The region’s hospitality glitterati turned out on Thursday night at Waldorf Astoria the Palm to support and applaud those up for various Hotel Awards this year.
This year’s big winner, scooping the award for Best Middle East Hotel 2015, was 5-star Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa. The other hotel up for the award was Intercontinental Dubai Festival City, located near Dubai Creek.
Although Accor operates many rooms in the region, the Bahrain property is their only Sea & Spa and has 262 rooms and 28 suites.
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Basel Quabouq, director of marketing and guest experiences at the winning property, said: “We are very proud to win the coveted Best Hotel award at the 2015 Middle East Hotel Awards. We have excellent ambassadors -- our staff -- and a unique facility with our seawater spa. We hope that our hotel and the other unique attractions of the lovely island of Bahrain will be further put on the map with this new honour.”
Hotel Awards Judge Steven Charlton, Principal Managing Director at Perkins+Will said of the win: “This hotel is setting standards for the hospitality industry in Bahrain.”
Over 400 hoteliers, press and guests gathered to hear the winners for this year’s fifth annual Hotel Awards, which received its highest number of entries this year.
Judges reported particular surges in interest from hotels in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and a higher level of applicants from Saudi Arabia.
Four new categories were added for 2015 including: Best Smart Hotel, won by the boutique SUBA Hotel in Dubai; Best Sustainable Hotel, won by the Banyan Tree Al Wadi in Ras al Khaimah; Best Hotel Refurbishment, won by the Manzil Downtown Dubai; and Best Marketing Promotions, won by Media One Hotel, Dubai.
The most popular category for this year’s awards was Best Hotel Restaurant, which was won by Gordon Ramsay at the St. Regis Doha, which was shortlisted amongst nine other hotel restaurants.
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