Boutique hotel in Seychelles bags three prizes at World Luxury Hotel Awards

The hotel has 40 chalets overlooking the beach after which the hotel got its name. (CaranaBeach)

(Seychelles News Agency) - CaranaBeach Hotel in Seychelles walked away with three awards at this year’s World Luxury Hotel Awards held in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The annual award ceremony recognises the achievements of luxury hotels worldwide across 99 different categories, through the votes of guests, travelers and industry players.

CaranaBeach Hotel won the ‘Best Luxury Boutique Hotel’, ‘Best Luxury Romantic Hotel’ and ‘Best Luxury Contemporary Hotel’ awards, topping other nominees in the Indian Ocean.

In 2016, during the 10^th edition of World Luxury Hotel Awards, Carana beach won only the ‘Best Luxury Contemporary Hotel’ title.

“Winning three prestigious awards this year, compared to one last year shows us that a hotel is about so much more than a great location, architecture and design,” said the public relations, branding and communications manager of CaranaBeach Hotel, Nicole St. Ange.

The public relations, branding and communications manager said the hotel is so much more than a great location, architecture and design. (CaranaBeach) Photo License: CC-BY

She added that “the vision for our hotel from the outset was to create a unique atmosphere with a style of service that was authentic to our size and our destination, and these awards are a great encouragement toward fulfilling that promise to our clients.”

CaranaBeach Hotel, located in Anse Etoile, a northern district on Mahe, the main island, consists of 40 chalets overlooking the beach after which the hotel got its name. The hotel, which was reopened in April last year after closing for 12 years, belongs to the Mason family, who also owns two other tourism establishments -- Denis Private Island and Island Lodge on Praslin.

According to a press release from the boutique hotel, St. Ange credited the hard work of CaranaBeach General Manager Cyrille Carofano and his team, along with the hiring of a dedicated training manager, for the hotel’s strong showing at the awards.

With a four-star status, Carana is ideal for clients with a taste for a small hotel with high-level service. (CaranaBeach) Photo License: CC-BY

“[Winning in three categories] is proof that with the right vision and the right people in place, even an independent, locally owned hotel can deliver hospitality in the class of the best international chains, said Carofano.

With a four-star status, Carana is ideal for clients with a taste for a small hotel with high-level service and this is in Seychelles which relies largely on tourism, the top contributor to its economy.  

The awards are voted online over several months based on several criteria including the standard of service voters received, during their stay in the different hotels nominated in each category. Over 300,000 international voters take part in the elimination process each year.