AH&LA Announces Winners Of 36th Annual Achievement Awards

The awards, created in 1966, acknowledge individual properties that have developed outstanding public relations campaigns. Categories include community service; enviro-management; guest relations; special events, one-time only and ongoing; and hotels of promise — reflecting the industry's commitment to America's Promise-The Alliance for Youth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building the character and competence of the nation's youth.

The Sherry-Netherland in New York, N.Y., winner of the community service award, less than 150 rooms category, has been active in community service for the past 22 years, including semiannual blood drives, food drives, and local charities such as Share, Toys For Tots, and the Police and Fireman's Widows' and Children's Funds. Through its "Inn for the Holidays" program, the hotel provides lodging, food, and carfare for families of seriously ill patients in local hospitals. The hotel also is involved with the Academy of Travel and Tourism, which provides internship opportunities to high school students, and offers a scholarship award at the annual commencement.

The Doubletree Hotel & Warren Place in Tulsa, Okla., the winner of the community service award, more than 150 rooms category, supports community service programs that demonstrate the hotel is responsive to local residents, including providing work experience for high school seniors with disabilities, partnering with local or national service organizations for holiday events, creating a New York disaster relief fund, and supporting the area's Welfare to Work program, where the hotel hires and trains single, minority mothers.

Among the many environmental initiatives in place at the Admiral Lehigh Golf Resort & Spa in Lehigh Acres, Fla., the winner of the enviro-management award, more than 150 rooms category, virtually all of the hot water for its 131 guestrooms is heated by the air conditioning system, all rooms are equipped with sensor stats that turn off the air conditioning when the room is not occupied, all lighting is provided by a variety of fluorescent fixtures that take less energy to operate and generate less heat, and mulch is made out of recycled shipping pallets.

The Comfort Inn & Suites Boston, Boston, Mass., which won the enviro-management award, less than 150 rooms category, was positioned as an environmental leader at its inception. It offers Climate Neutral Accommodations, which means that a guest's stay will have no negative effect on global warming. The hotel also has measures in place for conserving water, minimizing solid waste, improving indoor air and water quality, and offering environmentally friendly products. A green team, composed of volunteers from all departments, have initiated guestroom recycling, environmental bulletin boards, an eco-suggestion box, and various community service programs.

Unique services offered by the Glorietta Bay Inn in Coronado, Calif. — the winner of the guest relations awards, less than 150 rooms category for the second year in a row — include an interactive Web site "concierge," a "Safety First Program" for families with young children, a "welcome back" placard that is placed on the guestroom door of return visitors, an "E-mail Postcard Program" offering guests a complimentary photograph on the hotel grounds that is sent to their e-mail list, and personalized thank-you postcards when they arrive back home. Guests have recognized the hotel's sincere commitment to service by increasing the guest satisfaction rating of "excellent" to 99 percent in 2001.

The Peabody Orlando in Orlando, Fla., which won the guest relations award, more than 150 rooms category, introduced The Peabody Service Excellence program in 1986 to provide tangible tools for associates and managers to use while interacting with and providing service to guests. The hotel's steering committee identifies evolutions in guest needs that have resulted in new "sub-programs," including the Peabody Personal Service (PPS). The program is specifically designed to address guest needs or situations that an associate has observed, but which the guest has not reported. Averaging approximately one call per day, the response from associates and guests has been overwhelmingly positive. PPS has brought a new level of service to the hotel and a new, tangible mechanism for reporting guest issues, concerns, and special occasions.

The Hyatt Regency Cambridge in Cambridge, Mass., winner in the special events, one time only award, more than 150 rooms category, hosted "Cambridge Salutes Julia" to honor Julia Child prior to her relocation to California. With proceeds establishing scholarship funds for graduates of the Culinary School at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School, the VIP reception and gala dinner celebrated Child and all she has meant to the Cambridge community and Cambridge's collection of chefs and restaurants. Mayor Anthony Galluccio accepted the hotel's offer to chair the event, and delicacies were prepared by a variety of the city's chefs.

The Los Abrigados Resort & Spa in Sedona, Ariz., and the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., were both winners in the special events, ongoing award, more than 150 rooms category. Red Rock Fantasy, an annual light extravaganza hosted by the Los Abrigados Resort, runs from Thanksgiving through mid-January as a charity fund-raiser benefiting the Sedona Jazz on the Rocks Youth Music Education Program and the Twin Towers Orphan Fund. Over the past decade, the event has raised tens of thousands of dollars. Originally a small light show hosted by the 22-acre resort, it has grown to feature more than one million lights and 50 individual displays built by Arizona families and organizations. The resort provides each display creator with five sheets of plywood, glue guns, and 15,000 lights. The contestants have one week to set up their displays, during which time accommodations, meals, and entertainment such as bowling, football parties, and movies are provided. The resort tallies the ballots of the more than 200,000 visitors to determine the winner, who wins a one-week vacation ownership with ILX Resorts for life.

Forty canines and their owners celebrated the dog days of summer at the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel's Bark Breakfast on June 23, 2001, National Take Your Dog to Work Day. The event kicked off the national Loews Loves Pets program and raised $1,000 for the Nashville Humane Association. Dog owners were invited to treat their "power pooches" to a specially prepared breakfast while enjoying their own meal. Each dog also received a "bark briefcase," which contained a variety of treats to take to work.

The Lenox Suites Hotel in Chicago, Ill., winner in the hotels of promise, more than 150 rooms category, has made a commitment to touch and influence the lives of students at Coles Elementary School, an inner city school in which 100 percent of the students are minorities and 88 percent are from families receiving public aid. Groups of employees are taken to the school as volunteers to read or help with art projects. The hotel lobby features a "mitten tree," where hats, scarfs, and mittens have been collected for more than 200 children. The hotel raises funds through bake sales, Valentine candy sales, and contributions. More than $2,500 has been donated for academic materials, along with used computers, telephones, and other equipment. The school has created a Lenox Suites Angels Wall featuring pictures of the hotel's activities and staff, along with thank-you notes from the children. In an employee attitude survey, the staff rated volunteering at the school as one of the hotel's top five benefits.

Many of AH&LA's member state associations choose their own property award winners, that are then submitted to the association for national judging. Making the decisions in this year's competition were Phil Hayward, publisher/editor, Lodging magazine; Ginger Croce, director of communications, American Bus Association; Allan Kay, manager of industry relations, Travel Industry Association of America; and Bill Dobbins, vice president of merchant sales, Visa U.S.A.

AH&LA is a 92-year-old federation of state lodging associations throughout the United States with some 13,000 property members worldwide, representing more than 1.7 million guest rooms. AH&LA provides its members with assistance in operations, education, and communications, and lobbies on Capitol Hill to provide a business climate in which the industry can continue to prosper. Individual state associations provide representation at the state level and offer many additional cost-saving benefits.