HOTELIER AWARDS 2013: The complete shortlists

Competition was at a record high for the sought-after Unsung Hero, General Manager and Team of the Year shortlist and the industry embraced the five new Awards, including CSR Champion, Hotel Manager / EAM, and Chef de Cuisine of the Year.

The short listing process for the two further new awards of Sales Person of the Year and Young Hotelier of the Year was arguably the toughest to date, with excellent entries and remarkable performance figures revealed by hotels across the region, keen to recognise their star achievers.

The ceremony itself on October 30 is expected to be the most spectacular to date, as Hotelier Middle East joins the circus! The event is being held at the world’s tallest hotel, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, only open for a year but already renowned for its excellent service and F&B offer.

Expect to be amazed as Dubai’s biggest ballroom is transformed to host a circus extravaganza, featuring entertainment, acrobatics, memorabilia and a host of surprises. What better way to recognise and celebrate the Middle East’s hotel heroes than at ‘The Greatest Awards Show on Earth’?

Unlike other hospitality awards, the Hotelier Middle East Awards do not reward the newest, biggest or trendiest hotels, instead they are designed to celebrate the service stars and management maestros delivering top quality guest experiences and developing successful career paths for themselves and their associates.

Nor are the awards decided upon by counting up a tally of votes or seeing how many people have clicked on a link; the finalists for the Hotelier Middle East Awards are debated and agreed upon by a panel of industry judges, each respected in their specialist field.

Following a lengthy short listing process by the hospitality group at ITP Business, where the hundreds of nominations were painstakingly whittled down to a shortlist of five for each of the 19 categories, the judges were given two weeks to analyse the nominations, before meeting at the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management in Dubai to discuss, debate and decide the nominees’ fate on October 1.

With the identities of the winners being kept a closely guarded secret until the action-packed ceremony at the end of the month, over the next few pages Hotelier presents the shortlisted candidates — already to be commended for making it this far.

Each of their nominations is backed up by a series of testimonials — a requirement for entering the Awards this year — so to give an insight to the calibre of hotelier in the competition, we have provided a short sample of these or a brief summary of the main nomination.

And to ensure you don’t miss out on finding out who wins and takes home the sought-after trophies, make sure you are one of the 800 hoteliers attending the celebrations on October 30.

MEET THE JUDGES

Ron Hilvert
Founder and managing director, The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, Dubai
A regular face on the judging panel, Ron Hilvert has more than 40 years of experience in the hospitality business and is recognised as one of the most experienced HR executives in the industry. He has held the worldwide corporate human resources positions for Hyatt International, Hilton International and Jumeirah Group, and was an opening GM with Hyatt.

Stefan Breg
F&B concept design director, Asia, Middle East & Africa, IHG
Former restaurant consultant and founder of Tribe Stefan Breg rejoined IHG as F&B concept design director for Asia, Middle East and Africa. Now based in Bangkok, he flew to Dubai for the judging process, maintaining the impartiality he has held as a judge for the past two years. Breg has extensive experience in managing F&B operations for Crowne Plaza, Thistle Hotels and Hilton.

Naim Maddad
CEO, Gates Hospitality
Naim Maddad has over 25 years experience in the hospitality industry, working throughout Australia, South East Asia, Japan and the Middle East with international brands such as Six Senses, Anantara, Mandara, Minor International, Jumeirah, Sheraton, Conrad, Hilton and Rixos. He is now focused on bringing exciting F&B brands to the Middle East, as well as creating his own concepts, via Gates Hospitality.

Lynne Bellinger
Managing director – UAE, Purple Cubed
Lynne Bellinger heads up Purple Cubed in the UAE, a company focused on maximising performance through people. She has a successful career spanning 20 years within the five-star hotel industry. With hands-on experience forged through an initial rooms division career path, Bellinger rapidly built her reputation within the HR, recruitment and training fields.

Guy Wilkinson
Director, Viability
Viability is a hospitality and real estate consultancy based in Dubai. Guy Wilkinson has a successful track record of strategic thinking for major hotel chains, tourism authorities and property owners in the Gulf and Middle East. He has contributed to more than 350 projects throughout the Middle East and Africa. He is also well known to Hotelier Middle East readers for his insightful monthly columns and industry opinions.

Asma Abdulla Al Fahim
Vice President, European International College for Management Studies (EIC), Abu Dhabi
Asma Abdulla Al Fahim has steered EIC into becoming a world-renowned institution, successfully building strong partnerships with other leading international colleges and universities, including American Hotel & Lodging Association. Coming from a family that has a well-established background in business, Al Fahim is recognised for her acute business acumen.

Jeff Strachan
Former vice president sales & marketing Middle East & Africa, Marriott International
Having worked with Marriott International for the past 16 years, Jeff Strachan is now gearing up to take over a small guest house in Siem Reap, Cambodia on October 16, making time to judge the Awards beforehand. Most recently, Strachan held the role of VP sales & marketing Middle East & Africa for Marriott International, based in Dubai,where he was responsible for the sales and marketing initiatives of 30+ hotels .

Louise Oakley
Group editor — Hospitality, ITP Business
Louise Oakley is group editor of the hospitality and travel titles at ITP Business, including Hotelier Middle East, Arabian Travel News and Caterer Middle East, along with HotelierMiddleEast.com and ArabianTravelNews.com. She has been chairing the Hotelier Middle East Awards judging panel for five years. Oakley joined ITP in Dubai six years ago to launch Leisure Manager and previously wrote across a portfolio of UK hospitality, leisure and spa magazines.

Daniel Andrews
Editor, Arabian Travel News
Daniel Andrews joined the ITP Business hospitality group in 2013, following two years heading up the PR and marketing department at Dusit Thani Dubai. During his position he was sent as taskforce to one of the chain’s resorts in the Maldives. As well as being an expert on what constitutes a great nomination — having previously entered colleagues himself — Andrews is up to speed on current hotel trends and challenges.

Concierge of the Year

ERWIN RACHIM
CHIEF CONCIERGE, SOFITEL ABU DHABI CORNICHE
“At the beginning of 2013, Erwin worked closely with the sales department to attract leisure customers by providing access and shuttle to local private beaches, the largest shopping mall as well as major attractions on Yas Island. This step steadily increased hotel occupancy and customers satisfaction.”

JOSEPH VERSCHUREN
ASSISTANT MANAGER CONCIERGE, GRAND HYATT DUBAI
“Joseph initiated the provision of training sessions (customer service, grooming, and concierge knowledge) and participation in the daily briefing of the drivers and valet. Thanks to their increased knowledge about the hotel product, they are now able to deliver a higher level of service.”

SHETTY KOTTAKKI HARSHAVARDHANA
BELL CAPTAIN, HILTON AL AIN
”Harsha’s passion for guest service led him to enrol himself into a driving institute in order to obtain a driving licence and thereby be able to assist our guest as valet parking attendant, as in the hotel we do not have this service. Among his more notable achievements is the implementation of a sightseeing tour for our leisure guests and he goes with them around Al Ain to explain more about the activities and attractions.”

ANTONIO LOBO
DRIVER, CROWNE PLAZA DUBAI
“Lobo is an excellent driver. Lobo did an overtime of 193 hours to cover the hotel transportation costs when his fellow driver, Siraj was on vacation. He is a full concierge in the car for the passenger. While bringing his guests or new colleagues from airport to the hotel or employee housing, Lobo conveys basic information very professionally.”

MEKONNEN GETACHEW
ASSISTANT CHIEF CONCIERGE, RADISSON ROYAL HOTEL DUBAI
“Mike actually proved that he is the exact fit for his current position. He is a Tripadvisor and Medallia star with so many positive mentions about him and he was nominated the best employee of the month recently. He has a great reputation.”

Fitness/ Spa Person of the Year

NEIL HEWERDINE
VICE PRESIDENT, SPA AND FITNESS, ATLANTIS THE PALM
“Neil has introduced several new innovative treatments and products during his time and so many different brands to ShuiQi,resulting in a wide-ranging spa menu with countless spa and treatment options, enough to suit everyone’s taste. Neil is well liked and respected by the ShuiQi team due to his caring, gentle nature and he treats everyone as an equal.”

PAUL HAWCO
SPA MANAGER, JUMEIRAH ZABEEL SARAY
“Paul has made astounding accomplishments including restructuring the spa reception area and introducing new product lines. This was to create the space for luxury retail boutiques to showcase the five product lines Paul took time to research and introduce along with a whole new spa menu.”

PHILLIP ROBSON
RECREATION MANAGER, TOWERS ROTANA
“Phill reduced the expense for uniforms, and at the same time increased sales of products by introducing a sports clothing brand company to the facility – this allowed for the staff to receive free uniforms, thus reducing the expense and selling the products at the facility, which aided in sales revenue.”

SURANGA BANDARA
FITNESS MANAGER, SHARQ VILLAGE & SPA, DOHA
“During times when competition is harsh, with new fitness clubs that offer guests the newest fitness apparatuses , Suranga always manages to achieve the financial goals set out for his department. His great skill set is to motivate people and help them achieve their personal goals. He has loyal members who train with him since the opening of Six Senses Spa.”

SHYLAJA PILLAI, SPA MANAGER
KEMPINSKI HOTEL MALL OF THE EMIRATES
“Dr Pillai loves to share her passion and expertise with her team and is heavily focused on training and professional development. She loves to organise team building and motivational sessions for her employees. Since 2011, none of her employees have resigned and are all motivated and happy.”

Young Hotelier of the Year
Sponsored by RONAI

NADEEM MUHAMMED IQBAL
CHIEF ACCOUNTANT, MEDIA ONE HOTEL
“In 2011, Nadeem joined Media One as senior accountant; after six months he was promoted to financial accountant and in 2013, he was promoted to chief accountant. He is a departmental trainer and on the committee of Media One Cares and within eight years Nadeem has really developed from a cost clerk to a chief accountant.”

JENNIFER LOMBARD KNIGHT
ASSISTANT FRONT OFFICE MANAGER, INTERCONTINENTAL REGENCY HOTEL BAHRAIN
“Jennifer championed new quality analysis and functional tools with senior leaders of the region including the breakdown of guest feedback to ensure that the voice of our customer is essential towards the consistent success of our brand.”

ASGHAR ALI
GENERAL ACCOUNTANT, CROWNE PLAZA DOHA
“During an emergency vacation of the general cashier/cost controller, Ali covered his position while he was a night auditor. He was dedicated and worked long hours to ensure that all deadlines were met, including the hotel’s objective to have all systems tested and ready for operation from day one.”

KHAJA ALEEMUDDIN JUNG
EXECUTIVE CHIEF STEWARD AND HACCP COORDINATOR, CROWNE PLAZA JEDDAH
“He is always concerned about food safety and cleaning processes and trained all associates to provide the highest quality standards in cleaning and hygiene. Khaja also prepared a full HACCP manual with guidelines of food safety management system, sanitation standards and formulation.”

ARUN RAMAKRISHNAN
BANQUET MANAGER, THE RITZ-CARLTON, DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE
“Arun is an extremely committed individual with enormous passion for his job, consistently spending countless hours in the operation to ensure that all aspects of events are managed with the highest level of professionalism.”

CSR Champion of the Year
Sponsored by Diversey

MARIETOU SECK
REGIONAL QUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE, ACCOR MIDDLE EAST
“ISO 14001 certification is concerned with minimising an organisation’s harm to the environment; Marietou’s role was to implement the process and procedures so we could gain compliance and accreditation in both areas in all the Ibis hotels in the region. Marietou has taken the lead on all Accor Middle East CSR projects, getting 100% of the Accor hotels committed towards reducing their CO² emission.”

KASHMIRA MANECKJI
DIRECTOR OF RESIDENCES, THE RITZ-CARLTON, DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE
“One of The Ritz-Carlton’s global CSR initiatives is ‘Succeed Through Service’, focused on helping children to better prepare for college, work and life. Kashmira proactively approached Cambridge International School in Bur Dubai, and has since instigated a full training programme for the students. In June 2013, Kashmira organised for 50 pupils to spend two days at the hotel, taking part in a series of workshops, designed to improve their hospitality knowledge and general life skills.”

IFTIKHAR HAMDANI
GENERAL MANAGER, RAMADA HOTEL & SUITES AJMAN
“Iftikhar launched the 1st ever Zero Landfill Project amongst the hotels in the UAE in July 2012. The Zero Landfill Project intends to recycle and reduce the hotels’ waste, which is 800 kg to 1000 kg daily. The initial efforts generated positive results as the property nearly reached 90% in terms of waste diversion. The hotel produces about 50kgs of compost from 500kgs of organic waste that is good enough to keep the hotel’s green environment enhanced. It also saves the hotel’s annual garbage skips fee of AED 120,000. The hotel has no commercial objective on this project, although we are getting benefit of saving on the garbage clearance. In addition to saving energy, Iftihkar strives to engage with his team in sporting and social events,such as cricket and football, and organises a variety of charity initiatives, including partnerships with Al Ihsan Charity and World Environment Day.

WASEEM AHMED
DIRECTOR OF RISK MANAGEMENT, INTERCONTINENTAL DOHA THE CITY
“Waseem was a volunteer to lead the IHG Responsible Business Week activities of 2012 as IHG partnered with National Geographic and UNESCO. As a result, the theme for 2012 was inspired by UNESCO’s World Heritage and sustainable tourism initiative: “People Protecting Places”. Waseem took the initiative and together with sister property Intercontinental Doha decided to educate hotel colleagues on Zubarah Fort, after meeting the UNESCO team in Doha. .”

CAROLINE D’SOUZA
SECURITY MANAGER, HOLIDAY INN DUBAI – AL BARSHA
“Holiday Inn – Dubai “Loves You Campaign” supports Beit Al Khair Society in its Initiative to provide to the needy, an initiative lead by Caroline. We as a hotel have contributed more than 100 boxes of clothes and other usable linen that will be given to the underprivileged. Caroline coordinated and arranged for the boxes to be taken to the charity. She conducts the weekly committee meetings and coordinates all logistics of the events, visits to organisations etc. She encourages all colleagues to participate in the campaign through her speeches and videos.”

Laundry Manager of the Year
Sponsored by Diversey

SIRAJ KHAN
LAUNDRY MANAGER, DAR AL TAWHID INTERCONTINENTAL
“Working in a high demand culture, Siraj carried out the “Know-Your-Guest” technique, studied individual guest’s profile, innovative presentations, counted on quality, and added special elegance to the service culture. Under his leadership he has re-engineered the service process, which generated significant laundry revenue in 2012 exceeding the budget.”

FIRAS ESBEER
LAUNDRY MANAGER, INTERCONTINENTAL JEDDAH
“During the heavy rain that resulted in strong floods in Jeddah where the staff accommodation was badly affected, Firas extended his extreme support and assistance to the colleagues by bringing them personally to the hotel and back to the housing using his own car while ensuring that the colleagues’ needs were being taking care off.”

SUPARNA BASU
LAUNDRY MANAGER, HILTON DOHA
“With a high demand of workload during peak period, Suparna does not mind working with his team from the evening until early in the morning to complete the task. Under his effective leadership, the team manages to cater all hotel linen in-house despite the restricted current laundry capacity.”

MOHAMED RIZWAN
LAUNDRY MANAGER, JUMEIRAH ZABEEL SARAY
“Rizwan implemented the Guest Laundry Checklist, which gives a quality control aspect of the complete laundry process. The checklist is also a great tool that assists in identifying areas of improvement. The analysis of these checklists is used in training of the colleagues on their identified gaps.”

ARSHAD MEHMOOD
DIRECTOR OF LAUNDRY, FUJAIRAH ROTANA RESORT & SPA
“Arshad makes it a point to engage his staff on trainings in order to further their development, each employee is multi skilled and able to perform duties in all sections; such as washing, pressing, dry cleaning, and packing laundry.”

Hotel Engineer of the Year
Sponsored by Diversey

PAUL AYCHOUH
DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING, AL BUSTAN ROTANA DUBAI
“Considering the huge operations of the hotel’s laundry department which utilises a massive amount of water, Paul conceptualised a way to save water and energy in this area by reducing the water. The laundry water usage has been drastically reduced by reclaiming and treating 100% of the waste water.”

ANAND MUNGRE
ASSISTANT CHIEF ENGINEER, YAS VICEROY ABU DHABI
“Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi is built over a race track, which makes it a noisy venue. The balcony doors designed to be noise proof were not ergonomically practical. Anand took it upon himself to formulate a plan to replace the doors and coordinated with several departments to do this over the summer and has thus far achieved 50% more rooms than originally planned.”

RAJEEV CHOPRA
DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING, BEACH ROTANA ABU DHABI
“Rajeev initiated the Energy Conservation Committee aimed at gathering ways to conserve energy such as implementing the motion sensors projects installed in the public area toilets and guest corridors in the apartment tower. He is creating a master plan to renovate the hotel within four years.”

REGI THOMAS
ENGINEERING MANAGER, THE RITZ-CARLTON ABU DHABI, GRAND CENTRAL
“Regi made a detailed snag list for all of the 557 guest rooms and villas and along with the pictures forwarded the same to the contractors. Not to delay the opening even further, Regi took it upon himself to expedite the snagging process, facilitating the opening of the hotel.”

ANDREW ASTLEY
CHIEF ENGINEER, AL QASR, MADINAT JUMEIRAH
“The engineering team was tasked to come up with new ideas for the hotel’s busy brunch, which could be designed and built in-house. The result was a gondola 7m long for Italian food that sits over a water feature and can accommodate three chefs.”

IT Person of the Year
Sponsored by Prologic First

KRISHNARAJ JAYARAM
ASSISTANT IT MANAGER, CROWNE PLAZA BAHRAIN
“Krishna took on the task of working on the upgrading of the hotel’s guest network to improve the guest experience. The upgrade resulted in an improved guest experience and also enabled guests to use three devices instead of one.”

MOHAMMED RIZWAN
DIRECTOR OF IT, JW MARRIOTT MARQUIS HOTEL DUBAI
“Over the past 14 months, Mohammed has been the key driver in getting the hotel’s systems up and running for the hotel team and guests. Mohammed has truly excelled at bringing all these moving parts together and ensuring that the hotel operates without any defects or down time.”

LIJEESH RAJAN
DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AL MUROOJ ROTANA DUBAI
“Lijeesh implemented the guest printing service project for our guests, where they can directly print documents from their smart phones, tablets and laptops and collect them at our business centre. This service has received very good feedback from our guests and consequently will be rolled out in our sister properties in the near future.”

MAHMOUD ANASSER
IT MANAGER, HILTON LUXOR RESORT & SPA, LUXOR
“Mahmoud travelled on a whirlwind trip to Cairo covering five Hilton hotels to audit them on their IT compliance. During his audit trip, he created a powerful audit tool to benefit the company and individual hotels. This also provided the impetus for Mahmoud to train colleagues in our sister properties.”

ANITA JULIE LOBO
IT MANAGER, HOLIDAY INN KUWAIT
“Anita initiated the IT Academy, which is the first of its kind in the Gulf. She personally provides Microsoft Office workshops to our colleagues on a quarterly basis. As a result of the IT Academy and colleagues training in her department , three of our colleagues in the past 15 months have been promoted or had the opportunity to transfer to another IHG property.”

Procurement Person of the Year
Sponsored by Du

MOHAMMAD SULAIMAN MUHAIULLAH
MATERIALS COORDINATOR, DAR AL TAWHID INTERCONTINENTAL
“Muhaib was able to overcome product shortages by liaising with the suppliers and building relationships. For example, there was a shortage on meat and seafood in the market during Ramadan and our supplier went out of his way to provide the whole quantity to us ignoring requests from others.”

KALINGA DISSANAYAKE
DIRECTOR OF PURCHASING, THE RITZ-CARLTON ABU DHABI, GRAND CANAL
“Kalinga is not only a purchasing expert, but also thinks outside of the box to provide business analysis in the best interests of his hotel. He came to the conclusion that outsourcing public area cleaning and laundry will not only bring savings, but also flexibility by reducing manning during low season.”

NEGUSSIE TEDELA
PURCHASING MANAGER, MOVENPICK HOTEL IBN BATTUTA GATE
“Tedela’s expertise and strength lay in finding intelligent solutions for cost reduction and negotiation of contracts. In the past 12 months, Tedela has decreased the cost of hood, exhaust fan and duct cleaning annual maintenance for two properties, including Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate and Oceana Beach Club compared to last year.”

PUSHPA NAIR
DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT, CROWNE PLAZA DUBAI
“Pushpa demonstrated her passion, not just in Crowne Plaza but as well in the extended family of IHG hotels by building a culture amongst the procurement teams of the UAE by bringing them together to leverage purchase power as a group.”

IBRAHIM SAADHE
PURCHASING MANAGER, RADISSON BLU MARTINEZ HOTEL BEIRUT
“Last year, we fully renovated the kitchen, cafeteria, lobby lounge and the CCTV in the hotel. We also undertook a soft renovation for two floors in the hotel. Ibrahim took care of all the projects which were completed on time and within budget.”

Marketing/PR Person of the Year

STACEY MCMURTIE
ASSISTANT MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS
“Since moving to Jumeirah Emirates Towers in October 2012, Stacey has single handedly undertaken the role of managing all PR for the property. In January she hosted and arranged the monthly UAE PR, Marketing and Communications catch-up at Vu’s Restaurant with the largest turnout of 61 guests in the 10 years of the group’s operation.”

HANNAH GEORGE
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, THE RITZ-CARLTON, DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE
“Hannah is the only PR professional in the Middle East to achieve PR goals for Q1 and Q2 2013, as set by The Ritz-Carlton ‘Golden Circle’ programme, a quarterly rewards programme that recognises elite performance by associates worldwide for their outstanding achievement.”

JASMINE ARIKA
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS, BEACH ROTANA ABU DHABI
“Although in charge of one property, Jasmine sees opportunities for the whole group and invites colleague from other properties to events that she hosts as means to offer them exposure since her property has the most means to organise these.”

LUCIE ASLOU
AREA PR FOR IHG JORDAN & PALESTINE
“This year’s InterContinental Jordan’s 50th anniversary celebrations’ tremendous PR success is due entirely to Lucie’s efforts. From being the only hotel anniversary event in the Kingdom to receive His Majesty King Abdullah II’s patronage to hosting an unmatched number of royalty and VIPs, the event is the ultimate show-case of Lucie’s unparalleled PR prowess.”

KATIE KING
PR & marketing communications manager, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray
“In 2012 Katie secured filming of one of the ‘judge’s houses’ scenes in the UK version of X Factor bringing Nicole Scherzinger, Neo and Dermot O Leary to the hotel. From the initial site inspections to filming, Katie oversaw the entire project.”

HouseKeeper of the Year

Sponsored by Restonic

AKSHI SINGH
DIRECTOR OF HOUSEKEEPING, CROWNE PLAZA KUWAIT
“Akshi has shown unsurpassable capabilities in delivering value-added customer service and achieving customer satisfaction by offering customised products as per requirements. This is reflected in the hotel guests’ heartbeat reports (IHG’s guest satisfaction survey) where housekeeping has constantly achieved “best in class” every month.”

WAEL TARRAD
HOUSEKEEPING MANAGER, JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS
“Wael identified a gap with a housekeeping software that had been procured. This involved unlocking iPods, training colleagues and uploading vast amounts of information to ensure the software worked efficiently. Wael owned this project and put it back into operation.”

MERCEDITA FERNANDEZ
DIRECTOR OF HOUSEKEEPING, THE RITZ-CARLTON, DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE
“The original in-room guest supplies process saw a maid’s pantry on each floor, which housed amenities, from which the trolleys would be filled. Under Mercy’s leadership, the team removed all pantries, streamlining the process so that trolleys are now filled directly from the main storage room; artificial shortage and uneven distribution between floors is no longer an issue.”

LAETITIA LASRY
EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER, THE PALACE DOWNTOWN DUBAI
“Laetitia has helped strengthen the skill sets of her core team by assisting them in passing their training certification. She continues to work across all divisions in the hotel from front-of-the-house, finance, reservations, check-out procedures, complimentary and house use policy, duty roster, valet parking contract, and contingency planning.”

AZIZ SHAIKH
EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER, PARK INN BY RADISSON MUSCAT
“Deciding that many tasks that were currently being outsourced are more cost effective handled in-house, Aziz allocated resources to handle tasks such as upholstery cleaning, carpet shampooing and general deep-cleaning work.”

Sales Person of the Year

ASHMITA SEQUIERA
DIRECTOR OF SALES, MEDIA ONE HOTEL
“Despite Media One being a corporate hotel, Ashmita has delivered exceptional results in the leisure segment too. She has been able to convince major international tour operators on the uniqueness of Media One which has resulted in the leisure segment giving the hotel business a big boost. She manages the leisure segment single-handedly and also looks after many of the hotel’s top producing accounts, which she has grown over the course of three years.”

KYP CHARALAMBOUS
DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL LEISURE SALES, ATLANTIS, THE PALM
“Without a doubt, Kyp has key market leading client relationships – he makes himself available seven days a week and all hours of the day. Pioneering the market with a creative and dedicated strategy, he has led Atlantis to capitalise on the new Emirates/Qantas partnership. This has generated terrific growth for Atlantis and exceeded all expectations.”

VIPIN KHATTAR
DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING, GRAND HYATT DUBAI
“With Vipin’s management of the hotel’s e-commerce team, the hotel-website has been redesigned, offering more engaging user experiences. Supported by strategic online marketing, the website delivered record-breaking revenue growth year-to-date. The website now has online integration/presence for the spa and events facilities, bookable online.”

IKUKO IIJIMA
SENIOR SALES MANAGER, BUSINESS TRAVEL,
THE RITZ-CARLTON, DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE
“Ikuko proactively volunteered to lead and drive enrolment for The Ritz-Carlton Rewards programme, the brand-wide loyalty programme, on behalf of the sales team and in conjunction with the front office. She has been instrumental in raising awareness for the rewards programme, increasing enrolments and client loyalty, and in motivating the sales and front office teams to exceed enrolment goals.”

YELIZ HISMAN
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF SALES, KEMPINSKI HOTEL, MALL OF THE EMIRATES
“Traditionally, the events and groups departments were two independent teams. Yeliz took the initiative in 2012 to merge the two departments to ensure better communication and coordination, which has resulted in improved productivity. Yeliz leads a team of 14 employees and is responsible for all departmental training. As a result of extensive training and coaching over the last 12 months, 10 sales people were promoted, five people were transferred to roles in other Kempinski properties and the team successfully guided and developed five management trainees and was responsible for training an additional five colleagues from the hotel’s sister properties in the region. She is the most proactive sales person you will ever meet.

HR Person of the Year

KRISTINA VANEVA
MANAGER, EMPLOYEE MARKETING, ATLANTIS THE PALM
“In the last 12 months, Kristina has been in charge of successfully developing and launching Aquarius— the Atlantis intranet site. The intranet project has improved the communication practices of all 90 departments at Atlantis. Kristina is in charge of ensuring that correct and relevant data is posted on a regular basis and traffic is re-routed there as much as possible.”

ALENA BABENKO
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES, TIME HOTELS
“Time’s employee turnover was reduced through the implementation and review of every exit interview, ensuring that all possibilities for internal transfers are exhausted. This allowed management to identify potential issues in advance and take whatever precautionary measures were necessary to address or indeed improve related issues.”

WASEEM HASSAN
HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR, JUMEIRAH CREEKSIDE HOTEL
“Waseem came up with a new operational program to eliminate the concept of ‘’hide behind your manager”. It is an empowerment booklet where it allows all the line colleagues and mid management to give complimentary vouchers to guests in case if something goes wrong. It has proven to have a positive impact on the customer satisfaction index.”

SOLANGE CORM
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES, HILTON DOHA
“Solange didn’t hesitate to jump and personally assist the team in moving their accommodation on several occasions. We had to shift 200 employees three times in one year from one location to another. She helped carrying boxes, using her own car, supporting concerned team members in order to maintain an acceptable satisfaction level among them.”

ZAHEEN ABBAS
HR & TRAINING MANAGER, RADISSON BLU RESORT SHARJAH
“With a focus on retention through a clear and strategic training plan, Zaheen has substantially reduced recruitment costs for the hotel. Zaheen has also taken on the role of master responsible business trainer for the property.”

Hotel Manager/EAM of the Year
Sponsored by London Dairy

LUKE JAMES
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, MEDIA ONE HOTEL
“Luke has great energy, is a relentless worker and passionate about his craft. When he arrived, for over six months he did not have a head housekeeper, front of house manager and director of engineering but he has worked with the teams to drive great results. He balances quality with financial results, which is very commendable.”

IMRAN CHANGEZI
HOTEL MANAGER, JUMEIRAH EMIRATES TOWERS
“Imran’s philosophy focuses on getting the right people in the right positions, agreeing on the key expectations and outputs and ‘letting them do their job independently’. He believes that we owe it to all colleagues to make sure we provide instant and timely feedback on their performance, while celebrating successes and assisting in areas of development.”

KAY UWE WOLFEL
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, RAMADA PLAZA JUMEIRAH BEACH RESIDENCE
“Kay has made a tremendous positive impact in terms of handling operations and boosting financial revenues. His management style and his down to earth personality puts the operation at ease and associates love to work with him as he is very approachable and understanding.”

NORBERT HELMUT BORSZCZ
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT MANAGER, INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL JEDDAH
“His initiative to conduct meetings with all departments together with their HOD’s, supervisors and colleagues made us realise his agenda that if we work together with dedication and our standards at our side, we can achieve our goals.”

WAEL MAATOUK
HOTEL MANAGER, THE RITZ-CARLTON, RIYADH
“Wael Maatouk has been the driving force behind the hotel’s high customer satisfaction scores. Through weekly meetings, the team looks at the feedback and devises an action plan that will positively impact the guest engagement.”

Chef de Cuisine of the year
Sponsored by Meat Livestock Australia (MLA)

Dennis Kammerzell
chef de cuisine C&I, Madinat Jumeirah
“Dennis set up a ‘protein cooking system’ that allows any chef to clearly identify what they need to do when ordering and cooking for an event. The system is similar to a matrix, which allows you to plug in data such as the number of guests and the cooking preference, to get the required information a chef would need to cater to that particular event.”

CINU CHANDRAN
CHEF DE CUISINE, THE WEST 14TH, OCEANA BEACH CLUB, DUBAI
“Working at a restaurant that has a small kitchen and the capacity to serve 200 people, Chef Cinu has devised special theme nights such as the weekly “Streets of New York Night barbecue” to ease the kitchen operations and make incremental revenue.”

STEVEN PETER
CHEF DE CUISINE, AL QASR
“Steven oversees more than six outlets in Al Qasr and has applied his highly logical aptitude to successfully restructure the kitchens. This involved placing reliable chefs in charge of specific sections, giving them individual tasks (such as schedule, HACCP, trainings) communicating clearly instructions and his expectations with weekly reviews.”

AKSHAY NAYYAR
CHEF DE CUISINE (PROMOTED TO EXECUTIVE SOUS CHEF), MELIA DUBAI
“In the absence of an executive chef, he chaired the position and took on the pilot project of HACCP implementation. Has completed all the cumbersome tasks and documentation needed with the hygiene manager. ”

SENTHIL KUMAR
CHEF DE CUISINE, KEMPINSKI HOTEL MALL OF THE EMIRATES
“Senthil is responsible for all trade and departmental training at the hotel. Developing talent is one of his passions and he manages the training programme for the kitchen team. Over the past year, because of talent development, 12 people in the kitchen team were promoted and five kitchen staff was selected to join Kempinski task forces around the world.”

Executive Chef of the year
Sponsored by Nestle

SASCHA TRIEMER
VICE PRESIDENT CULINARY, ATLANTIS THE PALM
“34,000 meals were served this year during the month of Ramadan where Chef Sascha was involved in the setting up of the Ramadan kitchen, the manpower and ensuring that the food served was of the expected quality. Even with the high volumes, his team ensured they effectively served the large number of guests.”

FRANK NOACK
CLUSTER EXECUTIVE CHEF, HILTON DUBAI JUMEIRAH RESORT & HILTON DUBAI JUMEIRAH RESIDENCES, DUBAI
“Chef Frank implemented a special menu in the Executive Lounge, offering dishes which are easily prepared in the small kitchen but do not compromise quality. And by using our guest satisfaction index he increased food quality and was awarded with a 100% score in the Hilton Quality Assurance Review.”

PAUL HAGE
EXECUTIVE CHEF, HABTOOR GRAND BEACH RESORT & SPA
“Paul carries out routine checks of stock in-take and out-take and ensures strict measuring systems are implemented throughout the F&B Department. Paul is able to calculate value for money products while consistently serving the finest and freshest ingredients at all the restaurants and bars. Chef Paul strongly believes in his staff receiving continuous training and has an eye for areas of improvement.”

SEBASTIAN NOHSE
RESORT EXECUTIVE CHEF, MADINAT JUMEIRAH
“Segreto was identified as a low performer so he spearheaded a strategy to improve it. This included changing the style of menu, bringing in new key colleagues including a chef, restaurant manager and sommelier, and changing the style to make it more informal. As a result, Segreto was in the top five restaurants for CSI for June 2013 in Madinat Jumeirah.”

HASSAN MASSOOD
EXECUTIVE CHEF, RADISSON BLU HOTEL, DUBAI MEDIA CITY
“Being a business hotel in the middle of Dubai Media City can be quite challenging. However, Hassan took this issue as an opportunity and spotted a niche in the market and introduced the British Friday Brunch with different price packages to suit all of our customers’ needs, live cooking stations and a themed buffet, that has generated additional covers and more revenue every year since implementation.”

F&B Manager of the year
Sponsored by Acqua Panna & Sanpellegrino

MONIKA MUSCHKIET
DIRECTOR, SPECIAL EVENTS, ATLANTIS THE PALM
“Monika is the mastermind and the driving force behind the multi-million dirham generating, internationally famous, Sandance music festival, which launched two years ago at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. Over the past 12 months, Monika has not only exceeded the sales target but has also reduced costs due to established best practices and efficient negotiations with suppliers, while maintaining the five-star experience of the beach music festival.”

EMAN ABELA
F&B DIRECTOR, WYNDHAM GRAND REGENCY HOTEL
“Eman introduced a tailored training programme targeted at reducing the hotel’s dependence on hiring casual F&B staff during busy periods. With this initiative he launched an F&B school concept within the hotel which is open to all employees from all the departments who wish to learn the F&B service trade and he personally conducted training sessions to help the employees master these new skills.”

JULIEN BESANCON
CLUSTER F&B MANAGER, HILTON DUBAI JUMEIRAH RESORT & HILTON DUBAI JUMEIRAH RESIDENCES
“Julien introduced the idea of a summer discount booklet to increase covers over low season. The summer booklet includes discounts and offers at most of the outlets. This initiative has proven to be a great success and one that we most certainly will implement again in the coming years.”

FELIX HARTMANN
F&B MANAGER, MINA A’SALAM, MADINAT JUMEIRAH
“He is a key leader of Madinat Jumeirah’s success in various F&B activities all while guiding a large team. Felix’s focus goes beyond front of house, he has a thorough approach and an amazing connection to culinary and stewarding.”

FREDERIC PASCAL HAUC
AREA DIRECTOR OF F&B, PHOENICIA, BEIRUT
“He created the “Live The Experience” paying card, a loyalty programme giving benefits/discounts to local guests, through partnerships with local commerce which grants discounts for our Phoenicia members. This energised the programme and increased revenue by guests visiting our restaurants more frequently, building a strong accurate data base, tracking their and preferences.”

Unsung Hero of the year
Sponsored by Ronai

SUBAIT MOOSA
COFFEE SERVER, CROWNE PLAZA BAHRAIN
“Subait’s great touch of welcoming guests with his warm personality and supporting much repeat business for the hotel is really an example of fantastic work that maybe goes unnoticed too much. An Omani national by birth, he is a home grown master of world-renowned Omani hospitality, however, he considers Bahrain his second home after almost 40 years in the Kingdom. A pillar of the hotel and the front desk team, he is the “grand daddy” of the hotel aged 83 years old but is still filled with the enthusiasm and vitality of a man a quarter of his age. Rather than retire he has chosen to continue to work because of the fire of hospitality that still runs in his blood.”

SAMUEL TAGOE
LIFEGUARD, DOUBLETREEBY HILTON RAS AL KHAIMAH
“One of our big umbrellas in the TreeTop Pool and Restaurant was completely torn because of heavy winds and bad weather and restoring it would have taken a lot of time and surely been a big cost to the hotel. Samuel on his own initiative decided to do the repair and restoration by himself as there is no tailor available. Then since the other umbrellas are also deteriorating, he took on and restored the rest. His great act helped address the issue to a tremendously great extent and in the end it will be a major contribution to the satisfaction and pleasure of guests in the hotel. Moreover, it saved the hotel a large amount of money.”

SHER ANDAZ KHAN
TEAM DRIVER, WALDORF ASTORIA RAS AL KHAIMAH
“Each of us will remember the first arrival to the UAE — it is hot, busy and a certain excitement of a new adventure. Yet, our first impression will largely depend on our arrival experience, shaped by our driver and the pickup from the airport. Sher has been doing this for our pre-opening Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah, for the past six months, for more than 300 of our newly arriving team members coming from over 50 countries. He is a true hotelier, even though his car is not ‘luxury’ he has been naturally caring for each of our team; we call this true Waldorf service. After just six months Sher’s brand new Toyota (he bought this by himself) already counts more than 100,000 kms, all driven for the team!”

MARY JUNE AMORA
HOTEL STAFF NURSE, DOHA MARRIOTT
“April 2013 was an extremely difficult time for Doha Marriott. A fatal bus crash involving the hotel’s staff bus left two associates dead, and 21 injured, including three associates in critical condition and admitted into ICU. After the initial chaos caused by the crash, June visited the associates at the hospital on a daily basis acting as a liaison between the hotel and the hospital. Working extremely long hours and without being asked to by the hotel management, June ensured that each and every surviving associate was taken care of, arranging follow up appointments when necessary, making home visits to the less critically injured associates, and even providing medical care to associates in terms of re-dressing bandages.”

HUBERT SEBASTIEN JOSEPH XAVIER
ROOM SERVICE TEAM LEADER, AL MAHA,A LUXURY COLLECTION, DESERT RESORT AND SPA
“When Hubert was a restaurant server, he enjoyed talking with guests and learning about their preferences. One night he was listening to a vacationing couple tell him about their favourite types of foods. They happened to love fresh mangoes. They also wanted to visit a few good local restaurant before their vacation ended. He immediately checked with the hotel kitchen staff to see if there were any fresh mangoes in stock, and unfortunately they were all out. Before returning to work the next day, he empowered himself to stop at a local grocery store to pick up a few fresh mangoes for the guests. When he got to work, he coordinated with the chef and a room service employee to make a special tray of freshly cut mangoes for the guests. This tray was sent to the room via room service, along with a hand-written note from Hubert.”

GM of the year
Sponsored by catererglobal.com

JÖRG A. HAURI
GENERAL MANAGER, BEACH ROTANA ABU DHABI
“He completed major renovation projects across the hotel to ensure that the hotel stays in line with the new up and coming hotels such as gold leafing of the Grand Lobby dome, refurbishments to Prego’s, Trader Vic’s and Benihana. Managing cost and energy conservation have been a priority as well for the hotel and has achieved notable success with it.”

ANDERS DIMBLAD
AREA GENERAL MANAGER, BANYAN TREE AL WADI & BANYAN TREE RAS AL KHAIMAH BEACH
“During peak timing you will find Anders assisting guests, driving buggies, demonstrating the strength of a leader whilst supporting team members regardless of which day of the week it is.”

RUPPRECHT QUEITSCH
GENERAL MANAGER, JW MARRIOTT MARQUIS DUBAI
“As general manager, Rupprecht represents and directs almost 2000 people, a number that’s still growing. Rupprecht has also led the charge in terms of the hotel’s digital communications, growing the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai’s following across various channels.”

MICHAEL KOTH
GENERAL MANAGER, INTERCONTINENTAL REGENCY HOTEL BAHRAIN
“Michael exceptionally led two hotel operations in challenging situations where safety of employees, guests and property, and brand image were upheld during the 2011 Egypt revolution and 2012 Bahrain unrest.”

HORST WALTHER-JONES
GENERAL MANAGER OF THE YEAR, MOVENPICK HOTEL JUMEIRAH BEACH

“Horst believes in the policy ‘keep the employees happy and they in turn will keep the guests happy’, and in 2012 the hotel constantly sought to improve and enhance the facilities and services provided to employees.”

Hotel Team of the year
Sponsored by IFFCO

JUMEIRAH ZABEEL SARAY

“Since the opening of the resort in Dubai in January 2011, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray’s team of 985 has achieved consistent growth in key figures such as occupancy levels and RevPAR. The hotel’s F&B team manages 12 restaurants, lounges and bars, including the hugely successful Supperclub Dubai and Music Hall, and the high operational standards have led to celebrity chef engagements with the likes of Antonio Carluccio and Eric Lanlard.”

THE RITZ-CARLTON, DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE

“The Ritz-Carlton Dubai International Financial Centre has worked hard to reposition itself as a lifestyle destination as much as a business one. Over the course of the year, the hotel has launched a popular ladies night called Diamonds in the Sky at its newly launched nightspot No.5 Terrace, while its Arabic sushi during Ramadan was the talk of the town.”

PHOENICIA HOTEL

“While the lingering recession in Lebanon did not make life easy for the team at Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut, the hotel found innovative ways to stay competitive. The re-evaluation of business practices led to some major changes at the hotel, including the termination of contracts with outsource companies, encouraging team members to work together while empowering them to solve guest problems by themselves, and upselling services to guests.”

HILTON SHARJAH

“Since its rebranding earlier this year, Hilton Sharjah — which is the first Hilton branded property in the emirate — recorded the highest ever occupancy in the property’s 11 years of operation. The sales and marketing team also changed the bedroom configuration, converting a large number of twin hotel rooms to double hotel rooms, thereby capitalising on previously constrained demand.”

AL MAHA, A LUXURY COLLECTION, DESERT RESORT AND SPA

“As a secluded desert property, Al Maha, A Luxury Collection Desert Resort and Spa continues to be hugely popular for signature events, special occasions and desert retreats.”