The awards, sponsored by international hotel interior contractors Depa Hotel Interiors, were presented in sixteen categories, with the accolade of Outstanding Hotel of the Year going to the Ritz-Carlton Dubai. The hotel also won awards in the best leisure hotel and best standard hotel room categories. Other major awards went to Le Royal Meridien Bahrain (best design project), Emirates Towers Hotel Dubai (best business hotel and best executive floor), Ritz-Carlton Doha (best new

Ritz-Carlton Dubai

Regional winners meanwhile included Six Continents Hotels for best advertising campaign and Ritz-Carlton for best group hotel employer, whilst Ricco De Blank, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh, was named Hotelier of the Year. The award for best floating hotel went to the Nile cruiser M/S Grand Princess.

The awards attracted over 110 individual entries from forty luxury hotels across the Middle East, and were judged by an international panel of hoteliers, designers and consultants comprising: Stephen Head (formerly Lausanne Hospitality Consulting, Switzerland); Mohamed Buzizi (Bahrain Hotels Company, Manama); Stuart Scher (Taylor Nelson Sofres Hospitality & Leisure, London); Russell Kett (HVS International, London); Daniel During (Thomas Klein International, Dubai); Tarek Mansour (PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cairo); Denis Johnson (Six Continents Hotels, Cairo); Samir Daqqaq (Marriott International, Dubai); Jean-Paul Herzog (Hilton International, Cairo); and Tony Chi (Tony Chi & Associates, New York). PricewaterhouseCoopers also acted as adjudicators.

The Depa Middle East Hotel Awards were launched in 2001 in Dubai, and are now recognised as one of the leading events in the international hotel industry calendar. 

Commented Mohannad Sweid, the Dubai-based CEO of Depa Hotel Interiors: �The Middle East is acknowledged as possessing some of the best hotels in the world in terms of facilities, customer service and creativity, and we are proud to be associated with these awards, which aim to recognise the success of the hotel industry in this vibrant region. The quality of the entries in this year�s awards highlights the prominent position that the Middle East holds in the international hospitality industry.�

The full list of winners in the Depa Middle East Hotel Awards 2002 awards is:

Outstanding Hotel of the Year 
Winner Ritz-Carlton Dubai
Highly Commended Emirates Towers Hotel Dubai

New Hotel of the Year 
Winner Ritz-Carlton Doha
Highly Commended Holiday Inn Bur Dubai

Hotel Design of the Year 
Winner Le Royal Meridien Bahrain
Highly Commended Movenpick Resort Cairo Pyramids

Leisure Hotel of the Year 
Winner Ritz-Carlton Dubai
Highly Commended Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa Dubai

Business Hotel of the Year 
Winner Emirates Towers Hotel Dubai
Highly Commended Inter-Continental Doha
Highly Commended Hilton Dubai Creek

Environmentally-friendly Hotel of the Year
Winner Le Meridien Dubai
Highly Commended Conrad Cairo

Standard Hotel Room of the Year 
Winner Ritz-Carlton Dubai
Highly Commended Al Faisaliah Riyadh

Executive Floor of the Year 
Winner Emirates Towers Hotel Dubai
Highly Commended Ritz-Carlton Dubai

Hotel Advertising Campaign of the Year
Winner Six Continents Hotels
Highly Commended JW Marriott Hotel Dubai

Hotel PR Campaign of the Year 
Winner Le Meridien Dubai
Highly Commended Ritz-Carlton Dubai

Group Hotel Employer of the Year 
Winner Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

Hotel Employer of the Year
Winner Ritz-Carlton Doha
Highly Commended Emirates Towers Hotel Dubai
Highly Commended Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh

Conference Hotel of the Year 
Winner JW Marriott Hotel Dubai
Highly Commended Phoenicia Inter-Continental Beirut
Highly Commended Le Royal Meridien Bahrain

Hotel Restaurant Innovation of the Year
Winner Luce: Inter-Continental Al Ain
Highly Commended Verre: Hilton Dubai Creek

Hotelier of the Year 
Winner Ricco De Blank: Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh
Highly Commended Johnny Fattaleh: Inter-Continental Doha

Floating Hotel of the Year 
Winner M/S Grand Princess
Highly Commended M/S Miss Egypt