NEW YORK, NY-November 22, 2016- HX: The Hotel Experience—Rooms to Restaurants, formally the International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show (IHMRS)– announced the winners of the Editor’s Choice Awards, TECHPitch, and Tabletop Challenge during the November 13-15, 2016 Show held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Five exhibitors received Editor’s Choice Awards recognizing best new products within the categories of food & beverage, foodservice equipment, guest amenities, hotel products and technology. From the five winners, the Kenneth F. Hine “Best of Show” Award also was selected.
The 2016 Editor’s Choice Awards winners are:
- FOOD & BEVERAGE: Juicero (San Francisco, CA.) Juicero is the first ever professional-quality, countertop cold-press juicer. It presses plant-based organic Produce Packs that are delivered 100% fresh in minutes, at the touch of a button, eliminating all the typical prep and cleanup.
- FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT: Elkay Foodservice (Stow, OH.) Elkay’s Blubar Countertop dispenses hygienically safe chilled sparkling, chilled still and ambient temperature water at an economical price point. Its UV Purification System acts as a strong sterilizer preventing bacterial growth and cross contamination on the dispenser.
- GUEST AMENITIES: Ernest Sports (Norcross, GA.) The ES Simulation Package is a high definition golf amenity, offering customers access to over 110,000 courses – including some of the most famous in the world – and a free driving range app. The ES16 Tour launch monitor combines both Doppler radar and photometric cameras to provide the most accurate shot data available.
- HOTEL PRODUCTS: Ramler International (Jericho, NY.) The Connect Chair is the world’s first conference chair to charge smart phones. It also includes a sturdy steel frame, luxury ergonomic seat, flexible backrest for lumbar support, molded high-density foam, integrated coat hook, and is stackable to 10 chairs.
- TECHNOLOGY: AeraMax Pro (Itasca, IL.) AeraMax Professional commercial-grade air purifiers helps provide guests a cleaner, healthier environment by reducing odors and capturing up to 99.9% of germs, viruses and allergens.
The Kenneth F. Hine “BEST OF SHOW” Award was presented to Ramler International.
Judges for the 21st Editor’s Choice Awards were: Kris Burnett, Hospitality Upgrade; Michael Scinto, Total Foodservice; Christine Trauthwein, Hotel Business and Dave Turner, TabletopJournal.com.
The 4th Annual Tabletop Challenge winner was Tina Delia from the Philadelphia, PA design firm of Tina Delia Designs. With her table titled “Tea for 2”, Delia bested three other teams in a vote of HX attendees.
“The Tabletop Challenge event is beyond fun. I love competing because as a designer it challenges you, and you have to put yourself out there! In addition, there’s huge energy in the convention hall. It’s really a great event,” said Delia.
The Tabletop Challenge was co-presented by the HX and TabletopJournal.com and was hosted by its publisher, Dave Turner.
The 2nd annual TECHPitch winner was Zottle (Lexington, MA), for its No App Required technology. In describing the service, Zottle President, Christos Perakis explained, “The importance of Apps in hospitality is growing proportional to the difficulty in getting guests to download and use them. Apps can allow guests to check-in, order room service, view local weather and attractions, re-book and overall become a happier more profitable customer. Unfortunately, less than 5% of hotel guests download hotel Apps. This is where Zottle's new "No App Required" feature comes in. Zoottle is able to run a hotel's App via any browser, thus ALL guests have access to the hotel's App on their computer, tablet and/or smartphone, not just the 5% that have downloaded it.”
As winner of TECHpitch, Zottle will receive a free 10×10 booth at HX 2017.
TECHPitch allowed eight finalists—all HX exhibitors– to showcase their unique products in a presentation with the winner chosen by a panel of judges made up of hospitality industry thought leaders: Valerie Ferguson – VP of Operations + Innovation/Disney, Dave Lorenzini – CEO/EFX and Nicole Carlino – Tech Editor/Hotel Business.
For more information about HX, its competition winners, and the overall show, visit www.thehotelexperience.com
