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“It is a significant achievement to be identified in the league of global luxury city hotels. Given the post-war revival in tourism the award is also recognition for the country. This makes the team at The Kingsbury proud,” Dissanayake added.
Best in the region
The World Luxury Hotel Awards 2013 saw over 1,000 hotels from 87 countries and spas competing. Around 300 hotels were short listed following an elaborate process and The Kingsbury topped in the Indian Ocean.
“In order to be eligible to enter the awards, a hotel should operate within a luxury niche market and its service delivery and management should be of excellent quality,” explained veteran hotelier and management expert Dissanayake.
Once nominations are received for this award, evaluations are undertaken by a selected global panel of consultants situated in 144 countries. In addition to each official entry, the World Luxury Hotel Awards arranges an ‘official’ and/or ‘mystery’ site visit. Successful nominations are then invited to participate.
Winners are purely judged on service delivery and effective management voted for by international tour operators, travel agents and hotel guests who get the opportunity to cast their votes annually. This makes the process fair and unbiased. Since the awards’ judging criteria take into consideration the facilities and service excellence provided by hotels, the size of property is not given prominence to.
Dissanayake who attended the Black Tie gala dinner and awards ceremony held at the Indigo Pearl Resort in Phuket in Thailand, said the World Luxury Hotel Awards is recognised as an accolade awarded to luxury hotels with world class facilities, excellent hospitality extended to guests and effective management. This Award aims to encourage and raise the standards of service offered within the luxury hotel industry.
Raising the bar
The award helps elevate the bar of service within the industry on par with some of the world’s most distinguished hotels.
Dissanayake said that even before winning the award the 229-room The Kingsbury raised the bar when it came to luxury accommodation in Sri Lanka.
“The award is a manifestation of what we have achieved so far both in terms of human capital, training and development apart from having a luxurious property in the city,” he added.
“The award is a pride for our staff number 750 and a huge motivation for all,” said Dissanayake. “In a luxury hotel service quality with warmth matters; be it a chauffeur driving a guest from the airport, the doorman who welcomes him, the house keeping or the room service personnel,” added Dissanayake who in fact had his first opportunity of serving the very hotel at its opening as the Ceylon Continental in 1973. That was when he was picked among 28 others in the sixth batch of Hotel School Graduates to be waiters for the opening banquet with Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the Chief Guest.
After graduation Dissanayake had wide ranging career within the hospitality sector until 1990. His re-entry into the hotel was after Hayleys PLC acquired controlling interest a few years ago and the management subsequently.
Luxury Sri Lankan hospitality
“We believe in bringing back the good old hospitality that Sri Lanka is famous for in a luxury setting. The World Luxury Hotel Award will help us to reinforce our position in the category of hotels which caters to busy yet luxury traveller,” Dissanayake added.
According to him, being a luxury hotel with discerning guests, staff need to be warm, proactive and courteous, yet fast. Setting the tone from the top, Dissanayake himself spending 90% of his time on the floor responding fast on any guest feedback is important.
“Whilst we don’t compromise on our hardware in terms luxury amenities, the challenge is the ‘how to do it’ part from the employees and this makes the difference,” Dissnayake said.
“We have pursued continuous improvement with excellent guest feedback and we will strive for continuous excellence as we progress,” he added.
Hoteliering and human resource management being his forte, Dissanayake remains passionately committed to boost Sri Lanka tourism and has suggested to the organisers of the World Luxury Awards to consider hosting the 2014 ceremony in Colombo.
Drawing from the philosophy of “a lifestyle of luxury”, its services not only impinge on the aspect of luxury, but also personalised service that makes guests feel at home. With its lavish facilities, ambience and ministrations, it is a fully functional luxury hotel, and the first of its kind in Colombo.
Enhancing service levels
“Our belief is that service excellence is the most critical factor in a hotel’s measure as a luxury hotel and winning a World Luxury Hotel Award would enhance performance levels if industry peers can be judged against other major players in the field. We can always be inspired to greater levels of excellence meaning exceeding customer’s expectations and paying attention to detail,” said World Luxury Hotel Awards Director Marinique de Wet.
“The 2013 voting poll proved to yield a record number of votes which have been scrupulously monitored and we are truly proud to reveal those properties that have seen challenges in 2012 as opportunities. We believe that World Luxury Hotel Awards category winners would serve as an inspiration to nominees and other luxury properties on the global front to raise their levels of service delivery in order to feel comfortable in competing on an international level and to set a benchmark for themselves.”
Growing numbers of discerning travellers around the globe are seeking excellence value, impeccable service and the highest quality these days and are now making a point of checking to see who has won a World Luxury Hotel Award before making their own travel choices.
The Ultimate Hotel Guide featuring 2013 Award winners has become increasingly popular amongst travel agents and tour operators that utilised it for global reservations, the 7th edition of this luxury guide was revealed at the Gala Ceremony recently.
Participation in the World Luxury hotel Awards encourages exclusivity and uniqueness, critical indicators that truly define a luxury hotel.
The awards also aim to encourage sustainable competitiveness in order to build staff morale and create maximum awareness within the luxury hotel industry, De Wet, Director of the WLHA added.
