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SDCLA Gold Key Awards - Awards Categories

Nominations MUST BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN 5PM, FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2025. Please contact us with any questions regarding the appropriate category for a nominee, 619-678-1195 or info@lodgingsd.com. Please note that judging/review process is confidential. The nominee or award recipient will not be notified of who submitted them.

All nominations should include the following information:

  • Industry Contributions and/or Community Involvement
  • Examples of High-Quality Service
  • In his/her/their capacity, how is the nominee a credit to the Tourism Industry

EMPLOYEE AWARD CATEGORIES

Food and Beverage Associate of the Year: What would hotels be without stellar Food & Beverage staff? High-quality food, beverages, and attitudes are essential to the success of the hospitality and tourism industry. Nominees for this category should consistently go above and beyond their day-to-day tasks and improve the lives of guests and all those around them. Nominee should be a non-management associate in Food & Beverage.

Guest Service Associate of the Year: Delivering top notch guest service is always key. Guest Service associates are among the first people who can make guest experiences memorable, seamless and enjoyable. Nominate a superstar on your team who always goes above and beyond when it comes to making guests feel special and welcomed and helping out their fellow employees. Nominee should be a non-management associate in Guest Services

Heart of the House Associate of the Year: Hotels are like stages: behind-the-scenes staff are crucial to putting on a successful production. Back-office employees are essential to the hospitality industry and their effort should not be overlooked. The Heart of the House award is designed for a non-management associate who has little or no guest contact.

Hotel Executive of the Year: This category honors an executive who has shown excellence in leadership, service, and community affairs. The nominees are judged on outstanding performance that goes above and beyond normal job responsibilities, including providing excellent service to the property, guests, and community, as well as building strong teams and encouraging excellence at their property. Nominee for this award should be a Director, Owner, Regional Manager or General Manager of a lodging establishment.

Hotel Manager of the Year: The finest managers see the big picture while also looking after all the small details that make their vision a reality. These individuals have risen through the ranks and come to exemplify all the best attributes of our industry. They are managers who reach out to guests, inspire employees and extend themselves to the broader community. Nominee should be a manager in a supervising position in a lodging establishment.

Patti Roscoe Award - Allied Person of the Year: It takes a village for the hospitality and tourism industries to thrive but some of the people who make the biggest difference aren’t the ones we instantly think of. We’re looking for someone who isn’t directly employed by a lodging establishment but who makes a big difference in the industry and the lives of those around them! Nominee should be someone who is affiliated with the Tourism Industry but does not work for a lodging establishment.

Sales Professional of the Year: Nominate your sales superstar to get the recognition they deserve. We want to hear about the very best sales and catering professional who go above and beyond to build relationships and drive revenue for our industry every single day. Nominee should be a sales or catering professional.

    Gold Key Award: First presented in 1982, the Gold Key Award is meant to honor an individual who does not work directly in hospitality or tourism but who truly embody the spirit of the industry and makes a difference every day. This individual goes above and beyond to find innovative ways to make outstanding contributions on a continuing basis to the betterment of the industry. The Gold Key Award is designed for someone who is not employed in the visitor industry.

    PROPERTY AWARD CATEGORIES

    Good Earthkeeping Award: This award recognizes lodging properties that have developed a culture toward integrating environmental management practices that improve everyday operations and the bottom line while maintaining quality service and meeting guest expectations. The program must demonstrate success in one or more of the following areas:

    • Energy conservation (participation in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program)
    • Solid waste reduction
    • Effluents and emissions
    • Water conservation
    • Purchasing
    • Business issues (guest demands, community issues, land use and development, training, and policy).

    Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award: This award recognizes a hotel that embodies an inclusive work culture, through training, programs and policies that promote the representation of different groups of individuals with impartiality and fairness. Nominees are judged on programs for existing and new employees that showcase best DEI practices and programs.