful glued-to-the-set series of laughter and (a touch of) sadness. But most of all for showing the real Yorkshire, its glorious scenery and for highlighting the funny quirks that give us Yorkshire folk our uniqueness. Yes we suppose many of us really do speak like that and drink that much tea!!

Recommended by the Mail on Sunday

Following the success of BAFTA-winning Last Tango in Halifax, the Mail on Sunday sent journalist Bridget McGrouther to Holdsworth House in Halifax - where several scenes for series two were filmed - to see what all the fuss was about.

Here's what she said: "My husband Simon and I jumped at the chance of a romantic rendezvous at the award-winning hotel with its cosy bedrooms - ours even had a luxurious four-poster bed.

Elegant: Bridget at Holdsworth House, which was home to the
Last Tango cast and crew in September

Dinner in a secluded corner by the stone-mullioned windows of the atmospheric restaurant with two AA Rosettes was sensational - seared king scallops with tangy sea herbs, the most tender, locally sourced steak and tasty venison as well as decadent desserts.

We enjoyed after-dinner coffees in the 'old hall', sitting by the inviting inglenook fireplace just like I imagine Alan and Celia did. In such idyllic surroundings, no wonder the romance of Last Tango's mature couple - former teenage sweethearts - was rekindled."

Read the full article online here >>

Yorkshire Wins Europe's Leading Destination Award

Yorkshire has beaten Berlin, London and Madrid to win the title of Europe's Leading Destination in 2013. The prize was awarded at the World Travel Awards in Antalya, Turkey, which are described by organisers as the "Oscars of the travel industry". Yorkshire is the first location other than a major city or country to have won the Leading Destination title in the 17-year history of the awards.

Being one of the most popular hotels in Yorkshire of course the world is our oyster!

Read the full BBC article here 

Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence

Love or hate Tripadvisor, there's one thing for sure many people who want to try somewhere for the first time use it like a crystal ball... how good will my experience really be?

Of course Tripadvisor is open to abuse. TV documentaries have shown how some unscrupulous hoteliers 'big up' their own hotels whilst putting false reviews of competitors TUT TUT. How hotels expect to get a good reputation if they're so focused on themselves rather than the customer is beyond us.

There's always room for improvement and the customer paying the bill has every right to say how they think hoteliers can do it better, whether they do that in the public domain or not is not always something a hotel can manage. Customers expectations and benchmarks vary wildly; what's fantastic for one is second rate for another. With little or no opportunity for hoteliers to respond, without looking like a whinging pom, a hotel's online reputation is a pathway that can be paved with gold or can drop into an abyss in a flash. We say always aim for the highest common denominator and treat every guest like a king!

It's this policy that has won Holdsworth House another Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence for the third year running. For us this means not only do we aim to give everyone good service, but that we acknowledge that we're always learning and we're always trying our best. Occasionally things do go wrong, but it's rare and the customer can be assured we'll always go out of our way to make it right.  We're not afraid of Tripadvisor, we embrace it, so we're already looking forward to a Certificate of Excellence 2014!