PROTEA HOTEL FIRE & ICE WALKS OFF WITH SIZZLING ACCOLADE FOR BEST NEW HOTEL DEVELOPMENT

1 October 2008: Protea Hotel Fire & Ice in Cape Town has won Best New Hotel Development at the TBCSA 2008 Hospitality Investment Awards. The award recognises advancements made in hotel development that introduce new standards and practice that have set new benchmarks in the industry. 

The criteria used to assess nominations included size of the project, functionality and fit with target markets as well as impact on the wider community. Boring is not an option for Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, which caters for an extreme and cutting edge market of individuals best described as the "forever young" set, who are into anything extreme, be it abseiling, skydiving, or attending a hard rock session in a bar in nearby Long Street. There is a pool that wraps its way around the restaurant,  the deluxe Private Sound Room with the latest gaming technology and a tea-cupped shaped seating area for those demanding a little privacy! Probably the most talked about feature is the the smoking lounge with unique coffin seats and burial scene décor, simply called the "Coughin Room".

"Protea Hotel Fire & Ice has been through some massive changes in its existence and this award finally acknowledges that we have a winning formula and have got it right!" said Danny Bryer, Group Marketing and Revenue Director, Protea Hotels. "This can be attributed to the hard work and dedication from the team at the hotel who have managed to provide an establishment that is way out of the ordinary and captures the target market perfectly – we are very proud of General Manager Anton Gillis and his team!"

The awards, which were hosted for the second time this year, form part of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa's (TBCSA) Hospitality Investment Conference Africa (HICA), which took place in Johannesburg on 28 to 30 September 2008.

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