Recognises Best of the Best with Annual Awards
Katikies, Santorini Clinches Hotel of the Year Award
In recognition of their outstanding commitment to the brand, Small Luxury Hotels of the World honoured six member hotels at an awards ceremony in London last month.
Small Luxury Hotel of Year, the highest accolade of all, was awarded to Katikies in Santorini, Greece. This much coveted award is bestowed on a hotel that is deemed to have demonstrated a consistent and unwavering commitment to the luxury hotel brand, and achieved standards of excellence across all aspects of its business.
“With such a varied and extensive portfolio of outstanding hotels within the SLH brand, the task of nominating one particular hotel for this award is never easy,” commented Paul Kerr, Joint Managing Director of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. “Katikies however, has excelled this year in its delivery of exceptional levels of personalised service, comfort and luxury – attributes that guests of SLH not only deserve, but have come to expect,” added Mr Kerr.
In addition to the Hotel of the Year award, SLH also recognised the outstanding contributions of member hotels in five other distinct categories. They were:
Best Spa in a Small Luxury Hotel
A new award introduced in 2005, this award was open to all SLH properties that were featured in the luxury brand’s inaugural Spa Book. Spa Botanica at The Sentosa Resort & Spa, Singapore was crowned the winner, based on personal feedback from fellow SLH hoteliers. In particular it was praised for its exceptional dedication to therapeutic well-being, the range of treatments, as well as the overall ambience of the Spa.
Best Small Luxury Hotel Experience
This is also a new category that has been included in 2005. The winner was selected based on the results of a specific survey conducted amongst members of The Club of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (www.clubslh.com) – a truly discerning group of luxury travellers. The winner, Hôtel Le Cep, Burgundy, France, was commended for offering an outstanding level of personalised service and for treating its guests like frequent clients on their first visit.
Best Hotel Photograph
High quality and motivational imagery is critical in the successful marketing and promotion of all SLH properties. Through this award Small Luxury Hotels of the World recognises a specific hotel that has demonstrated a high level of creativity in the visual presentation of its hotel. The winning hotel’s image will be used by SLH in global and regional brand marketing and PR campaigns. The award was presented to Bateleur Camp at Kichwa Tembo, Kenya for its “Breakfast on the Plains” image (downloadable at www.leonardo.com/slh).
Connecting to the Brand
This particular award has been created to encourage member hotels to align their own marketing and promotional activities to that of the brand, thereby maximising the benefits of membership. Hotels were asked to nominate themselves by submitting their own pieces of marketing collateral that best promote their membership of SLH and to provide examples of how they have made the most of SLH membership. The winner of this award was Mollies, Auckland, New Zealand which amongst other things was recognised for achieving high revenue per room, as well as an exceptionally high score in relation to maximising its use of the SLH brand.
Responsible Tourism Caring Luxury
A new category introduced in 2005 was the Responsible Tourism Caring Luxury award, which has been designed to recognise hotels that provide guests with enriching experiences, while at the same time creating positive environmental, social and economic benefits for the local community. The winner of this award was Hotel Punta Islita, Costa Rica which was recognised for its diligent efforts in funding and developing local community arts and crafts programmes, in addition to creating an Open-Air Contemporary Art Museum; the first of its kind in Latin America.
The fact that the winners of the respective categories were determined by votes from fellow hoteliers, as well as feedback from guest questionnaires, this recognition by esteemed industry colleagues has made the awards even more significant to the individual recipients.
Hi-resolution images of all Award winners are available on www.leonardo.com/slh by entering “conference” in the hotel search field.
The Small Luxury Hotels of the World brand is a collection of close to 360 independently-owned exclusive hotels in 59 countries. Carefully selected for their style and sophistication, Small Luxury Hotels feature award-winning properties including spas, country houses, golf resorts, island retreats, city sanctuaries, and game and wilderness lodges. Reservations can be made at any Small Luxury Hotels of the World property by calling toll-free on 800 525 4800 or via the Internet at www.slh.com. Travel agents can use the GDS code LX for LuXury.
Hotels interested in applying for membership with Small Luxury Hotels may visit www.slhmembership.com for further information and details.
