Crowne Plaza Queenstown concierge wins hotel excellence award

Crowne Plaza Queenstown’s chief concierge Fiona Lawson walked away with the title Concierge of the Year at a prestigious awards ceremony in Sydney this weekend.

Ms Lawson, a member of the internationally-renowned Hotel Concierge Society Les Clefs d’Or New Zealand (HCSNZ), was the only female concierge to make the shortlist.

She notched up a unique double-win for parent company InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), being named a joint winner with James Ridenour, concierge at InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto at this year’s Hotel Management (HM) Magazine Awards.

The awards recognise some of the Australasian accommodation industry’s brightest stars, and Ms Lawson received hers in front of 600 hoteliers, industry leaders and major suppliers.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to receive this award on behalf of Crowne Plaza Queenstown and the amazing guest services team,” she said.

“It recognises the hard work and dedication we all put in to going ‘above and beyond’, being committed to providing exceptional guest service to ensure our visitors have the best possible time during their stay with us.

“I love talking to guests, ensuring their needs are met at all times, and making sure they experience the best that Queenstown and New Zealand have to offer, and this award reflects our passion for excellence.”

Ms Lawson has worked for almost twenty years as part of IHG after starting in room service.

She is now the only female with Les Clefs d’Or status -- ‘The Golden Keys’ -- in the South Island, and one of only a handful in New Zealand, and is known for her infectious smile, laugh and affable nature by all her colleagues and guests.

Crowne Plaza Queenstown General Manager Reinier Eulink said Fiona “hugely deserved” the award.

“She’s an absolute pleasure to work with and guests just love her easy-going, unflappable style.

“Thanks to Fiona and the guest services team we’re consistently in the top 20 Queenstown hotels on TripAdvisor, have been voted finalist in Best Ski Hotel Awards for two years running and are number one in the IHG group for Japan and Australasia for guest satisfaction.”
Close to 50 awards were handed out on Friday night across categories for properties, departments and dedicated staff, from over 3000 entries across Australasia.

HM magazine Editor-In-Chief, James Wilkinson said the magazine was “proud” to recognise the industry’s finest hotels, chains and staff that had been doing an amazing job over the last 12 months.

Photo caption:  Crowne Plaza Queenstown chief concierge Fiona Lawson ( R )with joint award winner James Ridenour, concierge at InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto.