Park Hyatt's Nichola Roche bags spa award

Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Villas spa manager Nichola Roche was crowned Spa Person of the Year at the Hotelier Middle East Awards 2012 presented by Du.

The judges said they were looking for a spa professional dedicated to the business of wellness, whether at therapist or manager level.

“Nichola stood out as the clear winner in this category, impressing all the judges with the creation —from scratch and without consultants —of Park Hyatt’s Atarmia Spa name, concept and menu,” the judges said.

Since opening the spa last year, Roche has continued to innovate, extending the range of services in order to ultimately offer ‘spa-cations’.

“Nichola has also continued to fund her own development, honing her skills as a naturopath with The School of Natural Medicine in Colorado,” the judges added.

This year’s competition was a tough one and the judges said the ability to develop not only their own skills, but also to contribute to the glowing reputation of the region’s spa industry, shone through among all of this year’s finalists.

On collecting her award at the glittering 1920's-themed bash, Nicola said: "I never expected this. Im really overwhelmed. It's amazing to win."

She put the achievement down to top-notch customer service. "Everybody nowadays makes amazing spas – in the five-star hotels there isn’t one spa that isn’t amazing so it's about the product you deliver, the feelings that you give to the guest and the guest service because that’s what people remember when they leave."

Shylaja Pillai, spa manager, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates was highly commended in this category.

The Hotelier Middle East Awards 2012 took place on October 31 at The Ritz-Carlton DIFC, in Dubai.