Rota, Sigonella Navy lodges
bring home prestigious awards
By Scott Schonauer, Rota bureau
Anthony Burgos / Stars and Stripes
Capt. Arne Nelson (right), commanding officer of Naval Air Station Sigonella,
presents the Navy Exchange command's Oscar award to the Sicily base's Navy lodge manager,
Carol Schlabaugh. |
NAVAL
STATION ROTA, Spain — Navy lodges in Rota and Sigonella, Sicily, are racking up the
awards this year.
Naval
Station Rota’s lodge has been recognized as one of the top inns industry-wide, while
the Navy has honored Naval Station Sigonella’s lodge for hospitality.
The
American Hotel & Lodging Association Education Institute awarded Rota its first
Performance Plus Meritorious Achievement Award. The institute annually reviews and rates
military and civilian hotels and lodges.
The award
is given to lodging facilities that have continued with the Performance Plus training for
a minimum of six years.
Rota
Manager Francisco Perez Fernandez said he couldn’t believe the lodge won.
"I was
really astonished," he said.
Rota nearly
won the Navy Lodge Program’s version of the "hat trick." Rota was a
finalist for the best medium-sized lodge and nearly won the top hospitality award.
Meanwhile,
the Navy Lodge Program honored Sigonella for having the best hospitality, beating out 16
medium-sized lodges worldwide. The base also won an "Oscar" for the best service
and courtesy out of all of the Navy’s 41 lodges worldwide. Capt. Arne Nelson, the
base’s commanding officer, presented the awards to the lodge staff Wednesday.
"Sigonella
is already a great place," Nelson said during the presentation. "The job you are
doing here at the Navy lodge makes it better."
Carol
Schlabaugh, Sigonella’s lodge manager, said the hospitality award reflects what her
customers think about the facilities, staff and quality of service.
"Our
customer comments, letters and recognition is what won us the award," she said.
"But we also won the award that all managers want … the Oscar."
Customers
comment on the service at the lodge because workers go above and beyond the normal duties
of a Navy Lodge employee, Schlabaugh said.
"The
staff takes care of our guests," she said. "They set up trips and tours, compile
lists of restaurants and sights to see and even draw maps. We do a lot more than our
stateside counterparts."
Fernandez
also credited his workers for Rota’s high marks. The lodge won the top award in the
Navy in 1997.
In addition
to Rota, the institute honored lodges at Whidbey Island, Wash., and Brunswick, Maine, for
excellence in training and performance.
The awards
were presented earlier this month at the 2001 American Hotel & Lodging
Association’s convention in Chicago, Ill.
The Navy
honored three lodges as its best: Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga., won in the small
category; Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., won in the medium-base category; and Naval
Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, won in the large base category.
"I’m
very proud of each and every one of these associates," said Michael Bockelman,
director of the Navy Lodge Program, "not only for winning these awards, but for the
superior service they continually give to our guests."
Stars
and Stripes staff writer Anthony Burgos in Sigonella, Sicily, contributed to this report.
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