As a testament to the luxury resort’s commitment to exceptional hospitality, COD Manila once more did the country proud with this latest feat, this time from a prestigious and respected award-giving body that honors the hospitality industry’s dedicated professionals.
Stelliers Asia Awards 2024 named City of Dreams Manila president Geoff Andres, by virtue of its Green & CSR program, “Hotelier of the Year,” while vice president for human resources Thesz Liwanag and rooms division training manager Ardie Valerio were recognized as “Human Resources Hotelier of the Year” and “Unsung Hero of the Year,” respectively.
“We are all very proud of our work in making City of Dreams a shining example of sustainability. This award recognizes the valuable work of our team whose creativity, diligence and relentless commitment to deliver ‘sustainable luxury’ for our guests. I am honored and fortunate to lead an extraordinary team.” Andres said, acknowledging his award.
For its part, the Stelliers awards program said: “As dedicated hospitality professionals from across Asia continue to raise the bar, breaking boundaries and achieving new heights, Stelliers applauds their excellence and inspiration to the wider hotelier community,” also stating that the awards aim to inspire the younger generation to pursue a career in hospitality.
The Stelliers Asia Awards 2024 ceremony held at the Four Seasons Bangkok, which recognizes excellence in the hospitality industry, resumed after a four-year hiatus, with a total of 89 finalists in 19 categories composed of outstanding hoteliers “who represent the pinnacle of excellence in their respective fields”. The finalists were nominees from 12 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
Green & CSR Hotelier of the Year
Under Andres’ leadership, the luxury resort has received numerous awards for providing excellent standards of service, outstanding colleague engagement and driving the operations towards sustainable luxury. In 2023, City of Dreams Manila was one of only three global finalists in the inaugural Responsible Hospitality Award from the globally renowned Forbes Travel Guide (FTG), for its outstanding level of commitment to sustainable practices at the luxury level. Each of the three hotels on the property – Nuwa Manila, Nobu Hotel Manila, and Hyatt Regency Manila – received the ASEAN Green Hotel Award 2022-2024 from the ASEAN Tourism Standards Council. In 2023, it was among the 15 establishments in the country honored at the First Sustainability Forum organized by a Manila-based broadsheet.
Andres has also been cited for his efforts to inspires a dynamic Sustainability Committee composed of colleagues from various departments that implement and initiate sustainability projects. City of Dreams Manila continues to display significant progress to reach its sustainability goals aligned with parent company Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s “Rise To Go Above and Beyond” 2030 sustainability targets as envisioned by CEO Lawrence Ho.
Committed to providing sustainable hospitality services to enhance the guests’ experience, Andres has placed the resort at the forefront of delivering sustainable hospitality services in the Philippines.
Human Resources Hotelier of the Year
Liwanag is part of City of Dreams Manila’s pre-opening team, bringing with her nearly three decades of expertise in the field of Human Resources. As the property’s vice president for HR, she works closely with Andres to drive the “Employee Love” program of the company, which aims to consistently foster colleagues’ professional growth and work-life balance.
Committed to ensure and implement colleague welfare and recognition programs she leads, among others, the annual President’s Awards, Service Awards, and various colleague engagement events in collaboration with Ugnayan, the property’s labor-management council.
Under her stewardship, the spirit of volunteerism among colleagues remains strong. From 2023 to date, a total of 2,606 volunteers have participated in 96 CSR activities. Undertaken outside of duty hours, these CSR activities include blood donation drive with the Philippine Red Cross, repacking of donated goods for the beneficiaries of the country’s government arm for social welfare and other community works with institutions and charities for orphans and the elderly.
Unsung Hero of the Year
Valerio joined the pre-opening team of City of Dreams Manila as Training Officer in 2014 and was promoted in 2016 to Rooms Division Training Manager, a post he currently holds. The Stelliers Award for “Unsung Hero” recognizes the valuable but often overlooked contributions of staff working behind the scenes.
He won the resort’s much coveted President’s Award 2022 in the Managerial category for his exemplary performance and was a Finalist in the hospitality industry’s 2023 Mabuhay Awards organized by the Association of Human Resources Managers in the Philippines.
For more information on the luxury integrated resort, visit www.cityofdreamsmanila.com and https://stelliers.com/ for Stelliers Asia 2024.
