Hotelier Awards 2017 shortlist: Concierge/Guest Services Person

Six shortlisted individuals in the Concierge/Guest Services Person of the Year category for the 2017 edition of the Hotelier Middle East Awards are now revealed.

If you'd like to meet last year's winners of all categories, click here to find out more...

Click through to find out who has been shortlisted this year... and take a look at last year's event in the video below!

Gopi Joghee, director of front office, The Address Dubai Marina

Gopi Joghee initiated and activated an incentive based room upsell programme for all the Address hotels in 2016, and has the highest check-in / check-out score within Emaar Hospitality Group in the guest survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates in 2016. He is also responsible for introducing the Milestone guest programme to celebrate and recognise regular guest and promoting loyalty. This has resulted in a higher number of repeat guests than ever before.

Hossam El Attia, duty manager, Crowne Plaza Kuwait Al Thuraya City

Hossam El Attia is the duty manager at the Crowne Plaza Kuwait Al Thuraya City and is on his path to becoming an assistant front office manager. He has been hailed as the upselling champion in the front office, and constantly works on training his teammates through coaching sessions and simplifying the basics of revenue management. He is also responsible for directing and leading the team during sudden layovers of airline passengers.

Madhu Govind Naik, assistant head concierge, Crowne Plaza Bahrain

Madhu Govind Naik joined the Crowne Plaza Bahrain as a housekeeping room attendant in 1979. He transferred to the front office as bellboy until 1992 and moved up to become a bell captain. He was promoted to assistant head concierge in 2013. In his 38 years of service at the Crowne Plaza in Bahrain, Madhu has been able to keep up a high level of service and understanding of guest needs. He has year on year developed his skills to remain updated and current in all matters relevant to his job and cascade that information to his team members. 

Mohammad Kaddoura, director of rooms, The H Dubai

Set to become one of the company’s GMs, Emirati Mohammad Kaddoura has worked with The H Dubai since 2012. He became director of rooms two years ago - overseeing the front office, concierge, valet, guest services and housekeeping functions. In one year, he has played a pivotal role in bringing the hotel’s TripAdvisor score up from 48 to 17, and has been instrumental in improving staff satisfaction. Kaddoura helped initiate upselling opportunities to achieve a substantial amount of additional revenue in 2017 compared to the same time period in 2016.

Peter Adel, front office supervisor, Fairmont Dubai

Peter Adel is called by the colleagues “The Fairmont kid”, because of his unconditional loyalty to Fairmont for the past eight years. He started in the front office department and starting as a telephone operator in 2014, followed by a promotion to a front office agent role after 11 months. Being recognised as the first and only departmental trainer only six months from joining due to his positive impact on colleagues and outstanding upselling skills, he was promoted in 2016 to a front desk supervisor, ultimately striving towards a director of sales and marketing role.

Stella Pinto, front office manager, Crowne Plaza Dubai - Deira

Stella Pinto has been with the Crowne Plaza Dubai Deira in 2011. Her achievements in the last 12 months were focused on guest experience, revenue generation & employee engagement. Her efforts with upselling and focus on loyalty have resulted in the hotel being one of the top properties in the region in enrolling guests to its loyalty programme - all of which have positively contributed to driving room and F&B revenue.