Hotels with amazing included perks – from classical concerts to horse whispering sessions

When the inaugural Telegraph Hotel Awards were announced in September, there was one thing that united everywhere on the list: they made each guest feel special.

A key question judges asked during the long discussions, which whittled hundreds of favourites down to a top 50, was always: “Is the hotel worth it?”. And whether a brilliant bargain or an extravagant treat, what soon became apparent was that those that really were worth it went above and beyond the basic bed and breakfast inclusions of a nightly rate.

Sometimes that comes down to superlative service, but often it’s those little unexpected surprises that make people feel like guests rather than customers being charged at every turn. This spoiling starts from the moment you arrive.

A glass of fizz is always welcome, but it’s even better if you’re welcomed with an immediate taste of the country you have just landed in.

At perfect Japanese ryokan Asaba, it is freshly brewed tea and wagashi sweets, while still-warm madeleines are served beneath the orange trees in the courtyard at recently opened Hôtel du Couvent in Nice.

Even more delectable inclusions run from free ice cream doled out by swimming pools; homemade coffee, lemon and almond granita at Sicily’s Susafa and a fully stocked cart at Indonesia’s Bawah Reserve), to “maxibars” filled with complimentary treats as opposed to an extortionate price list.

Funky British Guesthouse hotels (Bath, York, Margate, and just-opened, Brighton) each have a pantry stocked with a sweet shop’s worth of flying saucers, fried eggs and cola bottles, as well as crisps, popcorn and fruit. Down on Australia’s Kangaroo Island, the unique open-bar policy at Southern Ocean Lodge lets guests pop down to the 160 label-strong wine cellar and help themselves to a bottle; maybe a Shiraz from the McLaren Vale or sparkling “Pétiyante” made by the nearby Islander Estate.

At Hampton Manor in the West Midlands, even those who’ve booked room-only rates can enjoy hot drinks and pastries in the lobby each morning.

When it comes to turndown, the most generous hotels see that traditional chocolate on your pillow, and raise it to a proper take-home present. Ballyfin in Ireland, which came second in the hotel awards, offers a rotating line-up that includes scented candles, branded rain jackets and chunky coffee table books.

While at sustainability-minded Colombian hotel Blue Apple Beach the roster of thoughtful gifts includes shell bracelets made by local craftspeople, drinking glasses created from upcycled drinks bottles and – only on a full moon – a quartz crystal sourced from the same caverns as Colombia’s famous emeralds.

Things get even more interesting at hotels where exclusive access or cultural experiences come with the (often high) price tag.

This might mean out-of-hours, crowd-free strolls to the Iguazu Falls at Belmond’s Hotel das Cataratas (the only hotel in the Brazilian side of the National Park).

There are complimentary tickets to Hampton Court Palace at London’s Mitre (which is just a short procession across the road from Henry VIII’s lavish home), while guests staying at Le Meridien Vienna are given a free pass to contemporary gallery Kunsthalle Vienna.

At some special spots, you don’t even need to leave the hotel to be immersed in world-class art.

Cape Town’s Ellerman House (number three on the awards list) has its own gallery housing the owner’s extensive collection of South African works, which also hang throughout the hotel itself.

There’s a complimentary daily art tour that rivals many of the city’s heavyweight institutions, charting South Africa’s political and cultural history from the 19th-century landscape painters to Black Modernists and the latest emerging talent. Germany’s Schloss Elmau, deep in the Bavarian Alps, sings to a similar tune with its own 300-seat concert hall that regularly hosts some of the biggest names in contemporary classical music. Guests can attend anything they like for free.

Bikes to borrow practically come as standard these days (although the Hoxton Holborn’s folding Bromptons are particularly fun), but at The Mark in New York you can give your legs a rest with complimentary pedicab rides around Manhattan in the hotel’s smart black-and-white striped fleet.

Elsewhere, feel-good free activities range from sunrise yoga sessions (Mexico’s Hotel Esencia) to forest meditation classes among towering redwoods (California’s Post Ranch Inn), beginner Muay Thai sessions (Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, number one in the awards) to taster qi gong and reflexology workshops (Six Senses Yao Noi).

At Castle Hot Springs guests can try their hand at axe-throwing, while at Le Barn, 45 minutes from Paris in the Rambouillet forest, horse whispering sessions have recently been added to the action-packed complimentary line-up.

Every Sunday, guests can head to neighbouring equine centre Haras de La Cense for a masterclass in replicating the controlled posture and delicate gestures horses use to communicate with each other, which is said to be calming for both horse and whisperer.

Sometimes though it’s the little things you’d never think of that make the biggest difference. Bottles of locally made Höbepergh sun cream dotted around the pool at Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice when you realise you’ve forgotten some.

The latest bestseller to read at bedtime at Kimpton the Rowan Palm Springs (yours to take home so you’re not left on a cliffhanger).

This is the new value for money: a thoughtful kind of generosity that marks out a truly great hotel.