We are delighted to be one of only four British hotels to make it through to the final stage of the prestigious Best Western Fan Awards. We feature in two categories; Most Historic Hotel and Most Impressive Guest Room, where we are up against hotels based in America, China, France, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Winners will be determined by votes cast by the general public and this is where we need your support. Anyone with a Facebook account can vote, just visit facebook.com/BestWestern/app_274067066027658 and vote for the hotel under Most Historic Hotel and Most Impressive Guest Room. Voting closes on 16 September 2012 & votes can be placed every 24 hours. Many thanks for your support!

Many congratulations to Mark Tobin, our Operations Manager, who has been selected as one of 3 finalists in the Community Project category of the Heart of Somerset Community Awards run by the Mid Somerset Series of papers and the Somerset Standard and Guardian. Mark will find out if he is the winner at an awards lunch on 26 September!

A biannual survey by Hogg Robinson Group has revealed that Moscow’s hotel room rates are by far the highest of any of the cities that they monitor. During the first 6 months of the year the average price of a room in Moscow was £258. In second place came Lagos (£217), which continues to attract business travellers involved in the Nigerian oil industry. Closer to home rates in London rose by 5%, despite some weakness before the Olympic Games. As for the rate of increase in room rates (in local currency terms), Latin American countries secured some hefty rises. In Brazil rates rose by 23% in Sao Paulo and by 15% in Rio de Janeiro. However, the number 1 spot went to Mexico with a whopping 30% increase. At the other end of the scale Barcelona saw falls of 22%.

Inspired by the Olympics? Exercise in the great outdoors on one of our walking weekends; 9-11 Nov 2012 & 18-20 Jan 2013. For more info visit www.swanhotelwells.co.uk/walking-weekends or call 01749 836300