READERS' TRAVEL AWARDS 2002

In Africa and the Middle East, you were most impressed with the Al Maha in Dubai, in particular its desert location (91.82) and environmental friendliness (94.56). You felt that the Cape Grace in Cape Town offers the best value for money (89.31), Le Prince Maurice in Mauritius the best leisure facilities (90.74) and Le Saint Geran, also in Mauritius, the finest service (90.23).

In the Americas and Caribbean, Bellagio in Las Vegas is on a winning streak, especially for its leisure facilities (94.56); Las Ventanas Al Paraso in Mexico for location (90.87) and the Explora in Chile for environmental friendliness (91).

In Asia, the gorgeous Amanpuri in Thailand hit a high note with an overall score above 90. It was joined by Soneva Fushi in the Maldives which scored a picture-perfect 99.99 for location.

In Australasia and the South Pacific, the rugged Huka Lodge in New Zealand hit the high note with an overall score above 90. It was joined by the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, where you thought the accommodation deserved a very attractive 90.59.

In Europe, the San Domenico Palace Hotel in Sicily achieved sufficiently high scores in all nine criteria to propel it to first place, helped by your decision to give it above 90 for that all-important value for money. Other hotels to score above 90 included La Residencia in Mallorca for service, Hotel Hassler in Rome for ambience and Anassa in Cyprus for leisure facilities.

While failing to score top marks for any of the 10 criteria on which we asked you to rate leisure hotels, The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, famous for its championship-golf courses, topped the list by way of consistently high scores. In fact, the only criteria where you elected to mark it down was shopping facilities (69.73), which is where London's Charlotte Street Hotel leapt into the breach with a credit-card burning 90. The pretty Cornish town of St Mawes, setting for the Hotel Tresanton, is your idea of a great location (88.18), while the Starck interiors of London's Sanderson hotel earned it top marks for ambience/decor (89.87). And which UK hotel do you think offers the best value for money? It's the Malmaison in Leeds (83.33).

Among the top 15 business hotels, 10 are in the capital, proving that London realy is the business capital. The Four Seasons Hotel London, which got the best overall rating, achieved its two highest scores for standard/comfort of accommodation (88.57) and service (85.14). The second-ranked Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park scored highest overall for both its location (98.01) and ambience/decor (87.85) while the Berkeley took the lead for food/restaurants (86.67).

Why is the Park Hyatt Tokyo your favourite overseas business hotel? Well, you think it's great value for money, has wonderful ambience and excellent business services and conference facilities. You chose to mark the hotel above 90 for all those criteria. Elsewhere, the Four Seasons Hotel Milan took top marks for standard/ comfort of accommodation (88.88) and the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong and the Four Seasons Hotel Singapore tied for best service with a very impressive 90.