Update Sep 2016: The Nominations are out for the BBS Access Awards, here they are, including an award for the ‘best’ Ludicrous Loo:
Book here for tickets, 1 nominee goes free!
Best Bar
There will be two awards for Best Bar, budget and upmarket
White Horse at Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk
No. 1 Duke St, Richmond, London
Caminos, Kings Cross, London
Urban Standard, Bristol
Pint Shop, Cambridge
Ginger’s, Purnell, Birmingham
Harvey Nichols, Bristol
One Aldwych, London
Zetter Townhouse, Clerkenwell, London
Cloud 23, Manchester
Bellanger, London
Best Restaurant – sponsored by Conran and Partners. There will be two awards; budget and upmarket
Scran and Scallie, Edinburgh
Polpo, Covent Garden, London
Ben Tunniclffe, Cornwall
Albion at the Boundary, London
Bryn Williams, Porth Eirias
Ubiquitous Chip, Glasgow
The French, Manchester
Casa Mia, Bristol
HH& Co at Lime Wood Hotel, New Forest
Five Fields, Chelsea, London
German Gymnasium, Kings Cross, London
M Victoria St, London
Best Boutique Hotel/Resort
Gwel an Mor, Port Reath, Cornwall
Hope St, Liverpool
Ace Hotel, Shoreditch, London
Dakota, Glasgow
Zetter, Clerkenwell, London
Edition, Berner’s St., London
G&V, Edinburgh
South Place Hotel, London
Dorsett, Shepherd’s Bush, London
Coworth Park, Ascot, Berkshire
Best Loo.
The Ivy, Kensington, London
Zetter Marylebone, London
German Gymasium, Kings Cross, London
Restaurant Story, London
One Aldwych, London
Danni Garcia Marbella, Spain
Chiltern Firehouse, London
There will also be an award for the most ludicrous loo:
Dinner Heston Blumenthal
Tom’s kitchen
Café Murano
Hotel du Vin Cambridge
Armani Hotel
Best Listed Building – sponsored by Historic England
Alhambra, Bradford
Bank of England, Threadneedle St, London
Booking Office restaurant, St Pancras London
Beaumont Hotel, Mayfair, London
Dorsett, Shepherd’s Bush, London
Best European Venue
G Hotel Galway, Ireland
Stuttgart Airport, Germany
Steirerecke, Vienna, Austria
Binafidet, Menorca, Spain
Lanchid 19 Hotel, Budapest, Hungary
Award for going Above and Beyond to help people with disabilities
D and D London
Bank of England
Hailo Taxi Drivers
Individual Restaurants
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Update Aug 24: We promised to let you know when tickets for BBS Awards were available – well it’s now! Here’s the link to book tickets and they range from £7.50-£15. Drinks and canapes are included and the proceeds are merely to cover costs. It will be a very stylish and glamourous event and dress code is ‘smart’. Look forward to meeting you there 5th Oct, 6pm, Pepys Room at Lutyens in Fleet St EC4Y 1AE. Nominations for the Awards (see below) are still needed so please send to info@bluebadgestyle.com with photos if you wish. Let’s make sure Michelin et al take note and include accessibility in their awards from now on.
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Update Aug: Things are gaining momentum at BBS Awards 2016 HQ. We’ll be celebrating venues with exceptional accessibility and style on Oct 5th at Lutyens in Fleet Street, a fully accessible venue with an internal lift and disabled parking outside.
Not only have Conran and Partners (designer’s of some of the most accessible places in the world), sponsored the event, they’ve now put their name to the Best Restaurant Award. Similarly Historic England have given their support to the Listed Building Award. With regard to judges the award winning architect Christos Passas from Zaha Hadid Architects has joined the panel, as has journalist Alex Taylor (Metro, IBT). A great coup for the night is top mixologist, Tony Conigliaro, who will be designing a cocktail especially for the evening.
Stop Press: HEWI accessible bathrooms have just added their support as a sponsor.
Coincidentally the Michelin Stars for 2017 will be announced on 3rd Oct and as they give scant regard to accessibility when judging venues, we want our Awards to be their nemesis……..help us do that by sending your nominations/votes re the following categories.
- Best Venue in a Listed Building – The Historic England Award
- Most Accessible Bar (high end & budget)
- Most Accessible Restaurant (high end & budget) – The Conran and Partners Award
- Most Accessible Hotel (high end and boutique)
- Best Disabled Loo
- Most Ludicrous Loo
- Best European Venue
- Above & Beyond – for the venue or company who has made a special effort
There’s also a surprise Lifetime Achievement Award for someone who’s tirelessly promoted ‘accessibility’ at venues.
Don’t be shy just send names &/or photos to info@bluebadgestyle.com. Tickets to the event will go on sale soon and we’ll let you know as soon as……
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Nominations are open for the BBS Awards 2016 and we want to know what you think! Can you suggest a favourite venue, a stylish place with good access and facilities, somewhere that welcomes people with disabilities? Then we want to hear from you. It can be from anywhere.
The third Blue Badge Style Awards will be announced on 5th October 2016 and will include new awards for the hospitality sector. In addition to our 3 ticks for facilities, access and style and we’ll be giving out awards for the:
- Best Venue in a Listed Building
- Most Accessible Bar (upmarket & budget)
- Most Accessible Restaurant (upmarket & budget)
- Most Accessible Hotel (upmarket and boutique)
- Best Disabled Loo
- Most Ludicrous Loo
- Best European Venue
- Above & Beyond – for the venue or company who has made a special effort
The Blue Badge Style Awards will recognise the effort that stylish hotels, restaurants and bars have made to attract guests with disabilities. At Blue Badge Style we are passionate about helping people with disabilities to lead and exciting social life. As those of us with a disability know; style remains, despite disability. The awards are about promoting stylish venues which also have good access and facilities.
Some of the things we look for in a great venue are:
Access – we’re interested in ramps, unaided access, flooring, space to move around in a wheelchair or with a stick, noise levels which aid people with hearing difficulties.
Facilities – where is the disabled loo, how easy is it to use, is everything at the right height, where are the grab rails, emergency cord etc. If it’s a hotel we want to hear about places with walk-in showers and wardrobe rails at wheelchair-user height.
Stylish – only you can decide what’s stylish, but we want to hear about venues with style in terms of décor and the welcome the staff extend to people with disabilities.
You can send as much or as little information as you wish and photos are always good. The judges will vet the suggested venues either by visits or remotely with detailed questionnaires. However, it’s your recommendation that counts above all else!
We also want to hear about your experience of ludicrous loos. Have you come across a supposedly disabled toilet that’s impossible to use because it’s full of junk, too small, used as a storeroom? Then let us know and send an image if you can.
Too often people with disabilities don’t go out because they don’t know what to expect when they get there. We want your help to change that and award those stylish places with great access and facilities, which welcome people with disabilities.
Please send your recommendations to: fiona@bluebadgestyle.com or contact us on Twitter: @bluebadgestyle or Facebook: bluebadgestyle
Nominations close on Thursday 15th September 2016. Looking forward to your thoughts and please come to the event and celebrate with Paralympians, cocktails, canapes and music…..more details to follow.
[…] Blue Badge Style Awards – list of nominees and how to get tickets for the swish event on Wednesday 5th October here: https://bluebadgestyle.com/2016/09/update-bbs-awards-english-heritage-zaha-hadid-architects-hewi-… […]