THE Feversham Arms Hotel and Verbena Spa in Helmsley has made it into the prestigious Sunday Times Travel Readers’ Awards 2010.

Thousands of readers voted for their favourite resort hotel in the awards, which the Sunday Times Travel magazine said attracted a record number of entries.

The Feversham Arms beat off competition from southern favourites including Babington House in Somerset, and Barnsley House and Cowley Manor in the Cotswolds, to be placed in the top three hotels.

Carole Billington, one of the readers who voted for The Feversham Arms, said: “The hotel manages to be homely and hip all at once, with lovely squashy sofas and a spa worth spending all day in.”

The Feversham Arms also won the White Rose award for Small Hotel of the Year in October 2010.

Jill Rhatigan, owner of the Feversham Arms, said: “To be voted in the top three UK resort hotels is a fantastic ending to 2010 for the team, and to be alongside such heroes of our industry like Gleneagles is just the icing on the cake. The fact that the awards are voted for by the readers is especially important to us - thank you to all who voted, we are over the moon.”