FIVE Devon hotels have today been named among the best rated in the UK for customer service in the Travellers’ Choice Hotels with Exceptional Service awards, announced by TripAdvisor.

The 2014 Travellers’ Choice Hotels with Exceptional Service awards mark the first time that this category has been called out separately to the coveted annual Travellers’ Choice awards for Hotels which were announced in January.

This award honours the top accommodations in the world for service and is determined based on the millions of reviews and opinions of TripAdvisor travellers around the globe, taking into account the quality of reviews and ratings for service.

Devon is revealed as the UK’s biggest winning county with two more hotels than London securing awards.

The county’s victorious hotels include: The Elmdene, Torquay which takes 10th place in the UK, Gidleigh Park, Chagford coming in 12th, Shelley’s in Lynmouth at 17th and Martinhoe’s The Old Rectory Hotel and Yeoldon House Hotel in Bideford taking 19th and 20th position respectively.

Carol Gibbs, Co-owner of The Elmdene, Torquay said: “We’re so thrilled to be recognised for the work that we do to ensure our guests have the best stay possible.

“For us, giving great service is about offering that person touch. We try to give our guests the whole package by getting to know what they want individually and we’re truly delighted that it’s both noticed and appreciated.”

South performs strongly and Devon dominates

This year, the South of England in general performs extremely well with fourteen of the 25 UK winners located below the M4 corridor, and it’s the South West in particular that shines with seven winners in total, more than any other region.

The seaside is the place to be for outstanding service

While London scooped the most awards of any UK town or city with three in total, it was the smaller seaside destinations that shone this year, with Portsmouth, Blackpool and Llandudno all landing two awards each – more awards than any town outside of the capital.

“Given that service is such a huge aspect of the travel experience, this year we wanted to shine a special spotlight on the efforts of hotels in the UK and across the globe with a record of exceptional customer service,” commented TripAdvisor spokesperson, James Kay, “The fact that our UK award winners range from bargain hotels through to luxury 5 star establishments shows that great service isn’t always predicated on price.”

“We spoke to some of our winners on what they think makes great service. Here are some of their top tips”