Belgravia's hidden gem, Park Place Boutique Guesthouse, has gained national recognition with owner Lizelle Maurice’s second placing in the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur of the Year Awards on Friday.
The casino and hospitality giant hosted the awards, a first of its kind at the Southern Sun Hotel in Pretoria.
Tsogo Sun operations manager Rebone Sesoko said Maurice had displayed her passion for the hospitality business clearly.
“Lizelle personifies a go-getter – she is driven and she depicts what the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur programme is all about,” Sesoko said.
“The fact that she is also doing community work with Salem Babycare Centre was also a strong factor for her because we want people who give back to their communities.”
Sesoko said the six finalists were challenged to find solutions to various depicted scenarios, and the best were selected from their presentations and responses.
“It’s not about how big the place is, which suburb it’s in or even how luxurious it may look, but what appeals to us mostly is how the owners maximise their space and resources.”
Sesoko said although the programme had been running for nearly a decade, they had been hosting awards annually for seven years, but this was the first of its kind because all the hospitality categories were combined.
Lady Frere-born Maurice was selected among six finalists in only her second year of the hospitality business, from 131 entrepreneurs.
Maurice resigned from her previous position as provincial manager for AMC cookware and ventured into the hospitality business after receiving the “Top Manager in South Africa” award in Thailand in 2012.
“All the money in the world cannot buy the wealth of knowledge I have gathered and the wonderful exposure gained from the programme,” Maurice said.
“We were enrolled at the University of Cape Town for a 10-week course in guesthouse management, attending various workshops for marketing strategies, personal branding and financial courses.
“Park Place Boutique Guesthouse is really just an extension of who my husband and I are as individuals.
“We wanted to create a wow-effect in Belgravia and although we are not quite there as yet, we are a work in progress.”
Park Place Boutique Guesthouse was selected as the 2014 Eastern Cape provincial winners of the Lilizela Awards in the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Category, and as third runner-up nationally at the National Department of Tourism.
Maurice and other finalists will remain as brand ambassadors for Tsogo Sun. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
National recognition for EL guesthouse
The casino and hospitality giant hosted the awards, a first of its kind at the Southern Sun Hotel in Pretoria.
Tsogo Sun operations manager Rebone Sesoko said Maurice had displayed her passion for the hospitality business clearly.
“Lizelle personifies a go-getter – she is driven and she depicts what the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur programme is all about,” Sesoko said.
“The fact that she is also doing community work with Salem Babycare Centre was also a strong factor for her because we want people who give back to their communities.”
Sesoko said the six finalists were challenged to find solutions to various depicted scenarios, and the best were selected from their presentations and responses.
“It’s not about how big the place is, which suburb it’s in or even how luxurious it may look, but what appeals to us mostly is how the owners maximise their space and resources.”
Sesoko said although the programme had been running for nearly a decade, they had been hosting awards annually for seven years, but this was the first of its kind because all the hospitality categories were combined.
Lady Frere-born Maurice was selected among six finalists in only her second year of the hospitality business, from 131 entrepreneurs.
Maurice resigned from her previous position as provincial manager for AMC cookware and ventured into the hospitality business after receiving the “Top Manager in South Africa” award in Thailand in 2012.
“All the money in the world cannot buy the wealth of knowledge I have gathered and the wonderful exposure gained from the programme,” Maurice said.
“We were enrolled at the University of Cape Town for a 10-week course in guesthouse management, attending various workshops for marketing strategies, personal branding and financial courses.
“Park Place Boutique Guesthouse is really just an extension of who my husband and I are as individuals.
“We wanted to create a wow-effect in Belgravia and although we are not quite there as yet, we are a work in progress.”
Park Place Boutique Guesthouse was selected as the 2014 Eastern Cape provincial winners of the Lilizela Awards in the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Category, and as third runner-up nationally at the National Department of Tourism.
Maurice and other finalists will remain as brand ambassadors for Tsogo Sun. — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
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