AA Hospitality Awards 2026 results round-up
The Star Inn at Harome, AngloThai and Adam Byatt led the winners at the AA Hospitality Awards 2026, on a night that marked 70 years of the AA rosette award.
Close to 1,000 chefs, hoteliers, restaurateurs, suppliers and media filled the JW Marriott Grosvenor House on Park Lane, London, on Monday, September 21, 2026, for the ceremony that launches the new AA Restaurant Guide and reveals the year's second round of rosette awards. Six restaurants were awarded four rosettes and 15 took three.
Adam Byatt, chef patron of Trinity in Clapham, was voted AA Chefs' Chef of the Year by his fellow rosette holding chefs, the one award of the night decided by the industry itself, and David Morgan-Hewitt of The Goring took the lifetime achievement award after 35 years at the hotel.
Simon Numphud, managing director of AA Hotel and Hospitality Services, said: "The AA Hospitality Awards exist to recognise the passion, dedication and high standards that go into delivering exceptional hospitality, and this year's winners are a wonderful example of that. These awards recognise incredible people in our industry who care deeply about what they do to give their guests the very best experience.
"That commitment to excellence is what sets British hospitality apart and underpins its world-renowned reputation. Congratulations to all the winners, nominees and new Rosette holders. It is a privilege to celebrate their achievements."
Adam Byatt voted Chefs' Chef of the Year
Adam came out on top of a shortlist of 12 that included Hélène Darroze, Brett Graham, Angela Hartnett and Clare Smyth.
Only chefs whose restaurants hold AA rosettes are eligible to vote, which makes it peer recognition rather than an inspector's verdict. Trinity won its first Michelin star in 2016, and in June he opened Rosina, his first Italian restaurant, by Wandsworth Common.
The Star Inn at Harome takes restaurant of the year
The AA named a restaurant of the year for each of England, London, Scotland and Wales.
England went to The Star Inn at Harome in North Yorkshire, which is as good a full stop as Andrew Pern could have hoped for. The thatched pub he has run since 1996 was gutted by fire in November 2021 and reopened a year later, rebuilt, with its Michelin star restored. It has been the defining North Yorkshire restaurant of the last 30 years and it is now the AA's restaurant of the year in England.
London went to AngloThai (pictured above) in Marylebone, run by John Chantarasak and his wife Desiree Chantarasak, and it was a double: the restaurant also picked up three rosettes on the same night, 19 months after taking a Michelin star in its first permanent home. Thai cooking through British produce, and a first for the category.
Wales went to The Walnut Tree Inn in Abergavenny, where Shaun Hill has been chef patron since 2007, and Scotland to Swadish by Ajay Kumar in Glasgow, the Merchant City restaurant Ajay Kumar runs with his wife Jas Kumar, where Indian technique is put through Scottish produce.
The new four rosette restaurants
Six restaurants were awarded four AA rosettes, a level the AA describes as an exclusive echelon reserved for restaurants delivering outstanding gastronomy with precision, flair and consistency.
- Frog by Adam Handling, London
- Hide and Fox, Hythe, Kent
- Ikoyi, London
- Inver, Strathlachlan, Argyll and Bute
- LI~LY by Aiden Byrne, Knutsford, Cheshire
- The Cocochine, London
Adam Handling was also on the Chefs' Chef shortlist, so Frog leaves the night with a four rosette award and a place in that top 12. Hide and Fox is Allister Barsby's restaurant near Hythe, which took a second Michelin star in February 2025, and Ikoyi is Jeremy Chan's two starred restaurant in London. Inver, on Loch Fyne, is run by Pam Brunton and Rob Latimer.
They join the restaurants promoted at the spring update in February, Sorrel in Dorking under Alex Payne (now closed) and Home by James Sommerin in Penarth, which makes eight new four rosette restaurants across the year.
No new five rosette restaurants
Above them, nothing moved. No restaurant was awarded a fifth rosette, which leaves the top tier of the AA Restaurant Guide unchanged for a full year. The AA reveals its three, four and five rosette awards twice a year, at the spring update in February and at the awards in September, and neither round produced a new five rosette restaurant in 2026.
That comes in a year when Michelin did not award a new three star restaurant in Great Britain and Ireland either. At the guide's launch in Dublin on Monday, February 9, 2026, all 10 three star restaurants held on to their stars and nothing new joined them, with two restaurants promoted to two stars and 20 awarded a first star.
Lifetime achievement for David Morgan-Hewitt
Few careers fit the lifetime achievement category better. David joined The Goring as restaurant manager in 1990, became deputy general manager in 1993, general manager in 2000 and managing director in 2006, a post he held for 18 years before becoming chairman in 2024. He was the grantee when the hotel received its Royal Warrant in 2012, has served as president of the Royal Warrant Holders Association and as chairman of Pride of Britain Hotels, and is honorary catering advisor to the Army with the rank of major general.
Thirty five years at one address, in an industry where most people measure tenure in months.
The AA Outstanding Contribution Award went to Adam Terpening, charity director at Room to Reward, the hospitality charity that uses hotels' unsold rooms to give breaks to volunteers nominated as hidden heroes. The charity has now rewarded more than 1,000 of them, with over 500 hotels signed up.
Hotels, teams and the rest of the night
The Emory took hotel of the year in London and five red stars on the same night, alongside Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Langdale Chase in Windermere and The Chancery Rosewood in London.
Elsewhere, Calcot and Spa in Tetbury took hotel of the year in England, Crossbasket Castle in High Blantyre in Scotland, Porth Tocyn Hotel in Abersoch in Wales and Culloden Estate and Spa in Holywood, County Down, in Northern Ireland. The Celtic Collection in Newport was group of the year and Firmdale Hotels took small hotel group of the year.
The Black Swan at Oldstead was named sustainable restaurant of the year, in the same year Tommy Banks marked 20 years of the restaurant, and the AA Sustainable Award went to Malmaison and Hotel du Vin.
The wine award went to etch. by Steven Edwards in Brighton, which took both England and the overall prize, with The Jackdaw in Conwy taking Wales and Knockinaam Lodge in Portpatrick taking Scotland. Ilona Harris of Cromlix was named rising star of the year and Katarzyna Celinska of The Bloomsbury was housekeeper of the year.
Every restaurant winner and new rosette holder features in the AA Restaurant Guide 2027.
Every winner at the AA Hospitality Awards 2026
Chefs' Chef, restaurants and wine
- AA Chefs' Chef of the Year: Adam Byatt, Trinity, London
- AA Restaurant of the Year, England: The Star Inn, Harome, North Yorkshire
- AA Restaurant of the Year, London: AngloThai, London
- AA Restaurant of the Year, Scotland: Swadish by Ajay Kumar, Glasgow
- AA Restaurant of the Year, Wales: The Walnut Tree Inn, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
- AA Restaurant with Rooms of the Year: House of George W. Davies, Broadway, Worcestershire
- AA Sustainable Restaurant of the Year: The Black Swan at Oldstead, North Yorkshire
- AA College Restaurant of the Year: The Classroom, Cardiff and Vale College, Cardiff
- AA Wine Award, England and overall: etch. by Steven Edwards, Brighton, East Sussex
- AA Wine Award, Scotland: Knockinaam Lodge, Portpatrick, Dumfries and Galloway
- AA Wine Award, Wales: The Jackdaw, Conwy
Hotels, inns and B&Bs
- AA Hotel of the Year, England: Calcot and Spa, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
- AA Hotel of the Year, London: The Emory, London
- AA Hotel of the Year, Scotland: Crossbasket Castle, High Blantyre, South Lanarkshire
- AA Hotel of the Year, Wales: Porth Tocyn Hotel, Abersoch, Gwynedd
- AA Hotel of the Year, Northern Ireland: Culloden Estate and Spa, Holywood, County Down
- AA Group of the Year: The Celtic Collection, Newport
- AA Small Hotel Group of the Year: Firmdale Hotels, London
- AA Small Hotel Team of the Year: Knockendarroch Hotel and Restaurant, Pitlochry, Perthshire
- AA Large Hotel Team of the Year: St Ermin's Hotel, London
- AA Spa Hotel of the Year: Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa, St Andrews, Fife
- AA Inn of the Year: The Penny Bun, Otley, West Yorkshire
- AA B&B of the Year: Lys-Na-Greyne, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire
Individual and special awards
- AA Lifetime Achievement Award: David Morgan-Hewitt, The Goring, London
- AA Outstanding Contribution Award: Adam Terpening, charity director, Room to Reward
- AA Rising Star of the Year: Ilona Harris, Cromlix, Kinbuck, Stirling
- AA Housekeeper of the Year: Katarzyna Celinska, The Bloomsbury, London
- AA Sustainable Award: Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, nationwide
Every new AA rosette award
Five rosettes
None awarded.
Four rosettes
- Frog by Adam Handling, London
- Hide and Fox, Hythe, Kent
- Ikoyi, London
- Inver, Strathlachlan, Argyll and Bute
- LI~LY by Aiden Byrne, Knutsford, Cheshire
- The Cocochine, London
Three rosettes
- AngloThai, London
- Daise by Tony Parkin, Wirral, Merseyside
- FERN, Nanstallon, Cornwall
- Flavour, Tarbert, Western Isles
- KYND at Hampton Manor, Solihull, West Midlands
- Langar Hall Hotel, Langar, Nottinghamshire
- Lofft, Cardiff
- Luna Omakase, London
- Orrery by Pierre Minotti, London
- Restaurant Elm, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
- Sō-lō Restaurant, Aughton, Lancashire
- St Barts, London
- The Bath Priory Hotel, Restaurant and Spa, Bath, Somerset
- The Gunroom Restaurant, Caernarfon, Gwynedd
- Tom Brown at The Capital, London
New five red stars
- Ashford Castle, Cong, County Mayo
- Langdale Chase, Windermere, Cumbria
- The Chancery Rosewood, London
- The Emory, London
New four red stars
- Holmes Hotel, London
- Penmaenuchaf Dolgellau, Dolgellau, Gwynedd
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AA Hospitality Awards 2026 results round-up
