Grosvenor House, Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa, Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort and Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel were clearly the best in class when they scooped most of the much sought after accolades at the dazzling 2007 MENA travel awards ceremony, held in Dubai recently.

Grosvenor House was named Best Corporate Hotel, taking the platinum award, while Retreat Health & Spa took the platinum award for Best Spa. Mezzanine was awarded gold for Best Fine Dining Restaurant in the UAE with Indego close behind, winning the silver award for Best Fine Dining Restaurant in the UAE

Sister hotel, Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa was also a strong contender, sweeping four awards at the event. Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa walked away with the platinum award for Best 5-Star Leisure Hotel; the platinum award for Best Fine Dining Restaurant in the UAE for its 5-star Mexican restaurant, MAYA; the gold award for Best Spa – Caracalla and the silver award for Best Environment Hotel.

“It is fantastic to see both the Grosvenor House and Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa acknowledged amongst industry insiders for all our associates’ hard work and dedication in making these the best hotels in the region,” commented Pam Wilby, General Manager of both hotels. “We constantly strive to be exceptionally unique in the world of hospitality by delivering impeccable service standards and the MENA awards are an encouragement to always do better”, continues Pam.

Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort also stole the limelight when it scooped two prestigious MENA awards : the platinum award for Best Price Value Hotel and the gold award for Best Environment Hotel. At a separate ceremony, the hotel’s General Manager, Patrick Antaki was named Hotel Manager of The Year at the highly coveted DEPA Middle East Hotel Awards 2007.

Antaki, a winner of the same of the category at the Hotelier Awards 2006, was recognized for his creativity, passion and commitment to the hotel, its employees and guests. With the charismatic Antaki at its helm, the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort has gone from strength to strength and firmly established itself as one of the most prominent leisure and business destinations in the region.

“Since opening in 2002, we have been continually enhancing our facilities and services at the hotel, reinforcing our commitment to provide our guests with the highest standards of service at the best possible prices. The award for Best Price Value Hotel is, therefore, of great significance to us because it’s recognition of the team’s valuable effort and tireless dedication,” said Patrick.

The Sheraton brand was also recognized when the Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel won the silver award for the Best Conference / Convention Hotel at the MENA awards.

Votes for the MENA awards are cast from across the travel and trade agencies within the region making the MENA awards the leading professionals’ choice awards. This year over 62,000 votes were casts from industry insiders highlighting the MENA awards a measure of industry excellence. The MENA awards annually recognize and reward leading industry practitioners encouraging higher standards and stimulating healthy competition within the region.

The DEPA Middle East Hotel Awards continue to celebrate the extraordinary development and achievements of the Middle East & North Africa hotel industry. Designed to recognize and reward outstanding service, performance and creativity by hotels and hoteliers in a variety of carefully selected award categories, the awards aim to provide an unbiased and international standard of excellence for hotels in the Middle East and North Africa regions.