/24-7PressRelease/ - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, September 18, 2008 - The Gold Coast's extravagantly luxurious Palazzo Versace (Queesland), Sydney's superbly positioned Shangri-La Hotel (New South Wales) and Melbourne's exquisite Crown Towers (Victoria) emerged as winners in a far-reaching search for the Top Three Hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
The Australian trio won the HotelClub Awards' premier accolade after some 70,000 consumers globally cast 120,000 votes.
Announcing winners in front of 300 hundred hospitality industry representatives at Sydney's Entertainment Quarter on 10 September, Managing Director of HotelClub, Ms Chloe Lim, said that the awards captured consumer opinion on achievement of exceptional standards.
"These awards are very much about voice-of-the-people and empowering consumer choice," she said. "For hoteliers they provide valuable insight into the feelings of consumers worldwide."
As well as recognising the Top Three in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, voters selected the Top Three in each State and Territory of Australia, the Top Four in New Zealand (two North and two South Island) and the Top Two in the Pacific Islands.
Fiji's Westin Denarau Island Resort and French Polynesia's Pearl Beach Resort and Spa on Bora Bora island were the pick of the Pacific. In New Zealand, Auckland's Skycity and Wellington's InterContinental won North Island honours and Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa and the Heritage Christchurch were the South Island's best.
One of the most prestigious categories, the Best Service for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, was won by the Outrigger on the Lagoon on Fiji's Coral Coast.
The survey received support from WAYN.com (Where Are You Now?) with approximately 17,000 survey results collected through the popular travel and lifestyle social networking community. WAYN.com's global member base was able to interact with a dynamic Hotelclub profile which acted as a viral marketing arm for the campaign.
2008 HotelClub Awards - Winners
Top 3 Hotels in Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands
Palazzo Versace Gold Coast, Queensland
Shangri-La Hotel Sydney, NSW
Crown Towers Melbourne, Victoria
Top 3 Hotels in NSW
Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney Sydney, NSW
Four Seasons Hotel Sydney Sydney, NSW
Lilianfels Blue Mountains Hotel Blue Mountains, NSW
Top Hotel in ACT
Hyatt Hotel Canberra Canberra, ACT
Top 3 Hotels in WA
Hyatt Regency Perth Perth, WA
Esplanade Hotel Fremantle Fremantle, WA
Cable Beach Club Resort Broome, WA
Top 3 Hotels in Victoria
Crown Towers Melbourne, Victoria
The Hotel Windsor Melbourne, Victoria
Four Points by Sheraton Geelong Geelong, Victoria
Top 3 Hotels in South Australia
Stamford Grand Adelaide Adelaide
Majestic Roof Garden Hotel Adelaide
Kangaroo Island Lodge Kangaroo Island
Top 2 Hotels in the Northern Territory
Sails in the Desert Hotel Ayers Rock, Northern Territory
Skycity Darwin Darwin, Northern Territory
Top 2 Hotels in Tasmania
Wrest Point Hobart, Tasmania
Cradle Mountain Lodge Via Sheffield, Tasmania
Top 3 Hotels in Queensland
Palazzo Versace Gold Coast, Queensland
Sheraton Mirage Resort
& Spa Port Douglas Queensland
Hotel Sofitel Brisbane Brisbane, Queensland
Top 2 Hotels in New Zealand - North Island
Skycity Auckland Auckland
InterContinental Wellington
Top 2 Hotels in New Zealand - South Island
Heritage Christchurch Christchurch
Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa Queenstown,
Top 2 Hotels in the Pacific Islands
Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa Denarau Island
Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort & Spa Bora Bora Island, French Polynesia
Best 2 Hotel Hotels
Accor Best Global Chain
Mirvac Hotels and Resorts Best Regional Chain
Best Service Hotel
Outrigger on the Lagoon Fiji Coral Coast, Fiji
Best Affordable Hotel
Quality Hotel Cambridge Sydney, NSW
Best Apartment Group
Medina Apartment Hotels - Toga Hospitality
Best Boutique Hotel Club
Observatory Hotel Sydney, NSW
Best Hotel Bar
Star City Hotel Sydney, NSW
Best New Property
Miller Apartments Adelaide, SA
Journalists' Choice
Palazzo Versace Gold Coast, Queensland
Need to Know.....
• 2008 HotelClub Award winners' were announced in front of 300 travel industry representatives on Wednesday 10 September at Hoyts Cinema at the Entertainment Quarter, Sydney, in a ceremony mc'd by media personality and television presenter Lochie Daddo
• The HotelClub Awards are presented by HotelClub - operator of HotelClub.com - with key partners Where Are You Now? (www.wayn.com - a social networking website with a goal to unite travellers from around the world) and Insight Guides.
• The HotelClub Awards are driven by travellers with first hand experience and are voted upon by consumers world-wide who select their choice of best hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
• The Awards were first presented in 2006
Past Winners Top 3 Hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
2006
Palazzo Versace, Gold Coast, Queensland
Hayman Island Resort, Queensland
Crown Towers, Melbourne, Victoria
2007
Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort and Spa, Queensland
Hilton Sydney, NSW
Crown Towers Hotel, Melbourne
2008
Palazzo Versace, Gold Coast, Queensland
Shangri-La Sydney, NSW
Crown Towers, Melbourne, Victoria
In 2008 ...
• 5,500 hotels received votes
• Globally 120,00 votes were received
• 70,000 people voted
• 300 hotels were shortlisted in the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island region based on the total number of votes received
Winner Selection
Winners were selected through an online consumer survey hosted by HotelClub, in conjunction with Where Are You Now? (WAYN.com) and Insight Guides.
Other survey partners who participated include Harvey World Travel, Virgin Blue, Budget Rent A Car, Austereo Network, Postcards (Channel 9) and Village Roadshow.
Nominated hotels were segregated by geographical locations according to the award categories. The top hotels in each category were awarded based on scoring a minimum number of votes and scoring best against the category criteria.
Consumers were asked to nominate the hotels using a free text survey. Thereafter, each consumer would rate the hotel nominated, based on the following criteria: ambience, rooms, cleanliness, location, service, family friendliness, business facilities, restaurant and bar facilities, and value for money.
Each criterion was rated based on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 equalling the best).
Hotels were ranked on ambience, service, business facilities, family friendliness, cleanliness, restaurant facilities, bar, rooms and location.
All finalists/winning hotels are selected based on an online consumer survey hosted by HotelClub.com and the award partners. Finalists/winning hotels do not need to be a current HotelClub partner to be included in the hotel nominations. An independent process based on consumer votes determined the nominations.
HotelClub Award Global Partners
About http://www.wayn.com
WAYN.com (Where Are You Now?) is the world's largest travel and lifestyle focused social networking community website. The site operates in 193 countries and membership has grown from 45,000 users in March 2005 to over 12 million today. WAYN.com allows its members to keep track of their friends' whereabouts and make new friends based on where they are now, where they have been and where they're going. Top services on WAYN.com include travel guide and trip planning tools, unlimited photo and video storage; interaction tools such as email, SMS and instant messenger, forums and travel related tools and products.
Insight Guides
Insight Publications and HotelClub.com, partnered together in 2003 to produce the first consumer review driven 'Asia's Best Hotels & Resorts' Guidebook. The partnership has continued to have a 2nd edition published in 2005, 'Australia and New Zealand's Best Hotels and Resorts (including Pacific Islands) and 'Best Hotels Great Britain and Ireland.
Insight Guides, published by APA Publications, are the world's largest collection of visual travel guides with over 200 guides. The series, which was established in 1970, is designed both as a fascinating background read and an essential on-the-spot reference to all aspects of a destination. Insight Guides are distinctive because they are written by local specialists. This unique local knowledge combined with both in-depth treatment of the history, culture and places, and photography that sets them apart from other guides on the market, means they appeal equally to armchair travellers and dedicated tourists alike.
About HotelClub - http://www.hotelclub.com
HotelClub is a global accommodation specialist operating the following websites: HotelClub.com - bookings up to 12 months in advance and RatesToGo.com - bookings up to 28 days in advance. HotelClub offers users the choice of over 45,000 hotels in over 120 countries worldwide. HotelClub is available in fourteen languages - Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Thai. HotelClub is truly global offering its customers access through country specific websites. HotelClub is part of Orbitz Worldwide.
For full media kit or images please contact:
Liz Herbert or Jenny Muir, Primary Communication - Tel - +61 2 9212 3888
Jenny mobile + 61 415 401 200 / Liz mobile + 61 407 234 221
jmuir@primary-pr.com / lherbert@primary-pr.com
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