2017 MEMBERS PACKSecret Bay, Dominica

WELCOMEOur member hotels and private villas are personally visited and evaluated by our team, ensuring that all properties are capable of transporting

their guests into a novel world through the history of the location, their culture and their own stylistic flair. Members compete in an internationally-recognised awards and are showcased to a global audience through our publication and website.

We invite you to join the finest and most curious collection of unique hotels and private villas in the world.

ENTRY PACKAGES

Drake Bay Getaway Resort, Costa Rica

STANDARD MEMBERSHIP£590 • €740 • $790

STANDARD PLUS£990 • €1,240 • $1,320

GOLD MEMBERSHIP£1,400 • €1,750 • $1,860

PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP£1,990 • €2,440 • $2,580

• Awards entry• Online Hotel Profile Page

• Two award category entries• Online Hotel Profile Page

• Two award category entries• Two-page feature article in book• Online Hotel Profile Page

• Three award category entries• Four-page feature article in book• Online Hotel Profile Page

Our annual Awards ceremony brings together over 250 individuals from the luxury boutique hotel sector, including key industry insiders, hotel owners, managers, PR and marketing delegates, media partners and associated press.

The ceremony is held in London each year, with previous ceremony locations including The St James Hotel & Club, The Hempel Hotel. The 2017 Awards ceremony shall be held at the prestigious Merchant Taylors’ Hall on Thursday 9th November.

Mr Edward Griffiths, Deputy Master of the Royal Household, Buckingham Palace, the keynote speaker of the 2014 Awards;

Left: World’s Best Boutique Hotel 2016- Secret Bay, Gregor Nassief and the Chairman of JDB Fine Hotels & Resorts- Brian Froelich. Right: World’s Most Romantic Retreat- Aenaon Villas, Elly Lydia Alexiou and Maria Christina Alexiou

Winners of 2016 World Boutique Hotel Awards

AWARDS CEREMONY

AWARDS CEREMONYOur Awards Ceremony have been attended by an illustrious collection of luxury travel industry insiders,

including representatives from the following organisations and hotels:

WHAT THEY SAY. . .

Edward GriffithsDeputy Master of the Royal Household, Buckingham Palace

“Coming from a hospitality background where service excellence has been the key objective, I was so pleased to be speaking to a group of like-minded people. It was wonder-ful to see the extent of quality in both design and standard service that is being delivered by this extraordinary collection of fine hotels. The Awards are a wonderful forum to cele-brate such achievements in excellence.

Antonis VordonisCEO, Poseidonion Grand Hotel

“These Awards raise the standards. These Awards raise the expectations. It gives us more power and happiness to work for the next year.

Harry Murray MBEChairman, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa

“The World Boutique Hotel Awards was a well-oganised and enjoyable event, and it was a great pleasure to meet fellow hoteliers from the world’s best boutique hotels who share the same passion for hospitality.”

”

”

ENTRY INTO THE MASTERKEY SOCIETY

• If selected as a winner, a hotelier will be given the opportunity to join our exclusive club, the Masterkey Society, which allows its members to stay at other member hotels on a complimentary basis.

• The Masterkey Society will facilitate strong bonds and meaningful connections to be made between the extraordinary people behind our winning hotels, allowing them to exchange knowledge, business acumen and above all passion!

BRONZE WINNER PLAQUEAvailable exclusively to our official winners, this distinctive bronze metal plaque has the

World Boutique Hotel Awards logo deeply milled and is expertly made in England by the master craftsman of Brass Founders Sheffield.

Each plaque is cast with dimensions 250 mm x 250 mm x 10 mm and weighs a hefty 7 Kg.

Price: available on request (exclusively available to official Award winners)

A total of 4,000 copies shall be made, with an estimated readership of 48,000 international high net worth travellers. Locations include:

• Private members clubs

• High-end car dealerships

• Leading European yacht clubs and golf clubs.

• First class lounges

BOOK ORDER

Hardback - £25 each Free post and packing for orders greater than 15 books

Softback - £15 each Free post and packing for orders greater than 20 books

PUBLICATIONBOUTIQUE HOTEL SELECTION

AVAILABLE TO GOLD AND PLATINUM MEMBERS ONLY

ONLINE BOOKING PAGEAVAILABLE TO GOLD AND PLATINUM MEMBERS ONLY

• All current members will be given a full hotel profile page on our website. All ‘Booking request’ buttons shall link directly to your chosen hotel reservations email to request rates, availabilities and to confirm the booking. Confirmed bookings shall be subject to a commission at competitive rates.

• Our website attracts over 160,000 unique visitors per year and we have partnerships in place that link high traffic, high quality sites to the booking pages of our site.

• All current members will be given an online hotel profile page for a period of 1 year and will remain indefinitely online if annual membership costs are paid.

Mihir Garh, India

PRESS AND PROMOTIONEsteemed luxury publications and international press have featured the results of our Awards.

We have also been mentioned in national broadsheet press in the UK and by renowned luxury hotel booking websites:

News of the Awards and its winners has been featured in an increasing number of publications over the past four years, garnering a rapidly increasing audience*.

*The readership figures quoted are sums of the total readership of each publication the Awards have been featured in, provided by Meltwater.com.

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CLICK LOGOS TO READ THE FEATURE ARTICLES

EXCLUSIVE USE OF OUR OFFICIAL WINNER AND NOMINEE LOGOSAll entrants in the Awards may display their official Winner 2017 and Nominee 2017 Logos

online and in all marketing material, press releases, social media and email signatures.

NOMINEE 2017 WINNER 2017

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIENCEWe have a robust social media team that are committed to supporting our shortlisted and winning hotels throughout the year. As a shortlisted hotel we will post and tweet on news and events from

your hotel to help generate exposure to our dedicated followers.

World Boutique Hotel Awards

8,000 likes@BoutiqueAwards

13,500 followers@BoutiqueHotelAwards

21,000 followers

ENTRY PROCESS• Nominations are made by our carefully constructed Nominations Committee, comprised of 40 exceptionally well-

travelled industry experts and luxury travel journalists.

• In some cases we may grant Nominee status to hotels nominated from elsewhere including self-nominations, subject to our vetting and approval following interviews with hotel managers, directors or owners.

• Tailored interviews may be conducted with a member of the nominee’s managerial staff or owners. Interviews are conducted by an Award Judge in person or by telephone/Skype. Interview questions are not disclosed prior to the interview. Hotels successful at the interview stage are invited to enter at either standard, gold or platinum level.

• Membership is only confirmed following a personal visit to the hotel or private villa by a member of our team. We reserve the right to cancel membership following this visit if the calibre and uniqueness of the property doesn’t match what we’re looking for. In this case a full refund will be given.

• Of the following award categories, Standard can choose to enter one category, Standard Plus & Gold members can choose to enter two categories & Platinum members can enter three categories:

• Beach or Coastal

• City Explorer

• Classic Elegance

• Culinary Excellence

• Honeymoon Hideaway

• Inspired Design

• Newcomer

• Private Villa

• Relaxation Retreat

• Romantic Retreat

• Wellness Spa

• Sustainability

MEMBERSHIP PROCESS

HOW WE JUDGE• Entrant hotels are individually reviewed in person by a World Boutique Hotel Awards judge. It is the core part of our

Awards process, allowing our judges to decide first-hand on how the hotel made them feel, our most important judging criteria.

• During the judge’s evaluation visit, elements in the following areas will be considered: design and concept, dining, facilities, location, service and staff emotional connection and impact. But what we are really looking for is the flair, character and feel of an experience that make it unique.

• The judges evaluation score, together with the interview & the internal research report on the hotel will be submitted to the panel and will form the basis for their decision to confirm the winning status of each hotel.

• Nominee status is not officially granted until confirmation is received from a member of our judging team that the hotel possesses the character and quality we are looking for.

• Judge reviews shall be used to write hotel profile pages online and in our publication.

• The Awards Panel is responsible for making the final awards decisions and choosing winners in each category.

KEY DATES IN THE AWARDS PROCESSClosing date for nominations: 15th May 2017 Closing date for Awards entry: 31st May 2017

Winners announced at the annual awards ceremony: 9th November 2017

MEMBERSHIP PROCESS

AWARDS WINNERS SELECTION• Regional category winners shall first be chosen as the best within their category for their specific region, e.g. for the title:

2017 Winner - Europe’s Best Romantic Retreat.

• Of all the regional category winners, our panelists vote to decide the World’s Best category winner, e.g. for the title: 2017 Winner - World’s Best Romantic Retreat.

• Of all the regional category winners, our panelists vote to decide the single overall winner for our highest honour: 2017 Winner - World’s Best Boutique Hotel.

MEMBERSHIP PROCESS

STANDARD MEMBERSHIP£590 • €740 • $790

STANDARD PLUS£990 • €1,240 • $1,320

GOLD MEMBERSHIP£1,400 • €1,750 • $1,860

PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP£1,990 • €2,440 • $2,580

• Awards entry• Online Hotel Profile Page

• Two award category entries• Online Hotel Profile Page

• Two award category entries• Two-page feature article in book• Online Hotel Profile Page

• Three award category entries• Four-page feature article in book• Online Hotel Profile Page

EDWARD GABBAI Founder and Director

An entrepreneur based in London, Edward founded the awards in 2010. Edward is a Director at the company, working within its participant selection

team to build upon its fine collection of hotels. Edward

graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Master’s degree in nanoscience. He has travelled widely, with a particular interest in South America and the Middle East.

NATHAN FRADIN Business Developer

Holding a degree in Hospitality & Event management as well as a degree in Mathematics and Economics, Nathan joined Boutique Hotel

Awards while he was still a student. He is now a Business

Developer, growing the Nominations Jury and discovering exciting new boutique hotels around the world. He also works on partnerships for the award ceremony. Nathan has traveled widely in South America and aims to grow a newly-kindled interest in Asia.

SHLOMO GABBAI Director

With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Hotel Management and having worked for EMI Hotel & Restaurants in his early career, Shlomo then

moved on to develop and manage the Ponsbourne Park

Hotel & Country Club, perhaps one of the first boutique hotels in the UK. Later he operated his property management company before joining the World Boutique Hotel Awards at its inception. He is a Director at the Awards, accumulating an intimate knowledge of the company’s extraordinary hotels.

OUR TEAMThe members of our dedicated team come from a wide variety of backgrounds,

each bringing the experience, skills and enthusiasm necessary to select, promote and showcase our participating hotels on an international stage.

HIL ARY L ANCASTER Panelist

Hilary Lancaster has over 20 years of design expertise, after graduating in Sydney in 1992 and starting her career in Singapore. In the UK as Head of Design for

Dexter Moren she designed hotels for IHG in Dubai, then

established Fusion Interiors Group (FIG) in 2007 working with the 5 Star Somerset Ascott brand in Shanghai. She continues to work with Ascott on boutique lobbies and guestroom concepts for their Citadines Prestige brand in France, and Barcelona. Hilary and her team have also designed a 5 Star private jet lounge in the UK and a luxury spa resort in Qatar. With offices in Jeddah, Doha and Sydney Hilary is expanding hospitality projects globally as well as launching her own range of hotel furniture and carpets.

R ICHARD HY TNER Panelist

Richard has been Worldwide Deputy Chairman Of Saatchi & Saatchi since 2007. He was appointed an Executive Fellow at London Business School in

2007 and made an Adjunct Associate Professor in 2011. He

teaches MBAs, Executive MBAs and Executives on the School’s Open Enrolment and Custom Programmes courses. Richard is also chairman of Planting Promise, a sustainable educational enterprise in Sierra Leone; a trustee of the Business Bridge Initiative; and Trustee of the British Heart Foundation where he chairs its £50 million Mending Broken Hearts Appeal. As a global traveller he has strong views about hotels and hospitality, and brings significant industry experience to the Boutique Hotel Awards Panel.

OUR TEAM

BRIAN FROELICH Awards Panelist

Brian is a member of the prestigious American Express Travel Hall of Fame. Recognized by Fortune as one of

travel’s most influential executives, he had built his

own company into an industry leader before selling it to American Express. As an executive vice-president, he developed Amex’s Travel and Corporate Card divisions into industry behemoths. Since retiring from Amex, he has headed several travel-related companies.

CALLY SQUIRES Panelist

Having reported for The Times, Telegraph and the Financial Times, Cally now works for Insider, The Quintessentially Group’s editorial magazine, where

she reviews the best restaurants, luxury hotels and

spas that London has to offer. A graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge, Cally initially worked in corporate law before making the switch to journalism in 2010.

OUR TEAM

NATHAN BROOKER Panelist & Review Editor

Nathan is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He has written extensively for the Financial Times in London, and Art Basel Magazine in Miami,

Florida. Nathan has covered topics including the Salone

Internazionale del Mobile in Milan and the state of the property market in New York City for the House and Home section of FT Weekend. Before becoming a freelance journalist, Nathan travelled widely, spending time teaching English in Hong Kong and Guangdong, China.

PAOLO MACCHIAROLIPanelist

With a background in communications and marketing, Paolo is a luxury holiday rental entrepreneur and a private villa expert with more

than 10 years’ experience. He was the CEO of a company

dedicated to promoting luxury villas and luxury travel experiences to some of the most important agents worldwide, including Amex, Knight Frank, Christies Real Estate and John Taylor International. In 2012 he founded My Private Villas: an exclusive collection of only the highest quality luxury holiday villas. This is an exclusive portfolio of villas, chalets and private islands available to rent directly from their owners in the most iconic destinations worldwide. He is also a consultant of EAE Studio: a full-service architecture, interior design and planning firm.

SARAH BARRELLNominations Committee

Former deputy travel editor/acting travel editor at The Independent on Sunday (1997-2000), and at Olive magazine (2013/14), Sarah Barrell has worked

freelance for the likes of The Guardian, Marie Claire,

The Times, The Telegraph, The Express, Evening Standard and the BBC, producing award-winning travel stories that range from learning to belly dance in Turkey to tracking snow leopards in Siberia. Sarah Barrell joined the editorial team at National Geographic Traveller for the magazine’s launch in 2010, fresh back from living in New York where she had worked freelance for the British broadsheets, the first desk job to tempt Sarah in from the field in over a decade. She now contributes to the title as writer and Associate Editor, her commissions taking her to hotels far and wide. Her latest project is the debut book in new Lonely Planet food/travel series, From The Source, which has harvested 60 of Italy’s definitive dishes and the chefs who cook them.

OUR TEAM

MARY LUSSIANANominations Committee

Mary Lussiana has loved hotels for as long as she can remember - and written about them for more than 20 years. Not even five years on the other

side of the fence, as Public Relations Manager at a Leading

Hotel of the World (the Hotel Bristol in Warsaw) put her off. Now living in Portugal with her husband and two youngest children, she continues to travel and write on hotels, food and spas for a variety of publications, including Condé Nast Traveller, House and Garden, Harper’s Bazaar, The Times and the Sunday Telegraph.

ALICIA SIEGFRIEDNominations Committee

Graduated from Ecole HÔtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, with a diploma in Hotel & Restaurant Management. Alicia spent the first eight

years building her carrier around the world, including

Monaco, Maldives, French Polynesia and UK, holding various operational positions in several luxury resorts and boutique hotels. Back in Spain, she opened as GM the first Design Hotel in Madrid. Later she joined and worked for nine years the most upscale real estate company in Madrid, Ambassador. In July 2015, she moved to London to join the Soho House Group.

LISA CORCORANNominations Committee

Lisa Corcoran knows how to travel in style, living by her own mantra, ‘If chic is out there, I will find it’. The go-to girl for luxury hotels, her site and blog,

Passage To Luxury, should be your first port of call if only

the softest slippers, the most stylish rooms and the slickest service will do.

OUR TEAM

KATE SIMONNominations Committee

Kate Simon is the former travel editor of The Independent on Sunday and co-director of specialist travel PR agency Little Black Book Creative.

FRANCISCA KELLET T Nominations Committee

Travel Editor at the oldest and most drole glossy lifestyle magazine, Tatler, Francisca previously spent six years as Digital Travel Editor at the Daily Telegraph.

CONTACT USTo discuss joining the World Boutique Hotel Awards, please do not hesitate to get in touch:

Ca Maria Adele, Italy

WORLD BOUTIQUE HOTEL AWARDS TEAM

Email: info@boutiquehotelawards.com Office: +44 203 151 1688 Address: 2 Bailey House

552 Kings Road Chelsea London SW10 0RG United Kingdom

Website: www.boutiquehotelawards.com