The travel and tourism industry has changed radically in the last 8 years, with the introduction of the AirBnB accommodation model, the Covid Travel Lockdowns and the increasing challenges of international travel post Covid. This is reflected in the shift from industry bench markers like AA Travel, Tourism Grading Council, Lilizela Awards, to percentage points allocated by the algorithms on huge monopoly booking sites like Booking.com and Expedia.com. Even the widely used TripAdvisor has changed its default search button from Traveller Ranked (ie a genuine traveller review site), to so-called “best value’ ranking of establishments (with prices taken from the large 3rd party monopoly sites of Booking.com; Expedia and Agoda!). And the search results are subject to random changes with each visit to the site.
This means that many of the standards-overseeing organizations have fallen away since 2018, as can be seen by the history below of Liz at Lancaster awards which come to a rather abrupt halt after that year!
Looking back, we are immensely proud of our consistent track record for the last 15 odd years.
- 2024 As of May 2024 we were number 1 in Johannebsurg on Tripadvisor in terms of traveler ranking of 146 guesthouses and of f 263 B&Bs/Inns
- 2019 Nightsbridge identified Liz at Lancaster as an example of guesthouse best practice
- 2018 Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award 13 out of the top 25 B&BS in South Africa
- 2018 Lilizela Awards Provincial finalist Service Excellence in the category 4 star Guesthouse
- 2018 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award Winner in the category B&BS South Africa
- 2017 Lilizela Awards Provincial finalist category 4 star Guesthouse
- 2017 Featured in Johannesburg In Your Pocket
- 2016 Hotels Combined Recognition of Excellence
- 2016 Luxury Travel Global Winner for Johannesburg Luxury Guesthouses
- 2016 Lilizela Awards Provincial Winner Service Excellence in the category 4 star Guesthouse
- 2015 included in Lonely Planet South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (p.330)
- 2015 SA Tourism’s Lilizela Awards National winner in 4 star guesthouse category
- 2015 SA Tourism’s Lilizela Awards Provincial winner in 4 star Guesthouse category
- 2015 TripAdvisor Hall of Fame Award for being five-time winner of Certificate of Excellence 2011 – 2015
- 2014 2nd Lilizela National Tourism Awards National Finalist for Service Excellence in category 4 star Guesthouse
- 2014 20th Accommodation Awards National winner in the category Guesthouse with breakfast
- 2014 Subject of Johannesburg Guesthouses blog
- 2014 AA assesses Liz at Lancaster as a “benchmark in the industry”
- 2013 Lilizela Awards Provincial Finalist in the category 4 star guesthouse
- 2013 Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award one of the top 25 B&BS in South Africa
- 2012 AA Quality Assured Accommodation Awards National Finalist in the category Guesthouse with breakfast
- 2012 AA Qeuality Assured Accommodation Awards Winner of the Travellers Value Award in the in the category Top-end Executive and/or Leisure Travelers. Judged by guest feedback
- 2012 AA Quality Assured Accommodation Awards Regional Winner in the category Guesthouse with breakfast
- 2011 Short but still prestigious write-up in the New York Times Travel Section
- 2011 AA Travel Guides American Express Accommodation Special Awards for ‘PEOPLE WHO GO THE EXTRA MILE’
- 2011 – 2015 TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence
- 2010 and 2011 AA Travel Guides American Express Accommodation National Finalist in the category: Small guesthouse and self-catering. Judged by guest feedback.
- 2010 – AA Superior Quality Assured
- 2010 to 2021 4 star rated by the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa
We have ongoing positive feedback from business travellers, from families with children, (including families who have stayed for quite lengthy periods, from birders, from post-operative medical guests, from international travellers, from our longstay guests and many compliments on our general eye for detail, customer service and comfort levels. Guests also like that Liz has a special insight into her home city having taught at Wits University for 25 years in art history and then heritage studies. Since leaving Wits in 2005, she has written some pieces for art catalogues and has been a research consultant for heritage impact assessments to establish cultural significance of Johannesburg buildings, sites and spaces.
So we have come a long way from 1994 when Liz opened the guesthouse with one room and gradually expanded to the current 7 rooms.
So for ongoing updates on what’s in, on and happening in Joburg follow Liz at Lancaster on:
Facebook, Instagram or see Liz at Lancaster’s blog.