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Hospitality Awards Return

In February, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce hosted the Hospitality Awards at the Hilton Garden Inn Reagan National Airport. The event, sponsored by StayArlington, honored 66 front-line workers in Arlington’s hospitality industry. This is the 17th Hospitality Awards and the first since the pandemic. These prestigious awards are presented to hospitality workers who deliver outstanding customer service, exhibit excellence in their roles, and continuously exceed their job descriptions. During the awards ceremony, Kate Bates read inspiring testimonials of how each Hospitality Superstar Award winner has displayed integrity and dedication in his or her work, along with examples of how they care for guests above and beyond the call.

Among those awarded was Odilia Ruiz of Residence Inn Arlington Ballston. On one occasion, housekeeping linen orders were delayed with no delivery date, so she brought her sewing machine from home and started making pillowcases with clean and recycled linen. As a result of her thinking outside of the box and going the extra mile, the housekeeping team were able to have the necessary supplies for guest rooms. To learn more about this year’s award winners, visit arlingtonchamber.org/hospitality-awards.