As a leading textile supplier and distributor to leaders across hospitality, retail and healthcare, we’ve been lucky enough to sneak a peek in some of the most unusual, most unique and most innovative establishments and this is really at the heart of why we began the Style Awards. It’s to ensure that these ‘hidden escapes’ get the recognition for their flair and design that they truly deserve.

Running as a prestigious online awards programme, our awards are dedicated to finding the ‘unsung heroes’ in hospitality design and our aim is to celebrate the increasingly stylish and creative offerings from across the independent hotel and restaurant sector.

What originally began as the Hilden Style Awards back in 2012, we’ve undergone a huge overhaul. Going forwards, the Awards will now be known as the Vision Style Awards.

Over the years our awards have continued to get bigger and better than before and this year will be no exception; not least of all because for the first time we’re allowing nominations to span across both the UK and Europe.

Historically, the Style Awards have sat under the Hilden name – not least because of the high quality of customer we recognise associated with the name. However, as the Vision name continues to dominate across the UK and as we expand further across the globe, particularly across Europe and Asia, we decided it’s time for change…

In our short lifetime, we’ve gone from a relatively unknown name in the market to the custodian of three acclaimed brands and have worked hard to create a unified, global business. We’ve immersed ourselves in the various countries and cultures in which we operate, employing dedicated, highly trained staff in these strategic regions and so hosting the Style Awards under the overarching Vision name seems like a natural fit.

Traditionally, we had around three categories to choose from whereas now we’re completely opening up the scope of these awards to encompass various aspects of a hospitality stay or restaurant visit.

The categories, therefore, will be:

• Dreamiest Bedroom Award
• Europe’s Best Dressed Bed
• Most Beautiful Bathroom Award (sponsored by Liddell)
• Most Intimate Bar
• Most Romantic Restaurant
• Hottest Hotel
• Picture-Perfect B&B or Guest House (sponsored by Hilden)
• Most Sumptuous Spa
• Most Innovative New Build of the Year (sponsored by Whitakers)
• Eco-Champion of the Year
• Vision’s Style Winner of the Year

And we’re introducing a final category which will allow anyone (guest, staff member or someone from the hospitality industry) to vote through our dedicated web page, which will be:

• Greatest Night’s Sleep

This year, we’re introducing a brand new category called ‘Greatest Night’s Sleep’. To encourage a range of opinions from across a range of industries, we’re letting anyone and everyone nominate their favourite venue and let us know where they’ve had their greatest ever night’s sleep.

That means you!

We’re looking for past guests who have stayed at independent venues that they want to really shout about their stay – so get voting for your favourite– and you could see them crowned our winner!

Have you got the most stylish hospitality establishment in Europe?

The Vision Style Awards will open for entries on the 31^st July and will run until 31^st October.

With a huge 12 categories to choose from, it may be your venue that appears on the front cover of our coveted Style Guide next year so be sure to enter to be in with a chance of winning a whole host of exciting prizes.

Angie Silver

Luxury Lifestyle & Travel Blogger

Angie Silver is the blogger behind SilverSpoon London, a leading UK lifestyle, food and luxury travel blog, following Angie’s adventures in her hometown of London and around the world. Angie aims to give the low-down on London’s hottest new restaurants as well as cool and inspiring destinations globally.

Richard McCready Hughes

Creative Director of Goddard Littlefair

Richard McCready-Hughes is the Creative Director of leading luxury design house Goddard Littlefair, where he ensures maximum creativity and high design values across all projects.

Richard studied Three-Dimensional Design at Leeds University, before going on to work for some of London’s biggest-name agencies, including David Collins, United Designers and Richmond International, prior to joining Goddard Littlefair.

Richard now works on a wide variety of projects across all sectors in the Goddard Littlefair studio and particularly enjoys direct exposure to clients and briefs, investigating end-user tastes and aesthetics and exercising his skills in interpretation.

Jacqui Hurst

Sales Director for Vision’s Hospitality Division

Jacqui has a long and established history in the hospitality sector through identifying emerging markets, maintaining strong relationships and a comprehensive, in-depth knowledge of products and trends.

Responsible for the group hotel sales into the UK market, Jacqui regularly deals with some of the most recognisable hotel names including Hilton, IHG, Accor and Marriott.

Andrew Linwood

Head of Hospitality Design at Areen

With over 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, Areen Design, have worked with some of the most exclusive names in the industry taking on projects large and small to deliver a flawless, high-quality finish; winning them countless awards and a highly reputable name within the world of interior design.

As head of hospitality, Andrew is involved in and monitors all aspects of a project, from conception through to on-site installation. Andrew leads a team of experienced designers and architects.

Laurie Thomas

Managing Director of Vision Support Services

A qualified accountant, Laurie joined Whitaker Services in 2002, one of the first businesses to be acquired by Vision Support Services after its inception in 2005.

As MD of Vision, Laurie currently has commercial responsibility for the day-to-day operations and performance of Vision and all its product brands. He has an extensive track record in the UK laundry, textiles and soft furnishings sectors.

Robin Sheppard

CEO of Bespoke Hotels

Robin Sheppard is a classically trained hotelier with an eye for innovation who by the age of 27 was General Manager of Bodysgallen Hall, the best hotel in Wales, moving on to be the GM of several outstanding hotels, The Lygon Arms, The Royal Berkshire and the Bath Spa amongst others.

Robin’s innovative approach to marketing has broadened the customer base of all Bespoke Hotels and led to several awards and accolades – most notably ‘The RAC Hotel of the Year Award’ and the Caterer and Hotelkeeper ‘Hotel of the Year Award’. He also designed the iconic Bristol blue Ty-Nant mineral water before joining forces with Haydn to pool their skills and create the Bespoke Hotel Group.

Sharron Livingstone

Founder and Managing Editor of The Travel Magazine

An award-winning travel writer, Sharron is the founder and managing editor at The Travel Magazine.

She is a former Travel Editor of the Jewish Chronicle and publisher of a series of Channel Hoppers Guides – guides for Channel Hoppers to Northern France. She has also appeared on the BBC Holiday programme, GMTV, CNN and Al Jazeerah TV as an expert on travel.

Tom Parker

Chef and star of The Great British Menu

After writing to local chef and TV celebrity Nigel Haworth, Tom got his first job aged 16 at Nigel’s Michelin starred restaurant Northcote. Whilst there he worked under famed chef, Lisa Allen.

In 2011, at the age of 21, he was awarded Young Chef of the Year and went on to become the youngest ever sous chef at Northcote. After a stint cooking in Mexico, he moved back to Burnley and became Head Chef at The White Swan in Fence.

The winners will receive:

• Cash voucher to spend on the shop
• The Vision ‘Pamper Hamper’ filled with an array of indulgent goods
• Glass trophy and certificate
• Double page spread in our annual Style Guide 2018-19
• Media publicity and exposure
• Online winner’s badge