West Coast country hotel wins national hospitality awards

Media release from Hospitality NZ

West Coast country hotel wins accolade at national hospitality awards

A newly refurbished pub in one of the most remote regions of New Zealand has won a top accolade at this year’s Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence.

The Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence were announced in Queenstown last night - with the Theatre Royal Hotel Kumara on the West Coast taking out the Best New/Redeveloped Accommodation Hotel category.

Winners were announced in 16 categories - encompassing a vast geographic spread of hospitality businesses throughout the country.

Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson said that from an industry perspective, it was extremely encouraging to see the list of winners spread so broadly across New Zealand – including the remote West Coast settlement of Kumara.

“We have award winners in the big cities, the provincial centres, and in remote rural locations. From a consumer’s point of view that shows they can take confidence in the quality of hospitality establishments accessible virtually anywhere in New Zealand – and in some places it creates the enjoyable dilemma of just where to stay or visit,” Mr Robertson said.

“In coming up with a total makeover of an existing premise from literally the foundations up, the Theatre Royal Hotel paid homage to its heritage roots, and throughout its rebuild process, embraced its links to the past.

“That, blended with a modern aesthetics and design style, saw the rebirth of a classic accommodation hotel, where attention to detail was paramount in ultimately supporting greater levels of customer satisfaction.”

Mr Robertson said the Theatre Royal Hotel’s owners had invested a considerable amount of capital in upgrading the property - but not before they spent a considerable amount of time and effort researching the wants and needs of their guests.

“As a result, the new Theatre Royal Hotel has brought about a 2013 aura of class to its heritage building,” he said.

Entrants into the Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence were judged over a six week period by a panel of independent industry professionals who assess every competitor on a range of commercial and operational criteria – including staff training and human resources, customer service, marketing and promotional activities, and the demonstration of business growth.

For more information go to www.hospitalitynz.org.nz/Events/Awards for Excellence

ENDS

© Scoop Media