Preferred Hotels & Resorts Announces 2018 Awards Of Excellence

Recipients Honored at the 2018 Preferred Global Conference in San Diego

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA: May 10, 2018 – Preferred Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest independent hotel brand, is pleased to announce the winners of its 2018 Preferred Awards of Excellence and GIFTTS Pineapple Award initiatives. With the luxury hospitality company celebrating its 50th anniversary milestone this year, these awards come at an exciting time in Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ history and signal the brand’s continued commitment to celebrating the remarkable achievements of its member hotels.

Recognizing member hotels that have demonstrated excellence in their commitment to delivering inspiring experiences to their guests and local communities, the awards were presented at the closing ceremony of the largest Preferred Global Conference in history, when nearly 400 hospitality industry leaders, renowned speakers, media, and independent hoteliers from around the world gathered at Pendry San Diego from April 30-May 4, 2018.

“It is an incredible honor to celebrate these partners for their tremendous leadership and outstanding dedication to inspiring travel by delivering the highest quality experiences in an authentic way,” said CEO Lindsey Ueberroth. “These winners, along with every other member hotel that was nominated, exemplify the core of hospitality and prove that every effort can have a big impact on our industry’s footprint.”

2018 Preferred Awards of Excellence
The Preferred Awards of Excellence recognize partners across the company’s worldwide network that exemplify excellence within the Preferred Hotels & Resorts brand promise and inspire the global travel community to pursue #ThePreferredLife. Spanning from Best New Hotel of the Year to the Lifetime Achievement Award, the following member properties and hoteliers within the Preferred Hotels & Resorts were honored this year:

• Hotel of the Year – Overall:
  • Finca Cortesín Hotel, Golf & Spa (Casares, Spain)

• Best New Hotel of the Year (joined the brand within the past 12 months):
  • Myconian Villa Collection (Mykonos, Greece)

• Hotelier of the Year:
  • Prem Devadas, President, Salamander Hotels & Resorts

• Hotel of the Year – United States/Canada:
  • Boston Harbor Hotel (Boston, Massachusetts)

• Hotel of the Year – Latin America/Caribbean:
  • NIZUC Resort & Spa (Cancun, Mexico)

• Hotel of the Year – Europe:
  • Pulitzer Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

• Hotel of the Year – Asia Pacific:
  • The Capitol Hotel Tokyu (Tokyo, Japan)

• Hotel of the Year – India, Middle East, and Africa:
  • The Leela Palace Bengaluru (Bengaluru, India)

• #ThePreferredLife Hotel of the Year:
  • Montage Palmetto Bluff (Bluffton, South Carolina)

• #ThePreferredLife Hotel Group of the Year:
  • Swire Hotels

• I Prefer Hotel of the Year:
  • Hotel Metropole Genève (Geneva, Switzerland)

• Outstanding New Hotel Developer:
  • Arno Nicolussi Moretto, Cluster General Manager of Greenland Hongqiao World Center Hotels (for Primus Hotels in Shanghai, China)

• • Lifetime Achievement Award:
    • Onno Poortier, Owner’s Representative and Advisor, The Alpina Gstaad (Switzerland), and Chairman and CEO, NOW Transforming Hospitality GmbH
    • Robert Cornell, Former Senior Vice President of Development, Preferred Hotels & Resorts
    • Dan Nakamura, Former Chairman of Royal Park Hotel and Current President, Travel Journal Educational Foundation, Trajal Hospitality & Tourism College

To qualify for nomination, hotels were required to rank among the top in their region as part of the bespoke Preferred Hotels & Resorts Integrated Quality Assurance program – which takes into account the results of a professional on-site inspection and real-time guest feedback from the world’s top consumer review sites – and actively demonstrate strong engagement in their partnership with the brand. From the pool of qualified hotels, the company’s team of regional leaders created a shortlist of nominees across the seven categories. The awards committee, chaired by the Ueberroth Family, selected the winners.

GIFTTS Pineapple Award Winners
At each Global Conference, Preferred Hotels & Resorts also recognizes member hotels that take the meaning of genuine hospitality beyond their front doors by showcasing an outstanding commitment to philanthropy, community, sustainability, and education as part of its GIFTTS (Great Initiatives for Today’s [Tomorrow’s] Society) program. With over 118 properties nominated in 2018 for their exemplary efforts in the four GIFTTS categories, the outstanding winners of the ninth annual GIFTTS Pineapple Awards include the following properties:

• • • Overall Corporate Entity Winner – Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts
    • Overall Hotel Winner – Wynn and Encore Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada)
    • Philanthropy Winner – NJV Athens Plaza Hotel (Athens, Greece)
    • Sustainability Winner – Ojai Valley Inn (Ojai, California)
    • Education Winner – Inn by the Sea (Cape Elizabeth, Maine)
    • Community Service Winner – Royal Lancaster London (London, United Kingdom)

For more information on GIFFTS, visit www.preferredhotels.com/giftts.