The Leading Hotels of the World Names Six 2015 Award Honorees at Its 2015 Annual Convention

The Leading Hotels of the World hosted its 2015 Annual Convention for its more than 400 uncommon luxury member hotels, in Lausanne, Switzerland, from November 22 to 24. Each year, the organization honors and celebrates the success of the hoteliers and hotels within the collection. The award ceremony, held at Leading Hotel, Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, recognized six member hotels and hoteliers for their unrelenting commitment to creating happy guests, passion for delivering remarkably uncommon experiences and exemplary leadership in and contribution to the art of hospitality.

“The Leading Hotels of the World Awards capture and reflect the essence of our company’s collaborative culture, and commend the commitment and success of our hoteliers,” said Ted Teng, President and CEO, The Leading Hotels of the World. “We are thrilled to present these awards to the hotels and hoteliers for their outstanding achievement.”

2015 Leading Hotels Award Honorees

The sixth annual Leading Legends Award was presented to two honorees, Ernst A. Scherz of Gstaad Palace, Palacestrasse, Switzerland and Jean Jacques Gauer of Lausanne Palace & Spa, Lausanne, Switzerland. With nearly four decades between the two as Leading Hotels chairman of the Executive Committee, both were recognized for their exceptional contributions to the preservation and advancement of independent luxury hotel-keeping – and specifically for their impact on the growth and strength of the Leading Hotels organization.

Member of the Year honors a hotel that has demonstrated extraordinary support of, and engagement with the Leading Hotels organization and its programs. Grace Bay Club in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, was the winner for 2015.

The New Member of the Year Award recognizes a new hotel for being the most committed to the Leading Hotels membership through its engagement with the brand and its dedication to establishing and maintaining exceptional quality scores. The inaugural winner was the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The Remarkably Uncommon Award recognizes a member hotel for creating story-worthy guest experiences through innovative service and creative team engagement. With one of Ireland’s largest private collections of art, with most pieces by 19th and 20th century Irish artists, The Merrion in Dublin provides guests with unique experiences created around the collection, to give visitors a distinctive sense of place.

The Leaders Club Collaboration Award acknowledges a hotel for its outstanding commitment, creativity and engagement with the Leaders Club Program. For pioneering best practices involving Leaders Club and bringing the Leaders Club experience to life for its guests, The Ritz London was named the winner for 2015.

The Happy Guest Award, recognizing a hotel for providing the greatest commitment to the guest experience, based upon the hotel’s latest quality score and Leaders Club feedback from the previous year. The latest winner was Baur au Lac in Zurich, Switzerland.

Each hotel recipient received a crystal trophy from Tiffany & Co. and the hoteliers received an elegant, inscribed wristwatch by Blancpain. The world’s oldest watch brand, Blancpain has participated in the company’s annual general assembly since 2005, providing the timepieces presented to the winners of the member recognition awards.

The Annual Convention is a yearly assembly of owners, managing directors, general managers and executives from world’s finest hotels, and resorts. This year, the more than 200 hoteliers who were in attendance were welcomed by Mr. Andrea Kracht, chairman of Leading Hotels and owner of the Baur au Lac in Zurich, Switzerland, and they were hosted in the city’s two Leading Hotels: Lausanne Palace & Spa – which is marking its centennial, and Beau-Rivage Palace. The theme this year was “Leadership through Learning,” from perspectives ranging from the implications of big data, to reimagining the food and beverage experience, to examining the characteristics of the curious traveler.