Travel & Tourism Awards 2021

www.lux-review.com Page 23 LUX 2021 Travel & Tourism Awards With years of experience and a unique attitude towards personable customer service, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney is a first-rate establishment with big plans for the future. Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney Best Luxury Hotel 2021 - Sydney Dec20527 Part of the prestigious Radisson Hotel Group, a franchise with 8700 establishments in its global portfolio, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney is a luxury hotel with a passion for excellence. It prides itself on providing an intimate and personable five-star service in a gorgeous heritage-listed building, the history of which dates back to 1856. The building itself once acted as a headquarters for the Fairfax newspaper empire when it first opened its doors, and then was passed down through the Bank of New South Wales before Radisson took the keys to the kingdom. The building was completely renovated for the hotel in July 2000, and since its opening it has been a beacon of exemplary first-class service. During the refit, it ensured to keep the historical architectural elements that gave the building its charm, and the building’s stylish triangular shape is reminiscent of New York’s Flatiron building. The hotel is in the heart of Sydney on the corner of Pitt, Hunter and O’Connell streets, occupying a prime position that allows guests access to the most vibrant elements of the city. It is surrounded by its most notorious landmarks: the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, historical Rocks area, Circular Quay, and the Botanical Gardens. In tandem with this, the major shopping precincts, theatres, and nightlife epicentres are a short sojourn from its doors. The Radisson Blu Hotel Sydney has achieved a reputation for incredible service, and due to this, has accrued a vast array of awards – such as the Best Luxury Hotel 2021 – Sydney in LUXlife’s Travel & Tourism Awards. In terms of its rooms, it takes great pride in offering accommodations that push the boundaries of the ordinary. All its rooms are 32 square metres or larger, with 3.2-metre high ceilings in most rooms, promoting a sense of decadence and luxury. The design of each of them works in perfect collaboration with the original allure of the building, incorporating modern elegance and style to ensure that its guest receives timeless luxury paired with state-of- the-art amenities. It has 336 such rooms and 26 chic suites furnished in natural, warm tones, complete with en-suite, 24-hour room service, complimentary internet access and much more. Whether its guests are staying in Sydney for business or leisure, it prizes its ability to cater to both kinds of clientele. It also caters to meetings and events, and by use of its magnificent interiors and impeccable service, it seeks to enable its guests to create memorable experiences that they will carry with them long after their stay. Its clients are confident and influential people, usually leading minds in corporate spheres, engaging the hotel’s services to benefit from its attention to detail. With this attentiveness to even the most minute element of a guest’s experience, it creates a unique experience that is truly personalised to everyone. Internally, it lives by a ‘Yes I Can’ spirit towards guests and stakeholders, forever seeking new ways to better and improve, taking all feedback in its stride to grow towards greater things. Such elements can be anything from a waiter remembering a preferred drink to the housekeeper remembering the guest’s name – and thus, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney’s staff are its greatest asset. It believes success starts from the inside. Because of this attitude, the organisation has cultivated a team of hard working, skilled, and knowledgeable people with a core belief of ‘many minds with one mindset’. Of course, even with such an exemplary team, the pandemic brought about unforeseen consequences. In response to hurdles faced by its industry, it recently launched the Hybrid Room Program, inspired by remote work demands to combine a state-of-the- art office with a superior guestroom. This functionally creates a quiet, productive space for a business traveller to work away from home. It has also upgraded all its cleaning and sanitation protocols in line with local and governmental body regulations, reducing touchpoints around the hotel and revising its operations to identity potential problem areas. Alongside all of these implementations, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney have also introduced a hands-free ordering system which enables both external and internal guests to order food from their table completely handsfree by using a simple QR code. Covid-19 presented it with many challenges, but Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney rose to all of them to become better as a whole. It has come through this pivot period more agile, more forward-thinking, and more determined as a business, and the training courses it implemented has meant that internally its staff have all managed to up their skills. It has gained a more in depth understanding of its priorities as a Radisson hotel, and will use this resilience to approach the remainder of 2021 with great ambition. To this end, it will continue refining and updating its Covid-19 policies and procedures for when the vaccine is fully rolled out, excited for when the travel in general, truly hits full swing once again. Company: Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney Contact: Peter Tudehope Website: www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/ hotels/radisson-blu-sydney