Cara Hotels cop top awards
Guyana Chronicle
August 19, 2004
CARA Suites Hotel & Conference Centre at Pointe a Pierre, in south-central Trinidad, has been awarded the `Robert Montano Award for Excellence in Service’ by the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
It has also been given the `Customer Satisfaction 2004 Award’ by the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Tourism.
Both awards were announced last month within days of each other, the hotel said in a press release.
It said the awards reflect the commitment to the highest levels of service which are the trademark of General Manager, Helen Logan-Alcala.
“We have an ongoing product improvement programme which is built on the premise of customer satisfaction” she says. “Staff receive constant on the job training and reviews, and their effort, it appears, is now paying off. The feedback from our customers has been great, but we’re always working on improvements, so we plan to get even better”.
The `Robert Montano award for Excellence in Service’ is of special significance for the hotel and team as it is awarded for service by the market segment - the business sector and the South Chamber, one of the largest and most influential in the region.
Cara Hotels is steadily building a fine reputation and brand recognition regionally, and has five hotels in the region, operating in Trinidad, Guyana and St Lucia primarily servicing the business sector, the release said.
“As a regionally developed and run hotels company, it is particularly pleasing to beat the international hotel brands operating in Trinidad”, commented Co-Founder and Chairman of Cara Hotels, Paul Stephenson.
The award was presented last month at a gala dinner held at the Hilton International by the guest of honour and main speaker Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
Following closely on this announcement came news of the `Customer Satisfaction 2004 Award’.
The press release said this hard-earned award is based on guest feedback throughout the year and is monitored by the ministry by means of guest interviews as one of the main criteria.
Cara Suites Hotel, Point a Pierre took the first place in the medium size hotels category; Kapok Hotel was similarly recognised in the large hotels category and Monique’s in the small hotels sector.
Cara Suites Hotel & Conference Centre, a 64-room hotel with conference and banqueting facilities for up to 450, is just minutes from Trinidad’s second city, San Fernando and the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.
The hotel opened after a full refurbishment in January 2001 and has quickly established itself as a favourite for business visitors, as well as many tourists and overseas-based Trinidadians going home on holiday.
“The awards are a reflection of the hard work that has been put into the hotel since the opening, but we have no plans to stop there!” says Logan-Alcala.