Join the elite
Receiving peer recognition is always flattering, and with the Caterer & Hotelkeeper Hotelier of the Year award, sponsored by Torres wines, not only is the judging panel composed of leading figures from the industry but very often nominees are put forward by fellow hoteliers, so the recipient gets double the compliment.
"Anyone who says they don't want to win is either lying or a fool," says Terry Holmes, executive director of London's Stafford hotel and the recipient of the award in 1985.
Nominations for the 1996 Hotelier of the Year award can be received from any Caterer & Hotelkeeper reader, as well as guests, employees or rival hoteliers - so long as they arrive by the closing date of 27 September.
The award is sponsored this year by wine producer Torres. It is Spain's largest independently owned wine company and has been making wine in the Catalan region since the 17th century. The company has always believed in the importance of hotels and restaurants as a shop window for its products. The 1996 award winner will receive a silver trophy modelled on a 16th-century flagon found on Torres's Milmanda vineyard estate.
So what qualities will this year's winner embody? "The Hotelier of the Year isn't just a text-book character," explains Holmes. "He or she must be someone who takes chances. If you don't take chances you don't know what you're going to achieve. Bobby Moore used to say, ‘you'll always miss 100% of the chances you never take'."
Holmes knows what he is talking about. As well as being the third winner of Caterer's annual award, he has also sat on the judging panel. Other qualities he expects to see are: dedication to the industry ("the winner will be someone who is going to stay in the profession"); attention to detail; a sense of humour; a willingness to impart knowledge to other members of staff; and a good business track record.
He or she must also have the personal touch with guests. As Grete Hobbs, proprietor of Inverlochy Castle, Fort William, Highlands, and another former Hotelier of the Year and award judge, says: "You must treat a guest as you would want to be treated."
The winner must combine financial, marketing and human resource skills with a people-orientated, outgoing personality. And, for good measure, he or she must command respect both within the trade and the business world at large.
A tall order? Perhaps. But then whoever walks off with this year's title is joining an illustrious band who have become recognised ambassadors for the industry. People such as the Savoy hotel's Ramón Pajares - the second recipient of the award - and his protégé Ricci Obertelli, manager of the Dorchester, who was last year's Hotelier of the Year.
Obertelli began his career in the 1960s as a management trainee with the Savoy Group. He moved on to the Dorchester in 1986 as number two to Seamus McManus, taking over as director and general manager in 1988. Under Obertelli's management, the hotel has attained some of the highest occupancy and achieved room rates in London.
"Winning the award was an ambition I set myself when I first became general manager," Obertelli admits. "Not only is it recognition by your peers of having made a mark on the hotel business, but it is recognition for the hotel team."
Obertelli says the award gave him confidence to express his opinions on industry concerns. But the greatest pleasure in his year-long reign has been the chance to "talk with young people".
He is a firm believer that there should be a continued interest from the Government in the hotel industry so that young people from the UK continue to be attracted to the profession: "We need more funds to promote the industry abroad through organisations such as the British Tourist Authority."
As far as Obertelli is concerned, the award has kept him alert during the past 12 months. "You almost have to be better than before - the pressure of recognition certainly brings you right back down to earth the day after winning."
And all eyes will be on him and his banqueting team at the 1996 awards luncheon, because the Dorchester is hosting the event.
