A hotel’s quality level is measured by its facilities, interiors, architecture, luxury, amenities, among others. However, one thing that really defines it is its people. We talk about everyone: from the person greeting upon arrival, to the ones making your room an impeccable spot, there are entire teams behind every hotel. But also individuals behind these teams. Stelliers–formerly known as The Hotelier Awards–was born precisely to thank and show appreciation to the best of the best within properties across ASEAN, North and South Asia. Macau is becoming a world destination and one of Asia’s capitals for hospitality, not only when it comes to luxury and welcoming people, but also in terms of talented and hardworking professionals in this area of expertise.
Seven out of the 19 winners awarded at the 2019 edition were hospitality professionals working in Macau hotels. The evening celebration brought together over 300 hoteliers, industry professionals, their friends, and families to celebrate the winners of the 2019 Greater China Hoteliers of the Year.
Freggie Felizardo (Financial Controller, Mandarin Oriental, Macau), winner for the CSR category
Macau Takes It (Almost) All
Macau is keen on providing and offering luxury and top accommodation experiences to everyone in the city, so it might come as no surprise that seven Macau professionals–from different knowledge areas–received awards at Stelliers Greater China 2019 edition. Besides recognizing their value, talent, and effort, these awards also aim to inspire the younger generation to pursue a career in hospitality.
The first awarded hotel professional from Macau to go on stage–the chef category–was Wilson Kean Wah Fam, executive chef of the Morpheus Hotel. However, the night was still young and Macau’s hotel employees were still to win several awards. Next up was head of customer services at The Parisian Macao, Hai Shan, Allen Wang for the Concierge category.
Financial controller Freggie Felizardo from Mandarin Oriental, Macau took the CSR category award, while senior manager of facilities of Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, Cotai Central, John Fang, took home the Engineering prize. Taking home the award in the Food & Beverage category was Perry Kam Hung Yuen, vice-president of VIP Services and F&B Gaming Operations of City of Dreams Macau (COD).
COD had another talented employee on stage: the vice-president of HR, Raquel Nogueira, to get her award in the Human Resources category. And because wine also matters, the Sommelier/Mixologist award was bestowed upon Altira Macau’s sommelier, Joe Chaobin Yang.
Joe Chaobing Yang (sommelier, Altira, Macao), winner for the Sommelier/Mixologist category.
2020: More to come
Amongst the 89 finalists for this year’s edition of Stelliers (announced in July), 22 names are Macau employees working across several local hotels. The fact that Stelliers’ most recent edition took place in a local hotel–plus most winners being professionals working in the local hospitality industry–is proof that the people of Macau know how to greet, welcome, treat and pamper everyone coming to the city.
The ceremony included a fine dining menu created by Benjamin Lim, the executive sous chef at Four Seasons Hotel Macao. The 2020 edition is already being sorted out, so hoteliers from around Asia are all invited to participate in next year’s awards and get the recognition they deserve.
This year, the Stelliers welcomed applications from over 50 properties from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, with 19 professionals being awarded, namely from Macau, Mainland China and Hong Kong. For more information on the winners of this 2019’s edition and what Stelliers is all about, visit their website.
