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Regional Centres Blitz Choice Awards
Hotels in Warrnambool, Tamworth and Mackay have taken out Choice Hotels Australasia’s (CHA) top accolades at the group’s Annual Awards of Excellence, overshadowing their big city counterparts.
Held at the Perth Convention Centre on Wednesday August 30 and presented by CHA Managing Director David Bayes, the awards provided a fitting gala finale to CHA’s Annual Conference.
Warrnambool’s Comfort Inn on Raglan (Vic) was named best hotel in the Comfort category, Quality Hotel Powerhouse (NSW) in Tamworth won the Quality category and Clarion Hotel Mackay Marina (Qld) was awarded best Clarion property.
Mr Bayes said more than 200 delegates from the group’s 275 properties throughout Australasia attended the awards: “These finalists represent the best of the best in terms of CHA’s values and commitment to service and I am proud to lead this dynamic, professional and successful group.”
Highly commended in the Comfort category were Brisbane’s Comfort Inn & Suites Robertson Gardens, Wodonga’s Comfort Inn & Suites Blazing Stump, Ballina’s Comfort Inn All Seasons, Toowoomba’s Comfort Inn Glenfield, Port Augusta’s Comfort Inn Port Augusta, Townsville’s Comfort Inn Robert Towns and Parkes’ Comfort Inn Parkes International and New Zealand’s Comfort Hotel Wellington.
Highly commended in the Quality category were Newcastle’s Quality Hotel Noah’s on the Beach, Quality Hotel Sheridan Plaza in Cairns, Coffs Harbour’s Quality Inn City Centre, Toowoomba’s Quality Hotel Burke and Wills and Townsville’s Quality Hotel Southbank. Highly commended for Clarion was Clarion Hotel on Canterbury in Forest Hill, Victoria.
Each of the winning hotels was judged on branding, marketing, in-room amenities, cleanliness, franchisee relations, guest satisfaction, and training development.
A new category this year was the Champion of Choice Award which was presented to 20 outstanding individuals from various Quality, Comfort and Clarion properties throughout Australia and New Zealand (full details over page). The award recognises exceptional service and individual effort and commitment to building the CHA brand.
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