Jumeirah Beach Hotel wins Hotelier top team award

The team at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai was named top hotel team of the year at last night's Hotelier Middle East Awards - winning one of the night's biggest awards.

As many as 30 of some of the region's most renowned hotels nominated their teams for the award this year - designed to recognise the entire team working to ensure their hotel is seen as one of the best in the Middle East.

After being awarded the runners up prize last year, the judges decided that Jumeirah Beach Hotel deserved the top spot this year, commenting that "this team just keeps getting better".

Judges praised initiatives such as the launch of an in-house culinary school; creation of an organic farm; a summer marketing campaign; launch of a new Ramadan tent; new room refurbishment; new prayer room; business centre, plus numerous financial achievements.

They added that the way the hotel staff came together to prepare the most thorough nomination ever received was testament to the team ethic of the staff.

Margaret Paul, general manager of Jumeirah Beach Hotel said her team stood out above the rest for being "dedicated and committed" and for the way the team "pulled together across all departments."

Asked how she motivates her staff, Paul said: "I was told that you can't motivate people – you just have to provide a motivational environment for them to work in so that’s what we try very hard to do as a senior team.

"Jumeirah Beach is a very very special place- it’s the flagship hotel in our portfolio and its renowned for its hospitality, it's friendliness and for the colleagues who have served with us over the 14 years at the hotel so we have a very special team of people at the hotel."

Paul said she was especially proud of seeing her staff develop and grow with the group: "Seeing people within my team grow and develop and progress within the industry and within the Jumeirah Group make me proud. I've got many examples of people who I have seen grow during the years I have been with the company and develop and become senior leaders and that gives me a huge amount of joy and satisfaction." 
 

The teams at Rosewood Corniche Hotel in Jeddah and Hilton Dubai Jumeirah were both highly commended for this award.