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The Inn picked world's best hotel dining
By Mary Ann Kuhn
Staff Writer
For Chef Patrick O'Connell his latest accolade, perhaps his greatest, couldn't have come at a better time.
On this, its 30th anniversary, The Inn at Little Washington, has been named “Best Hotel Dining in the World” in the August issue of Travel and Leisure magazine.
“This is a great and well-deserved recognition for the restaurant,” Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine told the Rappahannock News when he learned about the award.
“Not only is Virginia the best state in which to do business, it also has the best restaurant in the world.
“Congratulations to Patrick,” the governor said. “Anne (Holton, his wife) and I have often enjoyed our meals there.”
The magazine also selected as its “Top Dish” one of The Inn at Little Washington's first courses consisting of shavings of Virginia country ham with “ribbons” of Parmesan cheese, pears and pine nuts. The ham, incidentally, comes from Calhoun's Ham House in Culpeper. The recipe is in O'Connell's “Refined American Cuisine” cookbook.
“I have never seen the staff so elated,” said O'Connell, who is proprietor of the inn as well. He, too, was wearing a big smile.
“As I said to them, 'The world is a very large place and there are quite a few wonderful restaurants out there.'
“The most flattering thing of all is that this award reflects the opinion of thousands of well-traveled people,” he said.
For the past 13 years, Travel and Leisure readers have voted on their favorite hotel restaurants in the magazine's annual World's Best Awards which lists the top 100 hotels globally based on their reader's survey.
Hotels are evaluated in five categories: rooms, location, service, restaurant and value.
The Inn at Little Washington was rated 63rd in the world overall among the top 100 hotels with a score of 88.58. Ranked No. 1 with a score of 97.50 was Singita Sabi Sand & Kruger National Park in South Africa. The list includes the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, The George V in Paris and the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong.
In the top 100 hotels in the U. S. and Canada, the inn ranked 18th with a score of 88.58. It ranked above The Bellagio in Las Vegas, The Biltmore in North Carolina and the Ritz Carlton on Central Park in New York. Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, Montana ranked first with a score of 95.00.
While O'Connell's inn ranked as the No. 1 hotel restaurant, the following are second, third, fourth and fifth place winners: second place - Little Palm Island Resort & Spa in Little Torch Key, Fla.; third place -Marinus, Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, Calif.; fourth place – Boulders and Ebony Lodges, Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa; and fifth place, Sala Mae Rim, Four Seasons Resort, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Inn at Little Washington, with its 18 rooms and suites, was one of the smaller properties in the survey. It was founded in 1978 and 11 years later it became the first Mobil 5-Star inn in the country. Today, it is only one of three, double 5-Star hotels in the U.S.
“All of our team's hard work and dedication is being acknowledged and appreciated,” O'Connell said of the Travel and Leisure award. “This is a terrific present for our 30th anniversary year.”
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