The Australian Hotels Association National Awards for Excellence dinner was held at the RACV Royal Pines Resort, on the Gold Coast on 19 September.
Melbourne-based liquor industry stalwart, Gordon Broderick, was inducted into the Johnnie Walker Hall of Fame. Broderick has filled the role of executive director of the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia since its formation in 1982, and was involved in key industry roles before that.
The Overall Hotel of the Year at a metropolitan level went to The Rosstown in Carnegie, Victoria, while at a regional level, the winner was The Sandstone Point Hotel in Queensland.
The Railway Hotel in Windsor, Melbourne, was crowned the Best Restaurant (Metropolitan) while the best regional restaurant, for the second successive year, went to Frogmore Creek in Tasmania.
Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley was named Best Deluxe Accommodation, while, the Overall Hotel of the Year (Accommodation division) went to the Crown Towers in Melbourne.
The Curtin Springs station in remote Northern Territory was rewarded for its effort in tourism promotion, while the Best Hotel Accommodation went to the Lucky Hotel in Newcastle, NSW.
The Chef of the Year was awarded to Nikhil Jain, executive chef at the National Convention Centre in Canberra.
The Hotel Industry Rising Star (accommodation division) winner was Annabelle Gibney from Accor Hotels and Resorts in Melbourne, while joint Rising Star winners in the general division were Drew Harry from the Western Hotel in Ballarat and Michael Strom from the Gate Bar and Bistro in Perth.
There were also joint winners in the Employee Excellence in Service (accommodation division), with Donna Musarella from Crown Towers in Melbourne and Anura Yapa from Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney impressing the judges.
Lee Cleal from The Wooldshed Pub in Melbourne took out the Employee Excellence in Service (General Division), while Lara Ducie from the Blanche Bar in Karratha (WA) was highly commended by judges.
Winner of the Front of House Employee of the Year (Accommodation Division) was Jonathan Fambart from the Park Hyatt in Sydney, with Paul Rumpff from the Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto being highly commended.
The winner of this section in the General Division was Kurtis Bosley of the Collaroy Hotel in New South Wales.
A full list of 2016 winners can be found here.
