TOP 3 Hotello of the Year award 2026 announced!

During the annual trade jury meeting of the Hotello of the Year Award, ten Hotello's presented their story in a Pecha Kucha: twenty slides, each twenty seconds in image. According to the professional jury, each of them were impressive presentations full of energy and commitment, making the choice particularly difficult. Each story showed why these Hotello's belong in the Top 10 of the Award.

Hotello of the Year Award 2026

Every year, HotelloTOP presents the Hotello of the Year Award to the Hotello who has distinguished himself or herself in a remarkable way within or outside the hospitality industry. The winner or winner embodies HotelloTOP's core values: hospitality, optimism, energy, social skill, inventiveness, pragmatism, ambition and a strong work ethic. In addition, this person proudly carries the name Hotello.

The expert jury for 2026 consisted of renowned Hotello's: Floris Licht (HTH’03), Marc van Boekholt
(HMSM’94), Menno Djie (TIO’15), Robert Melaard (HMSM’92), Maartje Nelissen (HMSL’10), Caroline van Kessel (HMSM’08), Rachel Persoon (HTH’11), Niek van den Adel (HMSL’08) and Rick de Jonge (BUas’11). The jury was chaired by Stephanie van Oorschot (HMSL’11).

The finalists

All nominees delivered a top performance, had an impressive story and should be proud of their nomination. Among other things, the finalists told how they deployed their Hotello skills and DNA:

Lex Moerke used his Hotello skills to transform the hospitality industry in hospitals. Robin Spierings is using her Hotello DNA to make a meaningful contribution to reducing carbon impact at KLM. Pie Aerts, after a career in the corporate world, made a conscious choice for a new direction and is now committed to wildlife conservation as a photographer.

Follow-up procedure:

The finalists will soon start their online campaigns, in which they will try to garner as many votes as possible. From Monday 1 December 2025, people can vote online for their favourite Hotello for three weeks. These votes will count in the final results of the Award. Follow the finalists and their campaign closely via HotelloTOP's social media channels.