Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa walked away with three of the top awards in this year’s Amarula Best Retreats in Africa Awards, including a new award, The All Round Excellence Award, a special accolade for “consistent excellence across all the award categories and dedication to promoting African luxury travel”.
The luxury Knysna resort also won the award for The Ultimate African Cuisine and achieved Silver in the Consumer’s Choice Award presented by iafrica.com.
The Amarula Best Retreats in Africa Awards celebrate and reward the rich diversity of retreats throughout Africa and assist in promoting the continent as a prime destination for first class world travel. They were judged by a prestigious panel which included Didi Moyle, Acting CEO, SA Tourism; Jennifer Seif, Executive Director of Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA); Joanne Adolphe, General Manager Product Development, Thompsons Holidays; Llewellyn van Wyk, Founder Member of the Green Building Council of SA and the 2004 Cape Town Olympic Bid; Mega Abodedele Producer, Africa Awakes; and Sindiswa Nhlumayo Deputy Director General for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
According to Paul Kerton, Creative Director of Best 100, co-ordinator of the awards, the overall excellence award was created specifically for Pezula.
“This retreat rivals the best in the world, and is recognised with an abundance of international accolades of excellence highlighting the hotel and spa, their culinary offering, world-class facilities and celebrity stay-overs. Strategic impacts to tourism include their R1 million travel-agent incentive campaign to promote Pezula Castle and high-end partnerships with Singita and One&Only promoting Africa as a the ultimate premium, luxurious, experience”
said Kerton.
The Ultimate African Cuisine Award recognised the retreat with a specific and very special cuisine offering and took into account factors such as service, ambience and of course, the food itself.
Says Kerton,
“Pezula won the award due to their beautifully presented creative dishes which resulted in an exquisite taste sensation. The restaurant’s ambience, friendly staff, contemporary, elegant design and attention to intricate detail makes for an overall sensational experience.”
Each entry, some from as far as Mauritius and Kenya, went through a rigorous judging process in their entered category of choice. A panel of well-established and respected judges from tourism, food and design backgrounds were inspired by the level of entrants at extensive judging sessions in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Pezula also won Silver in The Consumer’s Choice award, presented by iafrica.com, which goes to the retreat that collects the most votes and positive feedback from consumers and users of African retreats through web-based inter-active voting on the news portal iafrica.com.
Source: Travelwires.com