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2024 Historic Hotels Worldwide® Annual Awards of Excellence Winners Announced

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (1939) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was named Best Historic Hotels Worldwide Hotel in the Americas © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Historic Hotels Worldwide® announced the distinguished winners of the 2024 Historic Hotels Worldwide Annual Awards of Excellence.

Award recipients were honored on the evening of Thursday, November 21, at the 2024 Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence Ceremony and Gala at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia (United States of America), in front of an audience of more than 200 industry leaders, owners, general managers, senior management, and representatives of the world’s finest historic hotels. 

During the ceremony, 11 distinct awards of the Historic Hotels Worldwide Annual Awards of Excellence were presented to hoteliers and hotels, recognizing them as the best of the best among their peers. Winners were chosen from nominations by historic hotels, preservation supporters, prior award recipients, community leaders, and leadership from Historic Hotels Worldwide. Member hotels from the program are among the finest historic hotels around the world. The Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence Program recognizes the pinnacle of this distinct group.

From more than 500 nominations received, the awards committee evaluated and, after careful consideration, selected the following 2024 Historic Hotels Worldwide Awards of Excellence winners:

Historic Hotels Worldwide New Member of the Year      
This award is presented to a new member hotel that best demonstrates immediate engagement, activation, and passionate support of Historic Hotels Worldwide.
Winner: Half Moon (1954) Montego Bay, Jamaica

Historic Hotels Worldwide Best Social Media of a Historic Hotel
This award is given to a hotel that actively engages consumers by sharing the best of their history through social media, including Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram with interesting historical facts and stories.
Winner: Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar (1780) Bagac, Philippines

Historic Hotels Worldwide Sustainability Champion
This award is presented to a hotel that best implements and practices innovative green initiatives and programs, demonstrating historic preservation is the ultimate green.
Winner: The K Club (1832) Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland

Historic Hotels Worldwide Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year    
This award is presented to a multi-generational family ownership entity or management company which has served as an exemplary role model in the operation of the historic hotel entrusted to its stewardship, has demonstrated a long-term legacy of commitment to historic preservation, and has been an active champion of Historic Hotels Worldwide.
Winner: The Baverez Family, owners and managers of Les Hôtels Baverez since 1900

Historic Hotels Worldwide Best City Center Historic Hotel
This award is presented to a hotel located in a city center that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service.
Winner: Mystery Hotel Budapest (1896) Budapest, Hungary

Historic Hotels Worldwide Best Historic Resort
This award is presented to the historic resort that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service.
Winner: Kviknes Hotel (1752) Balestrand, Norway

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide Hotel in Europe
This award is presented to a historic hotel in Europe that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service.
Winner: The Grand York (1906) York, England, United Kingdom

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide Hotel in Asia/Pacific
This award is presented to a historic hotel in Asia/Pacific that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service.
Winner: The Fullerton Hotel Singapore (1924) Singapore

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide Hotel in the Americas
This award is presented to a historic hotel in the Americas that best celebrates its history in the guest experience and provides exceptional customer hospitality and service.
Winner: Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (1939) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Historic Hotels Worldwide Historic Hotelier of the Year
This award is presented to the recipient demonstrating the highest contribution to furthering the celebration of history at historic hotels as well as leadership and innovation.
Winner: Franck X. Arnold at The Savoy London (1889) London, England, United Kingdom

Historic Hotels Worldwide Historian of the Year
This award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the research and presentation of history, encouraging a deeper discussion and broader understanding of the world’s most iconic and legendary hotels.
Winner: Andreas and Carola Augustin, editors of FamousHotels.org, “The Library of Hospitality”

“It is an honor to congratulate all of the 2024 Historic Hotels Worldwide Annual Awards of Excellence winners,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Vice President, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “The winners are the finest historic hotels and hoteliers from around the world. The historic hotels nominated include small historic inns, boutique hotels, lifestyle hotels, and resorts. They represent small towns to large cities to UNESCO World Heritage destinations. We applaud the dedication and passion of the thousands of individuals working at these iconic and legendary hotels that keep the stories alive from the past and make staying or celebrating special occasions at these historic hotels memorable experiences. The hotels on this list represent the very best spirit of perseverance and preservation of historic hotels. Through the many chapters these buildings have seen, it is the care of their staff, owners, and operators and the support of travelers that allow these stories to continue.”

To be nominated for the Historic Hotels Worldwide Annual Awards of Excellence, the hotel must be a member of Historic Hotels Worldwide, demonstrate how the hotel increased the recognition and celebration of the hotel’s history, heritage, historic preservation, and its membership, as well as how the hotel (through its ownership, leadership, and employees) contributes significantly as an industry leader in the designated award category.

Historic Hotels Worldwide’s sister program, Historic Hotels of America®, also announced its collection’s winners of the Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence. (See: 2024 HISTORIC HOTELS OF AMERICA® ANNUAL AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE WINNERS ANNOUNCED)

Historic Hotels Worldwide® is a prestigious and distinctive hotel collection of historic treasures, including luxury historic hotels built in former castles, chateaus, palaces, academies, haciendas, villas, monasteries, and other historic lodging spanning ten centuries. Historic Hotels Worldwide represents the finest and most distinctive global collection of more than 320 historic hotels in forty-nine countries. Hotels inducted into Historic Hotels Worldwide are authentic historic treasures, demonstrate historic preservation, and celebrate historic significance. Eligibility for induction into Historic Hotels Worldwide is limited to those distinctive historic hotels that adhere to the following criteria: minimum age for the building is 75 years or older; historically relevant as a significant location within a historic district, historically significant landmark, place of a historic event, former home of a famous person, or historic city center; hotel celebrates its history by showcasing memorabilia, artwork, photography, and other examples of its historic significance; recognized by national preservation or heritage buildings organization or located within UNESCO World Heritage Site; and presently used as a historic hotel.

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The Broadmoor, Amway Grand Plaza Among 2017 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence Winners

Mohonk Mountain House, the grand resort in New Paltz, New York, was honored with a 2017 Historic Hotels of America Award for Excellence for Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year, the Smiley Family © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Broadmoor of Colorado Springs, The Dunhill Hotel of Charlotte, Mayflower Park Hotel of Seattle, West Baden Springs Hotel of Indiana, Amway Grand Plaza of Grand Rapids were among the winners of Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence for 2017 by Historic Hotels of America® and Historic Hotels Worldwide®. The winners were announced at a special ceremony and gala at The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) in Hot Springs, Virginia. Honors were given in multiple categories ranging from Hotelier of the Year and Hotel Historian of the Year to Best Historic Resort, Historic Hotelier of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement.

Each year, these Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence honor, encourage, and recognize the most exemplary historic hotels, hoteliers, and leadership practices. The Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence are presented to historic hotels and hoteliers demonstrating innovative leadership, stewardship, and contribution to furthering the recognition, preservation, and celebration of these preeminent historic hotels and their histories.

From more than 200 nominees, the following Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide hotels and hoteliers were honored with these prestigious annual awards for 2017: 

Best Small Historic Inn/Hotel (Under 75 Guestrooms): The Dunhill Hotel (1929) Charlotte, North Carolina

Best Historic Hotel (76-200 Guestrooms): Mayflower Park Hotel (1927) Seattle, Washington

Best Historic Hotel (201-400 Guestrooms): West Baden Springs Hotel (1902) West Baden Springs, Indiana

Best Historic Hotel (Over 400 Guestrooms): Amway Grand Plaza (1913) Grand Rapids, Michigan

Best City Center Historic Hotel: Marriott Syracuse Downtown (1924) Syracuse, New York

Best Historic Resort: The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado

Best Historic Restaurant in Conjunction with a Historic Hotel: Penrose Room at The Broadmoor (1918) Colorado Springs, Colorado

Historic Hotels of America New Member of the Year: The Georges (1789) Lexington, Virginia

Best Social Media of a Historic Hotel: The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (1876) Riverside, California

Sustainability Champion: Inn at the Presidio (1903) San Francisco, California

Hotel Historian of the Year: Jim Hewes at The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC (1847) Washington, DC

Ambassador of the Year (Quarter Century of Service): Woodrow “Woody” Pettus at The Omni Homestead Resort (1766) Hot Springs, Virginia

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Europe: Hotel Waldhaus Sils (1908) Sils Maria, Switzerland

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in Asia/Pacific: Alsisar Haveli (1892) Jaipur, India

Best Historic Hotels Worldwide hotel in the Americas: Fairmont Le Château Frontenac (1893) Québec City, Canada

Historian of the Year: Chef Walter Staib, author, twelve time Emmy Award winning TV host of A Taste of History©,and chef and proprietor of City Tavern Restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Stewards of History and Historic Preservation Award: R.D. (Dan) Musser III at Grand Hotel (1887) Mackinac Island, Michigan

Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year: The Smiley Family at Mohonk Mountain House (1869) New Paltz, New York

Historic Hotelier of the Year: Philip Wood at The Jefferson, Washington, DC (1923) Washington, DC

Lifetime Achievement Award: Duane and Kelly Roberts at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (1876) Riverside, California

“The winners of the 2017 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence represent more than 231 years of history and include the finest iconic and legendary historic hotels from across the United States of America and from around the world,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director of Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “We applaud these magnificent historic hotels and their hoteliers for their dedication, passion, stewardship and success in preserving these treasures and their stories for future generations of travelers.”

Award recipients are selected from nominees received from historic hotels, historic preservation supporters, prior award recipients, and leadership from Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. As official programs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide provide the recognition to travelers, civic leaders, and the global cultural, heritage, and historic travel market that member hotels are among the finest historic hotels across America and around the world. The Historic Hotels Annual Awards of Excellence program recognizes the pinnacle of this distinct group of nominees in a range of categories.

Historic Hotels of America® is the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing and celebrating the finest Historic Hotels. Historic Hotels of America has more than 300 member historic hotels which have all faithfully maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity in the United States, including 46 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Historic Hotels of America is comprised of mostly independently owned and operated historic hotels. More than 30 of the world’s finest hospitality brands, chains, and collections are represented in Historic Hotels of America. To be nominated and selected for membership into this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old; has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places; and recognized as having historic significance. For more information, visit HistoricHotels.org.

Historic Hotels Worldwide® is a prestigious collection of historic treasures, including historic hotels, castles, chateaus, palaces, academies, haciendas, villas, monasteries, and other historic lodging spanning ten centuries. Historic Hotels Worldwide represents the finest global collection of more than 260 historic hotels in more than 36 countries. Historic Hotels Worldwide is dedicated to promoting heritage and cultural travel to prestigious historic treasures. Hotels inducted into Historic Hotels Worldwide are authentic historic treasures, demonstrate historic preservation, and celebrate historic significance. Embracing luxury hotel brands, chains, collections, and the finest independent historic hotels, participation is limited to those distinctive historic hotels that adhere to the following criteria: minimum age for the building is 75 years or older; historically relevant as a significant location with a historic district, historically significant landmark, place of a historic event, former home of a famous person, or historic city center; hotel celebrates its history by showcasing memorabilia, artwork, photography, and other examples of its historic significance; recognized by national preservation or heritage buildings organization or located within UNESCO World Heritage Site; presently used as historic hotel. To learn more visit www.HistoricHotelsWorldwide.com 

 

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