The Toulson Court, Scarborough: Yorkshire Coast B&B named best place to stay in the world beating stays in Brazil, Italy and Australia in TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2023

Every year TripAdvisor awards the best of the best businesses that have received a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the public over a 12-month period. Every winner has passed TripAdvisor’s meticulous trust and safety standards and less than one per cent of TripAdvisor’s eight million listings are awarded Best of the Best, symbolising the highest level of excellence in hospitality.

Scarborough B&B The Toulson Court, on Columbus Ravine, took first place as the best place to stay in the world, surpassing stays in Brazil, Italy, Morocco, Australia, Ireland and even US states such as Vermont and Massachusetts. With its free parking, children’s play area and high speed internet access, the five-star bed and breakfast has had 2,085 reviews.

Its description on the TripAdvisor website reads: “Multi award winning Bed and Breakfast. Whatever your ideal holiday, you’ll find it here. At Toulson Court, we strive to provide the perfect base from which to enjoy it all!

“The entire guest house has been tastefully decorated and lovingly refurbished to the highest standards, with your comfort in mind. We pride ourselves on being able to provide you with all the comforts of home, with a warm and friendly atmosphere - a real home from home!”

The bed and breakfast is family owned by James Rusden and his wife Angela, who first opened the hotel in 2016.

He said: “It’s absolutely fantastic, it’s an amazing achievement. We are just an ordinary bed and breakfast in Scarborough; we’re a Victorian house, we haven’t got massive rooms but we have got nice comfy beds, fantastic breakfast, it’s nice and clean.

“You’ve got me and my wife Angela as fantastic hosts and that’s what’s running for us, it's the relationship and the way we are with people.

“We’re about £95 a night per room but some of the other B&Bs out there are £350 a night; it’s a massive market that we’re contending with but to be classed as the best in the world - what are people’s expectations? Are they expecting the Ritz, expecting a price tag, no we’re just an ordinary bed and breakfast in Scarborough.

“We’ve been open for seven years in June and this is the third time we’ve won this award; we’ve won it 2021, 2022 and 2023.”

Mr Rosden admitted that the hospitality industry is struggling amid the cost of living crisis and the aftermath of Covid-19.

“We’re trying to promote Yorkshire and Yorkshire Coast, mainly because B&Bs are struggling at the moment after Covid, then you’ve got the Cost of Living Crisis,” he said.

“People are knocking down how many holidays they have, people are knocking down how many days they go away for and a lot of bed and breakfasts are rather busy this time of year and I’ve actually seen a massive decline in business.

“So we’re trying to use our success along with the tourism office to try and push Scarborough, Yorkshire, York, the whole area of what North Yorkshire and Yorkshire has to offer, trying to get the people from the south to the north for a change.

“It’s fantastic news, just amazing. If somebody had said to me seven years ago ‘one day you’re going to be the best bed and breakfast in Yorkshire’, I’d think no I’d never be the best in Yorkshire - so to be best in the world is just phenomenal.”

Full list of best stays in the world in TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2023

1 - The Toulson Court, Scarborough

2 - Pousada Gaia Viva, Igarata, Brazil

3 - Yarra Gables, Healesville, Australia

4 - Highcliffe House, Lynton, UK

5 - Candleberry Inn on Cape Cod, Brewster, Massachusetts

6 - Gloucester House, Weymouth, UK

7 - Salerno Centro Bed and Breakfast, Salerno Italy

8 - Dar Rihana Dades, Boumalne Dades, Morocco

9 - Sheedy’s Doolin, Doolin, Ireland

10 - Glencoe Guest House, Keswick, UK

11 - Torlinnhe Guest House, Fort William, UK

12 - Captain David Kelley House, Centreville, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

13 - The Blue Horse Inn, Woodstock, Vermont

14 - Riad Andallaspa, Marrakech, Morocco

15 - The Cedar House Inn, St Augustine, Florida

16 - Dar El Mandar Farm, Fes, Morocco

17 - Finca Campestre La Adelita B&B

18 - The Welsh Hills Inn, Granville, Ohio