The Drive
Roads chosen not merely to get somewhere, but because driving them is part of the pleasure.
A return to gracious travel
True hospitality has become increasingly rare.
To us, hospitality is not simply a beautiful room, an expensive dinner or polished design. It is being seen, and welcomed properly. Having someone notice what matters before you have to ask. It is warmth, generosity, competence and care.
The Grand Tourers’ Guide exists to seek out those places where that spirit still survives and to build exceptional European journeys around them.
We travel the routes ourselves, stay anonymously and pay our own way. No paid placement. No corporate sponsorship. No complimentary stays in return for coverage. Earning a place in the Guide comes from deserving to be in it.
This is travel designed for adults. Wherever possible, we seek out genuinely adults-only hotels and assess how truly adult-focused they are.
What makes us different
Many guides judge what can be seen: star classifications, design, reputation, staged photography and the increasingly Instagrammable presentation.
We look beyond that.
The Grand Tourers’ Guide is interested in how a journey actually feels: the welcome, the service, the comfort, the road, the atmosphere, the way problems are handled, the people encountered along the way, and the care, organisation and effort behind the scenes that make those experiences possible.
A superb three-star inn can offer a more memorable experience than an indifferent five-star hotel.
The standard is not luxury — the standard is hospitality!
What is a grand tourer?
The Grand Tour was the original journey/progress through Europe, undertaken for culture, discovery and the pleasure of travelling well.
A grand tourer is also the car built for that purpose. Bentley, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce and others helped define the idea of crossing countries quickly, comfortably and with a sense of occasion.
But grand touring has never really been about the badge on the bonnet. It might be a modern GT, a cherished classic, an old-timer, a motorcycle or simply a car you love driving. What matters is the pleasure of the road and the desire to make the journey part of the experience.
Because ultimately, the Grand Tourer is also the person behind the wheel. Someone who values the road, the destination and the people encountered along the way.
The Routes
Defined journeys across Europe shaped around landscape, culture, food and places genuinely worth stopping for.
The Stay
Hotels and distinctive places assessed for something more important than fashion, status or how Instagrammable they are: True hospitality.
The Guide
The Grand Tourers’ Guide will become a European-wide platform of carefully defined grand touring routes, independently assessed hotels and exceptional places discovered along the way.
Subscribers will be able to explore our routes, read detailed hotel assessments and build journeys around places chosen for the quality of their hospitality rather than simply their star rating or marketing.
An exceptional stay might be a five-star grand hotel. It might equally be a three-star auberge, a family-run pensione or a small hotel hidden in the hills.
The standard is not luxury — the standard is hospitality!
The book
Each year, the very best discoveries will be selected for The Grand Tourers’ Guide, a beautifully produced printed companion to grand touring through Europe.
It will bring together the finest routes, remarkable places and those hotels that have demonstrated exceptional hospitality during our assessments.
The annual Guide will also form part of our relationship with the great makers of grand touring cars and the people who still believe that travelling well matters.
The Grand Tourers’ Award
Once a year, one Grand Tourers’ Award will recognise an exceptional act or standard of hospitality encountered during our travels.
It may go to a hotel, a team or an individual.
It could recognise the manager of a great European hotel, the owner of a tiny inn, a waiter who transformed an evening or even the person who stopped at the roadside and turned a difficult moment into an unforgettable example of generosity.
Prestige will not decide it — hospitality will!
The recipient will receive The Grand Tourers’ Award and a cash prize in recognition of something increasingly precious: genuinely looking after another person.
Beyond the Assessment
Our assessments are designed to be useful not only to travellers, but to the hotels themselves.
Behind every review is a detailed examination of the guest experience, from arrival and service to comfort, atmosphere, problem-solving and the standards operating behind the scenes.
Where appropriate, we share constructive feedback with the properties we assess, identifying both what they do exceptionally well and where the experience could be improved.
Drawing on our own hospitality backgrounds and the insight gained from assessments across Europe, The Grand Tourers’ Guide will also offer practical guidance and training for hotels that want to strengthen their approach to hospitality.
The purpose is not to make every hotel the same. It is to help each one become better at what matters most: making people feel genuinely looked after.