St Petersburg, November 2009 – The Grand Hotel Europe, St Petersburg’s oldest luxury hotel, has been named the Leading Luxury Hotel in the world by World Travel Awards – travel industry’s equivalent to the Oscar’s (quote by Wall Street Journal).
The Grand Hotel Europe has added yet another prestigious award to its collection of accolades. World Travel Awards, an international organisation that stimulates innovation and creativity and encourages hotels to strive to provide travellers with the best price-quality ratio, thus facilitating competition in the sphere of tourism all over the world, has declared the Grand Hotel Europe the winner in its key category, “Leading Luxury Hotel in the World.” The awards ceremony took place on 8 November, 2009 in London, on the eve of the World Travel Market.
On 17 October, the Grand Hotel Europe was named “Leading Luxury Hotel in Europe” by the same organisation, as a result of which the hotel was nominated for the world’s top tourism award.
Vise President of Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) and Director of the North-West regional branch of RUTI has congratulated the Grand Hotel Europe and said: ‘I am delighted that St Petersburg hotel is acknowledged as the leading luxury hotel in the world. The Grand Hotel Europe deserves this award the most. I highly respect the active position of hotel management who is always on the move to improve and advance hotel services at the same time preserving the best. This historic hotel is already a symbol of the city which constantly supports various city projects on tourism development. We are partnering with the hotel since a long time and hope for the further continuous cooperation. Congratulations on this world acknowledgement!’
The World Travel Awards were founded in 1993 and are now considered the top accolade with which a tourism business can be rewarded. The association’s jury is made up of professionals from the travel and tourism industry, including from 183,000 tourism organizations, excursion agencies and transport companies from 160 countries.
The Grand Hotel Europe is the first Russian hotel to receive an award in the top category.
Voters are obliged to take into consideration not only their personal experience in working with a specific company, but also factors such as consistently good results, whether the company effectively anticipates the needs of travelers, and a high level of feedback from satisfied customers. World Travel Awards are constantly increasing standards inside the industry, which helps the tourism business to develop and exceed tourists’ expectations. As a result, when planning their trip, many travellers make an effort to choose a company that has been awarded a prize by the organisation.
“Our hotel is a truly historic and cultural landmark of St. Petersburg and Russia, and we work hard to ensure that our guests enjoy a level of comfort and service appropriate to a hotel with such a history,” said Thomas Noll, the Managing Director of the Grand Hotel Europe. “I am happy to see that our clients and partners appreciate our efforts and work aimed at improving the hotel’s infrastructure and perfecting our service standards.
The Grand Hotel Europe has had many awards conferred on it, including such prestigious prizes as the annual Travel + Leisure magazine’s list of the 500 best hotels and resorts in the world, on which the hotel has been featured for five consecutive years; Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2008 & 2009 from Wine Spectator magazine, the most respected American publication devoted to wine; Grand Prix of the Best Hotel in Europe 2008 by Prix Villegiature; an honorary place in Forbes Traveler 400, a list of the best hotels in the world 2008/2009; Best Hotel in Russia 2008 by Afisha World magazine; and in October 2009 the hotel was named the Leading Luxury hotel in Europe by World Travel Awards. This award is particularly important for us. The Grand Hotel Europe has been named the leading luxury hotel in the world. For us, luxury means attention to every detail, it means fulfilling all our promises to our guests, and anticipating their every desire. It is above all a general impression, the ambience of the hotel, and we are proud that our efforts have been recognized with such an award.
