Guilherme Augusto Costa, General Manager of the Four Seasons Hotel, The Ritz Lisbon, is this year’s winner of the prestigious award “European Hotel Manager of the Year” that EHMA – European Hotel Managers Association grants annually to an active member who has achieved outstanding results in hotel management during the previous year and throughout their career.
Guilherme Costa has overcome the recent difficult times of the pandemic while maintaining the same exceptionally high standards that the Four Seasons Hotel, The Ritz Lisbon, has long offered to its clientele.
Under his supervision a complete renovation has been carried out in the last two years bringing back all the splendor of this iconic Hotel. The Award was presented to him during EHMA’s Annual General Assembly held in Lugano, Switzerland, from 18th to 20th March 2022.
“Guilherme is highly regarded and respected by his peers and admired by all who work with him”, comments Ezio A. Indiani, outgoing President EHMA and GM Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan. A member of EHMA since 2007, in 2005 he was responsible, along with his predecessor José Silva (now CEO of Jumeirah Hotels), for organizing an unforgettable General Assembly in Lisbon.
Guilherme Costa – who has Brazilian and Portoguese citizenship – began his career with various international hotel chains in the USA, Brazil and Portugal, and was appointed General Manager of the Four Seasons Hotel, The Ritz Lisbon in 2006.
Out of his 36 years of experience in the hospitality industry, 21 were dedicated to Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, thus making him the longest serving General Manager in this iconic hotel.
He is known for contributing to the professional development of numerous top managers and executive chefs who now lead Michelin-starred restaurants. In 2007 he and his team created and implemented the chain’s first full-scope social responsibility program for hotels, fostering the well being of employees, the community and the environment, elevating the Four Seasons Hotel, The Ritz Lisbon, to the top employer in Portugal across all segments.
Along his 19 years at the Ritz, he oversaw several transformations of this palace, with the renovations of rooms and suites and the addition of the Ritz Spa in 2001.
Over the last two years the Ritz has undergone a multi-million euro refurbishment, with the addition of an exterior swimming pool and bar, new banquet spaces, a new restaurant with street entrance, that just received the coveted One Michelin Star in its first year of operation.
The hotel is included in the most prestigious hotel guides and has received several awards, including the Forbes double Five Star Award for both the Hotel and The Ritz Spa.
The second candidate to the award was the Italian Salvatore Pisani, General Manager Splendid Venice – Starhotels Collezione and Italian Hotel Manager of the Year 2021, who successfully relaunched the hotel after a 25 million euro renovation and has positioned the hotel in key markets working on rebranding, sales and marketing, as well as inroads in new markets.
About EHMA
EHMA - European Hotel Managers Association was founded in Rome in 1974 by some executives of the hotel industry of undisputed professional ethics with the objective to maintain and increase the image of the hotel heritage. It is made up of top-level hotel general managers who constantly strive to improve their and their staff’s professionalism in luxury hospitality in order to maintain, perfect and innovate services offered to their customers. Currently the Association has nearly 400 members representing 23 European countries of which about 300 are General Managers of luxury hotels. In figures, this represents around 300 hotels, 85,000 rooms and 65,000 employees.
