VisitEngland, the tourist information website, has somewhat overexcitedly announced that England "offers the best B&B accommodation on the planet". This claim comes on the back of TripAdvisor's annual Travellers' Choice awards, which were announced today. Five English properties made it into the list of the top 10 B&Bs in the world. Number one was actually Scottish but, unsurprisingly perhaps, VisitEngland managed to gloss over that ...

So well done to Saltcote Place in Rye, Number One B&B in Deal, Riverside in the Lake District, Creston Villa in Lincoln and The Twenty One in Brighton. Not to mention The Old Manse in Invermoriston, which actually won.

All this raises a few questions. First, can these accolades be trusted? TripAdvisor says they are "awarded by millions of real travellers", but as we reported in September 2010 (Is Tripadvisor a holiday headache?), "real travellers" aren't always completely unbiased critics. Would you be more inclined to visit a TripAdvisor award-winner, voted for by the public, than one crowned by a panel of experts?

Second, are there any overlooked gems in London? The capital failed to get any hotels at all into the Top 25 in the UK category. London has more than its fair share of leading restaurants, but seems to lag behind in the hotel stakes. And why are British hotels so expensive? There wasn't a single one in the Top 10 bargain European hotels category.

Finally, is crowing about England's brilliant B&Bs a bit like boasting about being the world champions at morris dancing or drinking real ale? After all, other countries don't really do B&Bs – whereas we've been doing them since the Middle Ages. And judging by our woeful performance in all the other categories – Most Romantic Hotel, Best Service, Top Spa – they had to let us win one.