Who knows more about traveling well through Europe than the British? And The Good Hotel Guides are at the very top of the British market in terms of respect and customer loyalty. Now in their twenty-eighth year, "The Guides" have become a British institution. Every year the U.K.'s leading newspapers and travel magazines eagerly report on who's in and who's out in the latest edition of these indispensable travel companions known for their uncompromising integrity. The Guides feature only recommended establishments that deliver good value for the money, from budget accommodations to five-star hotels. Destinations that fail to live up to their promise are removed, while newly proven discoveries are added. The emphasis is almost entirely on family- or independently owned establishments, from B&Bs to grand resorts. The Guides have been described as "a triumph of participatory democracy." The editors combine their own research with comments from regular contributors and hundreds of volunteer reader-correspondents. And The Guides are uncommonly good reads. They are championed by well-known travel writers, who themselves are voluntary contributors. A sure reason for their long-term success is that the Guides are based on the concept that by following the advice of a trusted friend, you can find the secret places that most guidebooks never find - the superb English country mansion, the perfect guesthouse beside a church, delightful Italian pensiones, and grand French chateaux. The Good Hotel Guides specialize in discovering just such places for their thousands of devoted readers. These two companion volumes - eighteen countries across western and eastern Europe in one, Great Britainand Ireland in the other - are unsurpassed in their integrity and readability. No advertising, complimentary lodging, or services are accepted by the reviewers