Celebrating NI Hotels Federation Housekeeping Awards

Tara Lodge, Belfast and Holiday Inn Express, Belfast have ‘swept’ to victory at the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation Housekeeping Awards 2017 which took place last week. This is a remarkable achievement for Tara Lodge who have retained the title for a third year.

Tara Lodge, Belfast were winners in the under 90-bedroom category with joint runner up awards going to The Bushmills Inn Hotel & Restaurant and Belmore Court and Motel. In the over 90-bedroom category, the recently extended and refurbished Holiday Express, Belfast took the title with the runner named as Ibis, Belfast City Centre. Both hotels are owned and operated by the Andras House Group.

Congratulating the winners and the runners up Gavin Carroll, Vice-President of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation said:

“This is a great result for all the winners. This competition is now eight years old and has gone from strength to strength.  One of the main reasons that we launched the initiative was to recognise the key role housekeeping plays in a successful hotel. We were delighted to receive an exceptional number of entries this year and to be able to reward the winning hotels. It is a very strong performance by Tara Lodge who have taken the title for the last three years and a real exemplar for the smaller hotel category. Andras House will also be delighted to have the winner, Holiday Inn Express, Belfast  and the runner up, Ibis, Belfast City Centre, in the over 90-bedroom category.”

The competition is designed to highlight housekeeping as a profession and to showcase the excellent staff in hotels. Gavin adds:

“It is a real commitment to enter and allow yourself to be judged in a competition of this nature, particularly as contestants underwent a series of somewhat gruelling tasks. These included a rogue room inspection, Olympic standard hoovering and the creation of an Easter themed tea tray. All shortlisted finalists received a surprise on-site inspection as part of the competition. This year’s judges commented on the exceptionally high levels of professionalism, adding that standards have risen considerably since we started the competition in 2010.”

Thanking sponsors and judges, Janice Gault, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation says:

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the judges who gave up their valuable time to participate in the various stages of the competition.  Also, I want to recognise the support we received from a number of sponsors including Tourism Northern Ireland, Bunzl Rafferty Hospitality, Robinson Services, Ecolab and King Koil. Without their assistance staging this event would not be possible.”

WINNERS

90 Rooms & Under

Winner- Tara Lodge, Belfast

Joint Runners-up – Belmore Court & Motel, Enniskillen, and The Bushmills Inn, Bushmills

90 Rooms & Over

Winner- Holiday Inn Express, Belfast

Runner-up – Ibis, Belfast City Centre