We did it again. This year's trip to the World Luxury Awards (WLA) gala ceremony took Rhulani's owner Rolf Steiner to a very special place: Galgorm near the Northern Irish capital of Belfast. Surrounded by the palpable happiness and pride of a small, up-and-coming nation, with local violin sounds (they call it “Fiddle”) and, of course, whiskey as a good accompaniment, Rolf was able to accept the trophy for the world's best "Luxury Bush Lodge".
Before the lavish party, there was some time to get to know the peculiarities typical of Northern Ireland. This included a tour of the impressive Titanic Museum, cocktail preparation and a whiskey tasting, happy people everywhere, and of course the bad weather and the pleasant Northern Irish accent (which Rolf unfortunately couldn’t understand) were not to be missed.
The party took place in the Galgorm Resort & Spa, one of the world's best luxury golf and spa resorts, in the birthplace of Rolf's favorite actor Liam Neeson. As a relaxing preparation before the big evening, Rolf wandered around the huge gardens in his bathrobe from whirlpool to bathing pools to outdoor saunas and so he had short chats with some of the other winners of the Hotel Awards.
Soon it was time to get ready for the evening gala with taxido, bow tie and cufflinks. Almost 200 other guests were invited, including winners from all over the world. Rhulani Safari Lodge looks back on an extremely successful past at the World Luxury Awards, and so it was not entirely unexpected that Rolf was called on stage as the winner for the eleventh time in a row and accepted the trophy for the “Best Luxury Bush Lodge - Global Winner".
"This great award is only possible thanks to our excellent employees, who give their best every day," said Rolf in an interview, adding: "Since we have won this trophy eleven times in a row, we can safely say that ensuring luxury in the bush and the best quality of service for guests no longer requires an extraordinary effort from us in Rhulani. This is now so deeply rooted that it is part of our DNA."
Our thanks also go to all our loyal guests, business partners and friends who voted for us in August. We look forward to continuing to surprise our guests with new ideas and services in the future.
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