LEFT: THA PRESIDENT & BEACH HOTEL BURNIE OWNER BEN CARPENTER CELEBRATES HIS SUCCESS ABOVE: THE CROWD AT THE STAR GRAND BRISBANE DURING THE PRESENTATION CEREMONY
Tasmania’s world-class hospitality offerings were on full display at this year’s AHA National Awards for Excellence, with a record-breaking haul of seven titles returning to the island from Brisbane. From luxury accommodation offerings, regional restaurants and leading tourism initiatives the Apple Isle has it all – including the best quality beer in the country. F or all the success The Tasman has achieved since opening in late 2021, seeing Mary Mary land national recognition at the AHA Awards for Excellence was arguably more pleasing for outgoing General Manager Stephen Morahan. On what was a double dose of delight overall for the Luxury Collection Hotel, The Tasman took home the coveted Overall Hotel of the Year – Accommodation Division crown for the second time in three years, while Mary Mary was named Best Hotel Bar - Accommodation Division. The Tasman has scooped just about everything possible since customers started flowing through the doors. This includes recognition in global luxury travel bible Conde Nast in 2023 and making the world’s top 50 best hotels list this September, one of just two Australian establishments to do so. And while
Mary Mary has quietly gone about its business as one of Hobart’s funky watering holes, wider national acknowledgement had eluded it – until now. “The competition of hotel bars in the last, say, five years has been really tough because you’ve actually got external operators, amazing bars like Maybe Sammy and their spin offs in hotels,” Morahan says. “So for Mary Mary to beat the likes of stand-alone bars in Sydney and Melbourne that are embedded in hotels is really very, very special, particularly for the team that do such an amazing job. It’s very rare, I think, for hotel bars to be able to come to the fore and stand on their own two feet and Mary Mary has done that extremely well. We’re very, very proud of that team. “One of the things that we’ve always tried to do is support the industry in Tasmania and be a part of that. The way I see it is that when we win, Tasmania wins. From the beginning of when we opened the property, whether it be in the bar or Peppina or Deco Lounge or within the room experience, we tried to provide that genuine, authentic Tasmanian experience from beginning to end.
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Tasmanian Hospitality Review Oct/Nov Edition
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