22 January 2018
The list of finalists, published in December, includes hotels, developers and general managers who got the highest scores in the annual online systems ranking and from the jury.
We have reviewed the major hotels vying for the key hotel award in this country.
It is worth noting that the geography of contestants has reached a peak for the last four years, covering now 95 locations. The number of new contestants from across the country is up by 10% from 2016, with the Kaluga Region at the top of the list (ten new facilities), followed by the Vladimir Region (eight) and the Nizhny Novgorod Region (four).
The most popular nominations in the 2017 application campaign are Best Mini Hotel (110 participants), Best MICE Hotel (72), Best Business Hotel 4* (88), Best Business Hotel 3* (65), and Best Family Hotel (60). Nominations with the lowest number of participants (and, consequently, offering the best chances) include Developer of the Year, Medical Hotel and Luxury Hotel.
Photo by Dmitry Plisov
The sensation of the year was that the number of participants and finalists representing individual hotels was more than twice as many as the number of chain hotels. The chain / individual ratio at the application stage was 32% to 68%; compared to 30% and 70% for the finalists.
2017 finalists are concentrated in the Central Federal District (41%), because those who are the most competitive gravitate towards the capital and the neighbouring areas. Next come the Southern District (28%); the Volga District and the Northwest District (10% each); the Siberian District (7.3%) and the North Caucasus District 3.5%.
Photo by Dmitry Plisov
The finalists include quite a large number of new participants. Precisely a quarter of all finalists are hotels that had not taken part in the contest before. On the other hand, 36% have fought in the finals earlier (but not necessarily in the same nomination). Thirteen percent have managed to break into the neat ranks of leaders after a second or third attempt.
Any hotel can apply for two nominations, and this is the reason why some hotels (a fifth of the finalists) have been twice lucky this year. In addition to honouring the hoteliers, the ceremony will offer networking opportunities for hoteliers and companies that offer products and services to the best in hotel business.