PROTEA HOSPITALITY GROUP CLINCHES 6 PLACES IN AFRICA’S TOP 20 TRENDIEST HOTELS | Protea Hotels

20th January 2012 at 6:33 pm

PROTEA HOSPITALITY GROUP CLINCHES 6 PLACES IN AFRICA’S TOP 20 TRENDIEST HOTELS | Protea Hotels:

January 2011: TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards 2012 were announced yesterday and besides Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Cape Town clinching second place in the “Trendiest Hotels in Africa” category, five other Protea Hospitality Group (PHG) hotels also made the top 20 list.

Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Cape Town was also voted 11th trendiest hotel in the world.

The other PHG hotels to feature in the Trendiest Hotels in Africa list are:

  1. African Pride Tribe – The Village Market Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya (5th)
  2. Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Melrose Arch, Johannesburg (7th)
  3. Protea Hotel OR Tambo, Johannesburg (9th)
  4. African Pride Melrose Arch Hotel, Johannesburg (16th)
  5. African Pride 15 on Orange Hotel, Cape Town (17th)

PHG chief executive Arthur Gillis said that in terms of hospitality, Africa was setting world trends, rather than following them.

“Being trendy isn’t only about being in a beautiful designer building; it’s about the feeling and the vibe. No hotel can hope to make this list if it doesn’t have the right atmosphere, which is by and large created by having the best STAFF and the best service,” Gillis said.

“We are particularly proud of having the Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! ranked so high in the world and in Africa. It’s an exciting brand that plays on delivering the delightful and unexpected. It has a lot of talkability and travellers are clearly picking up on that.”

Gillis said the number of South African hotels, in particular, that had made the top list rankings was impressive. 15 of the top 20 hotels in Africa are located in South Africa, and 11 of them are in Cape Town, which was TripAdvisor’s City of the Year in 2011. “Cape Town has firmly established its place as one of the top global destinations because if its staggering beauty, friendliness, favourable exchange rate and service culture.

“Cape Town is a top leisure destination, but for those same reasons it’s also a top meetings and conferencing destination. Despite global economic challenges, I believe we’re looking at a relatively strong year ahead and another good showing of Protea Hotels and African Pride Hotels in the 2013 awards.”