Even at check-in in the venerable rooms of the Viennese noble hotel in the city center you could feel the tense mood. A glass of champagne and many conversations before the doors opened to the event hall. Previously there was a visit to the Arany Spas at Park Hyatt. The spa is one of the best and most luxurious in Vienna. And if you are from the industry, you just can't miss this visit.

Finally it was time and it was allowed to be seated in the beautiful and elegantly decorated event room. The enchanting ORF presenter Olivia Peter also introduced charming this year's program. It started with an appearance of the first-class Elias Meiri Quartet and soon after that the presentation of the nominations started.

After that the gala dinner at the Park Hyatt offered great cuisine with an excellent food sequence such as burratini, char, fried calf's back and delicious sweets. Despite these pleasures, one could feel how the tension in the hall increased.

At 10:15 pm, tension was than at the highest peak, the presentation of the winners began. The results of the awards of last night can be found on the website www.health-spa-award.com.

The winner of the brilliants

A complete overview of the winners can be obtained by clicking on the link!

You will get an overall overview of the nominees by clicking on this link!

An award for innovation and Quality
The 42 nominees this year were able to demonstrate their sovereignty and the quality of their work in ten categories – Best Spa Manger, destination, hotel, medical and Day Spa, as well as the best spas, public baths, treatments and product innovations. Among the categories to be distinguished were first of all the best employees and the best treatments of an establishment, as well as entire spa facilities and latest innovations in the fields of technology and cosmetics. An important part of the selection process for the best submitted product, hotel or spa in the respective category also presented this year not only the judging of the jury but the anonymous test or mystery check. In addition to the prize, the award was endowed with a total value of almost 30,000,- euro.

In assessing undeniably high quality standards, not only a team of experts and passionate mystery testers was helpful, but also the excellent jury of experts, leaders and well known people from the business and media were used for evaluation. For the evaluation in the jury was a holistic view of the company and the SPA as well as eight individual categories authoritative, such as design & technology, health, offer & service, benefits, profitability, sustainability, creativity and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The SPA managers were evaluated in six criteria such as personal competence, operational competence, professional competence, industry competence and creativity.

A representative of the jury, Sven Huckenbeck, who himself was awarded with the "Pink Diamond Award" in Paris for his outstanding achievements as a spa manager, presented on stage at the Park Hyatt the eulogy for the winners.

Not only the multitude of submissions of creative ideas were gratifying, but also the enormously high quality that sets a strong impulse and which clearly makes a further professionalisation of the industry, says Norbert Hintermayer, head of Agency for Health & Wellness. Of course there are also black sheep as well as unfortunately a lot of below-average service, but we like to show with the award that there are also different possibilities, makes Hintermayer clear.

Simply brilliant...
Since 2013, the final score of the participants is also complemented awarded by "brilliants", from a certain number of points. Companies can get 1 to 4 brilliants, if they perform very well in the eyes of the jury and in the opinion of the testers. This will help to differentiate a high performance even better and to communicate a more memorable form to the guests.

Exceptional Show Program
The guests were offered a wonderful event with a musical highlight at the European Health & Spa Award in 2017 at the Park Hyatt. Elias Meiri appeared with his quartet, Clara Montocchio took over the part of the vocals and Janis Raptis on the guitar and Daniel Aeby on the drums provided the right swing. The Israeli Meiri, among others, was at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and played with numerous jazz legends, including Dizzie Gillespie, Dave Liebmann and Steve Mann. This musical program gave the evening even more sparkle.

Photos & Download

Picture Link: Winner Photo 2017
Caption: Left to right: Philipp Galluschke (Landsberg, D), Mirella Prandelli (Le Fay, IT), Johannes Mikenda (Schloss Elmau, D), Nicole Schedlbauer (Asia Spa Leoben), Florian Perteneder (Therme Laa, A), Lena Franz (Vitalis, IT), Wolfgang        Wieser (Therme Loipersdorf, A) Harald Kitz (haki, A), Annette Fink (Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, CH), Wolfgang Kölbl (Therme Loipersdorf, A), Michael Landsberg (Landsberg, D), Maddalena Riva (Borgo Egnazia, IT), Stephanie Breitschädel (Lanserhof, A), Patrizia Bortolin (Borgo Egnazia, IT)
© Agency for Health & Wellness / bakography

Link: Winner & nominated 2017
Caption: The winners and 42 nominees of the European Health & Spa Awards 2017 ©Agency for Health & Wellness / bakography

Pictures of the gala can be downloaded soon in high resolution under this link!

The photos are free of charge for editorial publication! Please list the copyright. The pictures for the award are Copyright ©Agency for Health & Wellness / bakography

More information on www.health-spa-award.com.

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Contact for inquiries:
Gabriele Lasser, MA
Agency for Health & Wellness
Redtenbachergasse 1/20, 1160 Vienna
Phone: +43 1 33 22 056
Email: infoathealth-spa-award.com
Web: www.health-spa-award.com