The Hotelier Awards China, a ceremony which honors the dedicated professionals of the hotel industry, made its debut on Thursday 11th December 2014 at The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong. Over 300 hoteliers and industry professionals gathered in the grand ballroom to await the announcement of this year’s award winners.
This inaugural year, The Hotelier Awards received close to 300 applications from over 100 properties from 44 different brands. Winners of each category were decided by a panel of independent experts through a two-round process and based on a combination of facts presented in the application, interviews, and testimonials.
Taking home the “General Manager of the Year” award was Bahram Sepahi from Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou mentioning that “We in the hotel business, are not wired to self-recognize. So to receive this award and have such a celebrity-oriented treatment, is really touching.” The two runner-ups were Andy Wang from The Azure Qiantang, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hangzhou and Sandy Murray from DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing.
The 16 award categories were presented by one of the judges alongside a representative from the sponsoring companies, which included Torres, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), TechnoGym, MusicStyling, and CreativeTechnology.
The judge panel was comprised of experts who, between them, hold a wide plethora of industry specific skills and knowledge. Those judges were Yona He - Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific & Oceania - Forbes Travel Guide, Alison Gilmore - Senior Exhibition Director – International Luxury Travel Market (ITLM), Dr. Sacha Stöcklin - Campus Director/Academic Dean – Les Roches Shanghai, Jeannie Cho Lee – First Asian Master of Wine (MW), and Jingsheng Xu - The General Secretary of National Hotel Association/Vice Director of National Tourism Administration China.
The hotel industry is the ultimate people business. Looking forward to returning in 2015, The Hotelier Awards China will continue to shed light on the hardworking people of the hotel industry, giving them the recognition and praise that they deserve.
The Hotelier Awards China 2014 winners are:
General Manager of the Year
Bahram Sepahi, General Manager and Regional Vice President – Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou
Hotel Manager/Resident of the Year
Brian Tan, Director of Operations – Fairmont Yangcheng Lake
Food & Beverage Hotelier of Year
Ellen Franke, Executive Assistant Manager, Food and Beverage – The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong
Marketing & Communications Hotelier of the Year
Ada Leng Chio De La Cruz, Director of Marketing Communications – Mandarin Oriental, Macau
Sales Hotelier of the Year
Yvonne Mak, Director of Sales & Marketing – The PuLi Hotel and Spa
Human Resources Hotelier of the Year
Delia Yang, Director of Human Resources – Mandarin Oriental, Sanya
Finance Hotelier of the Year
Ranjeev Tikaram, Finance Controller – The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing
Chef Hotelier of the Year
Peter Find, Executive Chef – The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong
Front Office Hotelier of the Year
Alvin Jia, Front of House Manager and Quality Manager – The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai
House Keeping Hotelier of the Year
Dina Angelucci, Director of Housekeeping – Conrad Macao, Cotai Central and Holiday Inn Macao Cotai Central
Health Club & Spa Hotelier of the Year
Daphne Li, Director of Spa – The Langham Xintiandi, Shanghai
Technology Hotelier of the Year
Richard Xue, Director of IT – Four Seasons Hotel Beijing
Concierge Hotelier of the Year
Apple Wang, Concierge Manager – The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai
CSR Hotelier of the Year
Syed Mubarak, Director of Sustainability – The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel
The Unsung Hero
Linda Zhao, Health Club Cleaner – Hilton Beijing
Most Popular Hotelier of the Year
Stanley Lam, Director of Food & Beverage – Grad Hyatt Guangzhou
For more information please visit www.hotelierawards.com
