Mrs Beatrice Tollman, President and Founder of Red Carnation Hotels, is named The Leading Hotels of the World Leading Legend 2016.
The Leading Legend award honours individual hoteliers who have made meaningful contributions to the preservation and advancement of independent luxury hotels, and recent winners include Ernst Scherz of Gstaad Palace, Switzerland; Jean Jacques Gauer, General Manager of Lausanne Palace & Spa, Switzerland and Roberto Wirth, President & Managing Director of the Hassler hotel in Rome.
Bea Tollman was selected as the 2016 winner by an acclaimed panel of judges including former Chairman of Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, Peter Lederer. The award will be presented during a gala dinner as part of The Leading Hotels’ annual conference in Buenos Aires later this month.
Over a career spanning six decades, Bea Tollman has built an award-winning collection of 17 five and four star boutique hotels in London, Dorset, Guernsey, Ireland, Geneva, Florida and South Africa. World-renowned properties within the collection include The Milestone Hotel in London; The Oyster Box Hotel and Spa in Umhlanga Rocks, Durban; the Hotel d’Angleterre in Geneva; the iconic Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland and the Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa in Cape Town, all of which are proud members of The Leading Hotels of the World.
Bea’s career in hospitality started at the age of 22 in the kitchens of The Nugget Hotel in Johannesburg, a property she leased with her husband Stanley. A self-taught chef, Bea remains a passionate cook today and many of her signature dishes are featured both on the hotel menus and in her cookbook “A Life in Food”, the proceeds of which go to her favourite children’s charities, the Starlight Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital and The Amy Biehl Foundation.
Bea Tollman is actively involved in every aspect of the business from monitoring guest satisfaction, determining rates, cuisine, marketing, PR and, above all, ensuring that every guest’s stay exceeds their expectations. Her approach to guest service – “No request too large, no detail too small” – has seen the Red Carnation Hotel Collection win numerous awards and accolades, and top the TripAdvisor rankings in the areas in which it operates. Bea’s attention to detail is what sets the hotels apart, and Bea responds to every guest letter with a personal hand-written note.
Bea also oversees every element of the design process in the hotels; from the bespoke fabrics and in-room decorations, to antiques and unique light fittings. She was responsible for what was one of the first truly boutique hotels in the world – The Hyde Park Hotel in Johannesburg – where famous guests of the day included Marlene Dietrich, George Peppard, Michael Caine and Trini Lopez.
She has always put her staff at the forefront of everything she does, believing that happy staff make for happy guests. She operates an award-winning training programme, attends all staff tea parties and personally selects year-end holiday gifts for the more than 2,000 employees across the business. Every year she holds a Staff Appreciation Party in London, at which the top achievers from her hotels around the world are recognised for their outstanding efforts.
On announcing the award, The Leading Hotels judges said: “We salute Bea Tollman as the embodiment of the passionately devoted professional, whose hotels are active, engaged and integral components of their communities.”
Jonathan Raggett, Managing Director of Red Carnation Hotels, added:
“Mrs Tollman is one of the inspirational greats of our industry. She never stops working and has an innate sense of what it takes to make every guest’s stay truly exceptional. She cares deeply about every member of staff, understanding that they are at the front line of delivering the guest experience every day, and she invests in training, rewarding and motivating us all. We are very lucky to have her at the helm, sharing her passion and experience with us all.”
Mrs Tollman’s acknowledgment as LHW Leading Legend comes just a few months after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award in July at the Cateys 2016. It is the latest in a string of accolades for the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, including the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2016 (listed third, and featured in the top 10 for the third consecutive year), Best International Hotel Group 2016 (Travel Media Europe), Virtuoso Hotel of the Year 2015 (Ashford Castle), Best Grounds (Ashford Castle, Jetsetter Best of the Best 2016 Awards), Best Luxury Wellness Spa in South Africa (Bushmans Kloof, World Luxury Spa Awards) and it is current holder of 29 awards in the 2016 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice™ awards across the categories of Top Hotels, Small Hotels, Luxury and Best Service. Beatrice Tollman was also awarded Hotelier of the Year at the European Hospitality Awards 2012.