GuestRevu is excited to reveal the shortlisted properties for the 2024 GuestRevu GREAT Awards, celebrating the GREATest hotels and guesthouses from around the world. Following the analysis of over 70,000 online guest reviews of hotels from more than 55 countries worldwide, we’ve identified properties that consistently deliver excellence in service, guest experience and satisfaction.
This year, shortlisted entrants, sponsors and leading minds in the hospitality industry will celebrate and recognise the best in global hospitality at two splendid events. The first awards evening, at which the winners in the Europe and Americas & APAC categories will be announced, will be held on 6 November during WTM London at Tapa Tapa Wine Bar.
Due to the overwhelming global response to the call for entries, the organisers have expanded the awards programme this year to include a second awards evening to be held at the end of January in Cape Town to recognise top hotels in Africa.
Both events will feature panel discussions, talks, canapes, drinks and live music befitting of a celebration of the very GREATest in guest-rated excellence in accommodation and travel.
"These awards are unique in that they are solely determined by guest feedback, making the results truly reflective of exceptional service. Now that we are in our second year of the GREAT Awards we saw an amazing response from both past entries and new hoteliers who were looking to see how they measure up" says GuestRevu founder Chris Alexandre.
The shortlist for the GREAT Awards has been determined based on publically available online reviews of participating hotels from the three biggest online guest review sources: Google Reviews, Booking.com and Tripadvisor, which were collected and consolidated using GuestRevu LITE, the free version of GuestRevu’s award-winning reputation management software for hotels. This ensures fairness, transparency, and impartial results, and makes the awards an authentic reflection of the quality of service and guest experiences at each nominated venue.
To ensure objectivity, fairness, and transparency, the Hotel Management School of Stenden South Africa oversaw the data collection and review for the GREAT Awards. Dr Wouter Hensens, Executive Dean of Stenden South Africa, was instrumental in ensuring that appropriate academic rigour was applied to the analysis of the data. As co-author ofThe Good, The Bad, and The Emoji Mastering the Art of Review Data, Dr Hensens is uniquely positioned to understand the data illuminated in the thousands of reviews collected during the GREAT Awards.
“Over the last decade, online guest reviews have had an increasing impact on the global hospitality industry,” asserts Dr Hensens. “They have made it easier for consumers to access information about hospitality businesses, and this increased transparency has empowered consumers to make more informed decisions based on feedback from other guests.”
With regards to the process, Dr Hensens was tasked to ensure that the data collection and interpretation were fair and consistent: “We have paid particular attention to the number of reviews and the weighting of reviews as they were sourced from different platforms. Having reviewed the data I believe that these awards directly reflect the appreciation of the guests that have stayed in these properties and thus their authentic voice.”
"Based on our extensive experience analysing guest reviews, we've come to understand industry benchmarks," says Chris Alexandre, GuestRevu's founder and CEO. "However, this year's GREAT Awards contestants have surpassed expectations. Following on from last year's fantastic results this year's competitors seem to have pulled out all of the stops. Their exceptional review scores are a testament to their dedication and commitment to delivering outstanding guest experiences."
Representatives from the shortlisted hotels are invited to attend the glamorous GuestRevu GREAT Awards evening at Tapa Tapal in London on 6 November 2024. Thanks to sponsorship by industry-leading hospitality technology providers Hop and industry body HOSPA, the awards ceremony promises to be a spectacular and unforgettable occasion. It is a night for the hotel industry to come together, celebrate their successes, and honour the outstanding efforts of hoteliers who have earned the trust and loyalty of their guests.
About GuestRevu
GuestRevu helps hospitality professionals to listen to, learn from and earn from their guests by enabling them to leverage the power of their guest data to build lasting loyalty and drive revenue. GuestRevu’s mission is to give hospitality professionals award-winning tools that they can use every day to develop a guest-centric culture, optimise their guest experience, and the running of their business and, ultimately, drive revenue using online surveys and reputation management. GuestRevu offers local support in South Africa and the United Kingdom and is a Tripadvisor Platinum Review Collection Partner.
About Stenden University
Stenden South Africa is a Private Higher Education Institution and an international campus of NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands. It has built a reputation for offering premium higher education to the African market and being a strong catalyst to its surrounding communities whilst providing internationalisation opportunities for hundreds of European students annually. Its BCom Hospitality Management programme enjoys benchmark status on the African continent whereas its BBA Disaster Relief Management has opened a unique pathway to feed the Disaster Management sector with much-needed professionals who can hit the ground running. Stenden South Africa’s credo of Unleashing Potential is visible in the exceptional career paths of its graduates.
About HOSPA
HOSPA is the association helping hospitality's specialist leaders to develop their careers and network, as well as keep up to date with industry trends and developments. HOSPA offers a wide and growing range of opportunities for members, from networking meetings and webinars which address specific topics to extensive professional development programmes and the latest industry data disseminated through a variety of mediums.
About Hop
Hop is a cloud-based property management solution for the hospitality industry, including independent hotels, hotel groups and self-catering accommodation and provides solutions globally, Hop offers a Channel Manager, commission FREE Booking Engine, Property Management tools such as a Housekeeping module, real-time Revenue Management, Event Management, CRM and many other hospitality service integrations such as Epos, Locks, TV's and Accounting Software.