KOCHI: The hospitality sector in the city received laurel from the Centre as two prominent hotels bagged awards at the National Tourism Awards for the year 2010-11. Le Meridien was adjudged as the ‘Best Hotel Based Five Star Convention Hotel” and The Gateway Hotel was awarded the ‘Best Five Star Hotel’ for an outstanding achievement and its contribution to promote tourism in the country.
For The Le Meridien, Mfar Hotels chairman P Mohammed Ali and Le Meridien Kochi general manager Rajesh K Madan received the award from the President of India the other day. Meanwhile, for The Gateway Hotel, general manager Suman Sharma accepted the award from President Pratibha Patil.
“The hotel is honoured to receive the award and recognition of such magnitude. This brings forth the collective effort of the entire team at Le Meridien Kochi and also brings in the responsibility to continue maintaining the high standards to meet the expectations of people,” said Rajesh Madan. He also added that Le Meridien is on an expansion spree in Kerala and soon will open a resort at Thekkady.
On winning the award, The Gateway Hotel general manager Suman Sharma said that they are proud to have won the award for the ‘Best Five Star Hotel.’
“The award is a testimony to the endless efforts of our team and their dedicated commitment over the years has paid off, making the hotel one of the best ‘Star Hotels’ in the country,” he added.