Travelers in China looking for top-tier five-star hotel service will likely be in luck if they go with Ritz-Carlton, which netted the highest number of awards at the 2015 Hotelier Awards China ceremony held on December 10 at Four Seasons Hotel, Beijing.
Service professionals from Ritz-Carlton hotels across China scooped up five of the 18 awards listed, making it the most-awarded brand of the evening. Andrew C. Rogers, the multi-property vice president and general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street, received the General Manager of the Year Award, while Charlie Zha, the hotel manager of The Ritz-Carlton Tianjin, was given two awards, including Hotel Manager of the Year and Most Popular Hotelier of the Year. Meanwhile, The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong and The Ritz-Carlton Sanya, Yalong Bay also received awards.
“I look at our roles and responsibilities; to find the best people, select them, bring them into the team, and set them up for success,” said Rogers. “It makes me very very proud to accept this award on behalf of my team, myself, and the Ritz-Carlton.”
In addition to Ritz-Carlton’s multiple wins, Four Seasons saw two China team members win awards. These included the Food & Beverage Hotelier of the Year award that went to Heiko Roeder, the director of food and beverage of Four Seasons Guangzhou, and the Concierge Hotelier of the Year award, which went to Peter Tang, the chief concierge at the Beijing location.
Winners were chosen out of 300 applications from over 100 properties and 44 different hotel brands. The selection process was based on two rounds that included an application, interviews, and testimonials.
Luxury resorts in Macau and Sanya also made a strong showing this year. In addition to The Ritz-Carlton Sanya’s award, Sheraton Sanya Resort’s finance director was awarded, while Galaxy Hotel Macau team members won both the Engineering and Unsung Hero awards. The head of housekeeping for the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel received the Housekeeping award, while Donna Campbell, the PR director for The Venetian Macao, Conrad Macao, Holiday Inn Macao, and Sands Macao won the Marketing & Communications award.
The award for best spa went to Elva Xue, the senior spa manager at the boutique PuLi in Shanghai, which is managed by Ananatara spa. Another fashionable Shanghai boutique hotel, The Langham in Xintiandi, saw the award for the best front desk service.
As the luxury hotel industry puts more emphasis on sustainability and community involvement, the event also presented an award for corporate social responsibility, which went to Martin Leclerc, the general manager of The St. Regis Tianjin.
The event was sponsored by a host of hospitality-related brands, including the luxe Swiss bedding brand DUX, Nespresso, and wine distributor TORRES. Winners were chosen by an expert judging panel that included Asia Pacific Forbes Travel Guide Senior Vice President Yona He, National Hotel Association China General Secretary Jingsheng Xu, International Luxury Travel Market Senior Exhibition Director Alison Gilmore, Les Roches Shanghai Campus Director Sacha Stöcklin, and Edipresse Media Asia CEO and Board Member Zita Ong.