It was an award function staged entirely by the staff and students of ITM Institute of Hotel Management. Through the Star Hospitality Awards they showed appreciation for the efforts of the best in the industry. India’s finest food and wine magazine, UpperCrust supported the endeavour.

The jury comprised of Anil Malik, GM, ITC Grand Central, Farzana Contractor, Editor and Publisher, UpperCrust, Ashwini Kakkar, CEO, Mercury Travels, Kamlesh Barot, Director, Encore Hospitality, Kapil Kaul, COO Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Jamshed Daboo, COO Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces and Niraj Chadda, General Manager, Hilton, India.

Held at Taj Lands End, Mumbai, the awards function was exclusively for members of the fraternity. The awards were divided into individual and organization categories.

After a few short speeches which included one by Mr Ramana, the founder of ITM, the awards function was on its way.

The first category of awards was for various organizations. Under this category, ITC-Maurya in New Delhi bagged the award for Best Luxury Hotel. Bal Samand Palace of Jodhpur, adjudged Best Heritage Hotel. For corporate people constantly travelling all over, the need for business hotels is imperative. Keeping the necessary requirements in mind, Mumbai's Hyatt Regency won the award for the Best Business Hotel. JW Marriott was found to be the hotel abiding by environmental policies, creating minimal waste, as well as promoting greenery. They got the Most Environmentally Friendly Hotel award.

Intercontinental Marine Drive of Mumbai, had reasons to cheer. Its restaurant, Kebab Korner won the Best Restaurant for Indian Cuisine, while Celini of Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, and Thai Pavilion of Taj President, Mumbai, won the Best Restaurants for Continental Cuisine and Oriental Cuisine awards respectively.

Soon the evening moved on to the individuals awards. The General Manager of the Year - Luxury Hotel was given to Ranvir Bhandari of ITC Sonar, Kolkata. "My philosophy is that you never run a hotel from the office," announced Bhandari. Jiri Kobos of Hyatt Regency, Mumbai, won the award for being The General Manager of the Year- Business Hotel. ITC Grand Central's, Mumbai, Pran Raina won the award for Executive Housekeeper of the Year. "I, a man, have proved myself in a woman dominated area!" exclaimed Raina, amidst much laughter. Mielle Batliwala and Jason Nuelle of JW Marriott, Mumbai, won awards for Best Human Resource Manager of the Year and F & B Manager of the Year respectively. The Leela's, Mumbai, cheered for Saurabh Bakshi for bagging the award for the Front Office Manager of the Year. R Veeraghavan of Taj President, Mumbai, was awarded the best Training Manager of the Year. "When people ask me the best place to work, I have no answer, but when they ask me the fun place to work, I know it is the Taj," said Veeraghavan as he thanked his colleagues for the award.

Sanjeev Hans of ITC Sheraton, New Delhi, won the award for the Sales and Marketing Manager of the Year. Le Royal Meridien, Mumbai, lauded the work of Chef Fredrik Molinie as he went on stage to collect his award for the Executive Chef of the Year while Chef Santosh Johri won the award for Sous Chef of the Year. Jaymon Devassy of Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, won the Banquet Manager of the Year award. What hotel is complete without a bar? And what bar would be complete without a talented bartender that stirred up just the right concoction for you as you celebrated the good times or whined about the bad? Ravi Kiran was honoured as Bartender of the Year. Ravi stirs up the good life at Taj President, Mumbai.

The jury was unanimous in its decision for the Life Time Achievement Award recipeint - Mr. S.S. Habib Ur Rehman of ITC Limited. Orchid, Mumbai, received a Jury Special Award for continuing to pursue eco-friendliness with great passion.

As the evening progressed, it was evident the wasabi peas were hugely popular and went with the wine, champagne and cocktails that the young students of IHM took around.

The award ceremony was punctuated by breath-taking dance performances by Gazel and her troupe. The troupe danced to 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend' as their opening act. Through the evening, they kept the audience swinging to Celine Dion's 'I'm Alive' and other sensuous numbers like 'Objection Tango' and 'Hips Don't Lie' by Shakira.

All good things come to an end and this one concluded with a lavish dinner with live counters of seafood, kebabs, pasta, tava vegetables and a gastronomic choice of salads.