READERS' TRAVEL AWARDS 2003

We asked you to nominate your favourite leisure hotels outside the UK in five geographical regions. In the Americas & Caribbean, you clearly rate the reborn Sandy Lane on Barbados: you gave it high scores in all nine criteria but were ultimately bowled over by its accommodation (96.36) and leisure facilities (88.18). The Four Seasons Hotel New York is on to a winner for its service/staff (98); so is last year's winner, Bellagio in Las Vegas, for its shopping facilities (95.56).

In Europe, you showed a distinct preference for Italian hotels, voting eight into the top 20, with the luxurious Hotel Cipriani in Venice at the very top (it scored above 85 for location, service/staff, standard/comfort of accommodation and food/restaurants). Last year's winner, the San Domenico Palace Hotel in Sicily, cashed in on value for money (95.75), while the Four Seasons Hotel Milan took home the best shopping facilities (90).

In Africa, Indian Ocean & Middle East, you chose another Four Seasons hotel, this time in Maldives, as your favourite holiday hotel, awarding it top marks for environmental friendliness (95.56). Two boutique safari lodges in South Africa, Londolozi and Singita, made it to the top 10, scoring ahead of the game for service/staff (92.37; 91.41), while no less than four Mauritian properties were propelled into the top 20: One&Only Le Saint Géran with the finest service (98.75), The Oberoi the best accommodation (97.21), Le Prince Maurice the most appealing ambience/decor (94.89) and the newly re-opened One&Only Le Touessrok with an unrivalled location (98.46).

Your preferred hotel in Asia is the stylish oasis of Rajvilas near Jaipur, India: you gave it the highest scores for location and ambience/decor (93.33; 95.67).

In Australasia & South Pacific, the Barrier Reef and Bora Bora scored double wins in the top 20: Hayman Island Resort and Bedarra Island, Amanresort's Hotel Bora Bora and Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort all turned up the heat with marks over 85 for their idyllic tropical locations.

If you're taking a break at home, The Ritz makes visiting London a pleasure. The hotel made it to top position by way of consistently high scores in all 10 criteria on which we asked you to rate your favourite UK leisure hotel, with a top-ranking score of 88.57 for shopping facilities. When it comes to value for money, you are most impressed with Hotel du Vin & Bistro in Winchester (87.50), while you decided that The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland should be given the highest accolades for both child friendliness (88.75) and leisure facilities (97.39). Claridge's has the best food/ restaurants (97.14) and for the second year running, Cornwall offered the best location: you gave the Hotel Tresanton the highest score of 90 for its pretty position in St Mawes. Elsewhere, the contemporary interiors at the new Cotswolds hotel Cowley Manor have impressed enough of you to enable it to score an inspirational 92.50 for ambience/ decor, and while you are very strict when awarding points for service/staff, this year you couldn't resist giving Sharrow Bay in Cumbria an unprecedented 89.12.

London sets the standard with a total of 10 of the top 15 UK business hotels. The capital's two Four Seasons hotels led the way for both conference facilities and business services/systems available, with virtually identical scores above 89; the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park scored highest overall for location (92.23) followed by the Savoy with 91.56. If you (or your boss) is after value for money, the Renaissance London Chancery Court Hotel is the business (87.50), although many of you are keen to splash out on drinks and excellent meals for this reason, at least in part, the food/restaurants at The Connaught and Claridge's are particular favourites. Elsewhere, The Lowry Hotel in Manchester scored well for accommodation (88) and you thought the good folk at The Scotsman deserved special praise, awarding the hotel 83.33 for service/staff.

Only four hotels in this category scored above 85 for both business services/ systems available and leisure facilities, all of them in the Far East, proving that the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, The Oriental in Bangkok, the Park Hyatt in Tokyo and the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur mix business and pleasure in equal measure. Elsewhere, the Hotel Arts Barcelona took top marks for ambience/decor (97.14) and the The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park for its location (96.87). However, this year's winner, the Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai, proved to be a talented all-rounder, with scores above 84 in all of the 10 criteria.