November is award season in the hotel industry and it is with great pleasure that I can inform everyone that Pondoro enjoyed a fabulously successful month! We were nominated to compete in the World Luxury Hotel Awards, Haute Grandeur Hotel Awards and The Boutique Hotel Awards, each with different selection criteria and award recognition standards.

Before going any further we first want to thank all our guests for staying at Pondoro and taking the time to vote for us. It goes without saying that winning any award would not have been possible without your valuable vote of support, whether through staying with us or actually clicking on a voting button or writing a review on social media. We are truly grateful.

Our wonderful, dedicated and loyal staff are the backbone of our operations and everyone is equally important in the Pondoro value chain that culminates in exceptional guest service at a competitive rate. To the Staff:  Each and every one of you is handpicked by Lize and I to ensure a perfect fit. Be assured that you are the best and Pondoro is what it is because of you!

World Luxury Hotel Awards:

Established in 2006, World Luxury Hotel Awards is the pinnacle of achievement in the luxury hotel industry offering international recognition as voted by guests, travelers and industry players alike. Over 300 000 international travellers vote each year to select the winners. World Luxury Hotel Awards is the pinnacle of achievement by a luxury hotel, offering recognition for earning the respect of guests and industry players alike, and by awarding hotels, as voted for by the public, across 99 different categories.

AYANA Resort & Spa, Bali, Indonesia was the venue of a prestigious black-tie event celebrating the World Luxury Hotel Awards on the 10th of November. Over 360 guests flew in from around the world to attend the event where Pondoro was honoured as the World’s Best Luxury Safari Retreat (Global Winner).

World Luxury Hotel Awards - Pondoro Best Safari Retreat in World

 

Haute Grandeur Global Hotel Awards:

The Haute Grandeur Global Hotel AwardsTM was established as an independent and unbiased initiative to honour the very highest achievements from across the global hotel industry in 2014, recognising exceptional contributions by outstanding hotels. Unbiased results are guaranteed by placing emphasis on quality feedback from guests, rather than quantity of votes by a panel of judges or general public. For the hotel industry winning a Haute Grandeur Global Hotel Award is more than an Award it provides the public with a golden stamp of guaranteed hospitality.

The Haute Grandeur Global Awards™ was hosted on 1 November 2018 at Palazzo Versace Dubai. Splendor and elegance set the scene for a spectacular occasion, with winners from over 60 countries attending the red-carpet Gala Ceremony in Dubai – hosted by Thai celebrity emcee Able Wanamakok. Pondoro was the recipient of not one, but 3 awards:

Haute Grandeur Hotel Awards

Annchen Rossouw (Pondoro Liaison Manager) receiving our award in Dubai.

Haute Grandeur Hotel Awards - Pondoro

 

Boutique Hotel Awards:

 The Boutique Hotel Awards is the first and only international awards organisation exclusively dedicated to recognising unique excellence among boutique hotels. It is the only independent awards organisation in hospitality where each and every property is visited personally by an experienced hotel judge, who specialises in each category, and where decisions on winners depend on true first-hand guest experience at the property. 

The winners were selected from over 300 Nominees in over 80 countries. Each entrant was nominated by a member of the Awards Nomination Committee, comprising 70 leading trailblazing travel experts, whose business it is to be ‘in the know’ concerning the extraordinary boutique hotels.

We are elated to have won an award as Africa’s Best Culinary Hotel.

Boutique Hotel Awards - Pondoro Best Culinary Hotel