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Thursday, 18 October 2012 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Adding yet another prestigious accolade to its impressive list of achievements, the Maalu Maalu Resort and Spa was named the ‘Best New Luxury Hotel’ in Sri Lanka at the 2012 World Luxury Hotel Awards held in Kuala Lumpur on 13 October.
Resort Chairman Chandra Wickramasinghe received the trophy at the glitzy gala ceremony. The award highlights Maalu Maalu’s aim to provide and maintain excellent service and committed quality customer care. In the current context, luxury is not merely about generating tangible products, it’s about how a hotel combines simplicity in design with modern amenities together with superiority in service, which is what the resort delivers to its perceptive customers.
Growing numbers of luxury travellers around the world seeking excellent value, impeccable service and the highest quality are now making a point of checking to see who has won a World Luxury Hotel Award before making their own holiday choice, making this award an important differentiator amongst up-market travellers. It is also a vital accomplishment for Maalu Maalu as the Sri Lankan tourism industry aims to market itself to a high-end clientele.
In addition to this award, Maalu Maalu has been attracting international acknowledgment right from its inception. In its first year of operation, the resort was listed among the top 100 hotels in the world in the Sunday Times Traveller UK. Shortly after that, popular travel website TripAdvisor.com awarded the resort the Certificate of Excellence 2012, in recognition of the outstanding traveller reviews it had received on their site.
The World Luxury Hotel Awards is held annually and is the most prestigious and exclusive award ceremony the hotel industry has to offer, highlighting some of the world’s most popular hotels, resorts, lodges and private islands. This year, over 1,000 such establishments were nominated by guests, tour operators and independent travel consultants to receive recognition for service excellence and were picked by industry experts and guests who have stayed at these hotels.
“Our belief is that service excellence is the most critical factor in a hotel’s measure as a luxury hotel and that winning a World Luxury Hotel Award based on this factor would enhance performance levels if industry peers can be judged against other major players in the field,” stated Marinique de Wet, Director of the World Luxury Hotel Awards at this year’s ceremony. It was also noted that these properties have overcome challenges in 2012, by turning them into opportunities and have exceeded the expectations of their discerning guests.
“We can always learn from one another and be inspired to greater levels of excellence meaning exceeding customer’s expectations and paying attention to detail. There are quite obvious characteristics that differentiate outstanding service orientated hotels from mediocre ones. You can design, create and build the most wonderful place in the world but it takes people to make the dream a reality,” she added.
Hotels were recognised on a country, continent and global basis and awards were presented to hotels and hotel groups from Australia to Zambia, complimenting leading hotel groups such as Swissôtel, Meritus Hotels and Resorts, Shangri-La, Pan Pacific, Fairmont, Sheraton, Dusit International and the Westin Hotels and Resorts amongst others.
