Red Carnation's Tollman wins European Hotelier of the Year 2012 award

8 Nov 2012

South African born Beatrice Tollman, president and founder of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, has been awarded Hotelier of the Year at the European Hospitality Awards 2012.

Tollman has been recognised for continuous unparalleled levels of service, excellence and luxury across all of the collection's five and four star properties in Europe, which include flagship The Milestone Hotel in Kensington, Guernsey's only five-star property The Old Government House Hotel and Spa, and the famed Hotel d'Angleterre in Geneva.

"I'm humbled and honoured to have been recognised for doing something that I truly love, each and every day," Tollman said. "I thank the judges, the fantastic teams at all of my hotels and of course my wonderful family, many of whom are involved in the business too. My driving passion is to make every stay memorable for every single guest, to make them feel truly welcomed and special and I believe having this at the heart of everything we do, is what has led to this award and many of the others we are lucky to have received."

Principle of hospitality

Summarising their verdict, the judges said: "Personifying the value of having a genuine hotelier running the show, Beatrice Tollman has never lost sight of the guiding principle of hospitality - service. After five decades in the industry, her ongoing involvement on the front line of her hotels is an inspiration, setting the standards for the next generations to follow."

Jonathan Raggett, managing director of Red Carnation Hotels said she is an inspiration. "She has an innate sense of what it takes to make the guest experience truly exceptional and she cares deeply about this and also about the staff that deliver this experience daily in each of our properties. We are very lucky to have her at the helm challenging and encouraging us to be the best that we can."

The Hotelier of the Year award from the European Hospitality Awards is the latest in an array of recent accolades for the collection, which include recognition from Condé Nast Traveler for 41, The Rubens at the Palace and The Chesterfield as the best hotels for business in London, and for The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa in Cape Town as the #1 Hotel in Africa. Others include top five rankings from Travel+Leisure World's Best Awards, Certificates of Excellence from TripAdvisor across all hotels in the collection and a debut in 2012 into the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For.