The European Hotel Awards, now in their seventh year, were announced at London’s Marriott Grosvenor Square hotel on 25 October.

UK hotels walked away with five out of the possible nine awards, while James B Sherwood, founder of Orient Express Hotels, received an outstanding achievement award for his contribution to the industry.

Winners on the evening included The Zetter – designed by Chetwoods Associates – which took the best new hotel award for architecture, while The Grove in Hertfordshire, operated by the Ralph Trustees and designed by Fox Linton Associates, took the award for best new hotel interior design.

The best public areas award went to Four Seasons Gresham Palace in Budapest, Hungary, designed by Richmond International; best guestroom design went to Arabella Sheraton Bogenhause in Germany, designed by Bost Berlin Interieur and the best spa and leisure environment award went to Molton Brown Spa at Killarney Plaza Hotel in Ireland, designed by The Syntax Group.

The Zetter took its second award of the night when it was given the innovation award, with judges commending its “clever architectural planning which maximised bedroom numbers in a very compact building while the interior design brings a distinctly new twist to familiar features.”

The Reardon Smith Student Award for the best design of a hotel spa was won by Conny Graczyk & Konstantin Bischle from the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg, Germany.

The Ritz in London won the test of time award for outstanding property while the Cotswold House Hotel in Gloucestershire won the best lighting award – given out for the very first time.

The awards were hosted by Patrick Reardon of ReardonSmith Architects and tv show host Sandi Toksvig and included 600 guests from across the European hotel industry.

In his opening speech to the dinner guests, Reardon welcomed the positive change in the condition of the hotel design industry over the past year.

“Just a year ago I had to admit that it was a difficult time for the sector and I had to hope that the industry could continue to evolve in order to go on offering guests an experience they would choose to return to,” he said.

“What a difference a year makes – today our industry is vibrant and healthy and most of us are very busy indeed.”

The awards were preceded by a conference examining hotel design and development, called Designing for Change, which examined the contribution of design to the hotel experience and the future of spas and casinos in the hotel sector.