Valentine’s Day marks a special day for Best Loved Hotels. On 14 February 1994, the first edition of Best Loved Hotels was printed. Intended to help travel professionals identify interesting places to stay for their clients in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Best Loved guide was an immediate success. Over the past 17 years, Best Loved Hotels has become one of the most important sources for anyone seeking a unique place to stay in the beautiful British Isles.

The underlying premise of Best Loved Hotels was a compilation not of the ‘Best,’ – we were, and I think still are, far too humble to attempt that – but ‘Best Loved’ inferred a deep personal relationship between you, our users, and a Best Loved travel experience – a lasting memory which would stay with you. Our hope was to in some way help you continue that process of discovery and collection of special life experiences.

A little more history: on 14 February 1996 Best Loved launched the first pages of our website, www.bestloved.com, – the first website dedicated to independent UK and Irish Hotels. Over the years it has become an overall favourite of UK and Irish consumers, again in search of that special place. Now in its third incarnation, the website receives over 400,000 visitors a month.

We are very proud, and hold with high esteem the many people who, like us, love to travel in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Our Best Loved community has over 120,000 friends who regularly receive our electronic newsletters. And guess what – our newsletters were also first launched on Valentines Day – this time in 2002.

Which brings me to today and the launch of Carpe Noctem, our first real blog. I say ‘real’ because the current Best Loved website has a section called “Best Loved Life,” a kind of proto-web blog, created well before blogs became an important part of our cultural landscape.  In the same vein as the famous Latin expression “Carpe Diem,” Carpe Noctem means ‘Seize the Night,’ somehow appropriate as our roots are indeed in hotels.

Carpe Noctem is our chance to comment on all the great places we see, things we do, and those notions we just feel the need to write about. Yes, travel, but also  restaurants, theatre, music, books, and lots of other, more unexpected topics. We promise to pull no punches and will give you our honest thoughts. So indulge us, and Seize the Night.

Jeffrey Epstein,
Publisher, Best Loved Hotels