HotelClub Hotel Awards 2006 – Winners Announced

SYDNEY 13 May 2006 – Leading online accommodation provider, HotelClub (www.HotelClub.net) in conjunction with Getaway and ninemsn, have announced today the winners for the Inaugural HotelClub Australia and New Zealand (including Pacific Islands) Hotel Awards. The HotelClub Hotel Awards 2006 (www.hotelclub.com/HotelAwards) were presented at a gala award ceremony, hosted by Natalie Gruzlewski from Getaway last night. Over 300 hotels from Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands were nominated through a global consumer survey, undertaken throughout November 2005 through till January 2006.

A total of 35 Awards were presented in 14 categories. And the winners are:


Top 3 Hotels in New Zealand
- Hilton Auckland Hotel
- Heritage Queenstown
- SKYCITY Hotel Auckland

Top 3 Hotels in Pacific Islands
- Shangri-La Fijian Resort and Spa Yanuca
- Warwick Fiji Hotel
- Outrigger on the Lagoon Fiji

Top 3 Hotels in Tasmania
- Cradle Mountain Lodge Tasmania
- Wrest Point Casino Hotel Hobart
- Grand Chancellor Hotel Hobart

Top 3 Hotels in South Australia
- Stamford Grand Hotel Adelaide
- Hyatt Regency Adelaide
- Radisson Playford Hotel and Suites Adelaide

Top 3 Hotels in Western Australia
- Intercontinental Burswood Resort Perth
- Cable Beach Club Resort
- Rendezvous Hotel Observation City Perth

Top 3 Hotels in Northern Territory
- Sails in the Desert Hotel Ayers Rock
- SKYCITY Darwin
- Novotel Atrium Darwin

Top 2 Hotels in Australian Capital Territory
- Hyatt Hotel Canberra
- Rydges Capital Hill Canberra

Top 3 Hotels in Victoria
- Crown Towers Hotel Melbourne
- Sofitel Melbourne
- Park Hyatt Melbourne

Top 3 Hotels in Queensland
- Palazzo Versace Gold Coast
- Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort
- Sea World Nara Resort Gold Coast

Top 3 Hotels in New South Wales
- Shangri-la Hotel Sydney
- Star City Hotel Casino Sydney
- Hilton Hotel Sydney

Four special Award categories were also presented to recognize the “best in show” in the travel industry as voted by consumers. These were:

Top 3 Hotels Overall (Oceania)
- Palazzo Versace Gold Coast
- Hayman Island Resort
- Crown Towers Hotel Melbourne

Best Hotel Chain
- Accor

Best Airline
- QANTAS

Best Destination
- Queensland


“The HotelClub Hotel Awards 2006 is unique as its covers Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and are true consumers’ choice Awards. Over 74,000 votes were gathered from consumer worldwide through an online survey conducted on www.HotelClub.net, in association with key partners Getaway and ninemsn,” said Chloe Lim, Director of Global Marketing, HotelClub.

“The Awards have brought together the leaders in their respective industries: HotelClub – Leading Global Accommodation Specialist, Getaway – Australia’s Number 1 TV Travel Program and ninemsn - Australia’s leading online publisher, culminating in an Awards program to recognise the leading hotels in the Oceanic region as voted by consumers,” said Ms Lim.

All hotels nominated are eligible for inclusion in ‘Australia and New Zealand’s Best Hotels and Resorts Guidebook to be released in October 2006 in association with Insight Publications. HotelClub offers over 21,000 hotel accommodation choices in 2,500 cities and 102 countries worldwide. HotelClub has over 500,000 consumer reviews that provide independent advice on each hotel.

The HotelClub Hotel Awards 2006 are proudly presented by HotelClub, Getaway and ninemsn. Partners involved in the global online consumer survey include: Insight Guides, Australian Traveller, Budget, Dymocks, Gregory’s, Harvey World Travel, Optus, RCI and RosesOnly.


FACT SHEET


Number of votes: 74,788 votes from consumers in 170 countries

Voting period: November 2005 – 31 January 2006

Voting criteria (Rating 1 to 10 with 10 best):
Ambience
Value for money
Staff attitude
Cleanliness
Family friendliness
Location
Restaurants
Facilities

Total hotels nominated: 2,200 hotels across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

Survey Mechanics:
• Consumers allowed free text to submit their top 3 hotel nominations
• Score each hotel on voting criteria (out of 10)
• Conducted through online portals HotelClub and ninemsn

About HotelClub.net
HotelClub (www.HotelClub.net) is a global accommodation specialist website offering hotel bookings for up to 12 months in advance. It offers users the choice of over 21,000 hotels – at savings of up to 60% – in 102 countries and 2,500 cities worldwide. HotelClub is available in nine languages – Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. HotelClub is a truly global website offering its customers access through country specific sites in 10 countries including HotelClub.com, HotelClub.com.au, HotelClub.de, HotelClub.fr, HotelClub.it, HotelClub.es and HotelClub.co.uk. HotelClub is operated by Flairview Travel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant Corporation’s (NYSE: CD) Travel Distribution Services Division, that is one of the world’s largest and most geographically diverse collections of travel brands and distribution businesses.

About Getaway
Getaway is Australia's longest running and most popular TV travel show with around 1.5 million viewers every week. It screens on the Nine Network every Thursday night at 7.30pm.

About ninemsn
ninemsn is Australia's number-one online publisher capturing the largest online audience in Australia, with over 7.2 million people visiting each month. Formed in 1997, it is a 50:50 joint venture between the Microsoft Corporation and PBL. ninemsn is currently ranked as Australia's leading online publisher with over 74 percent reach to all Australian Internet users.