This Year’s Championship Belt Story

Each December, Ideal Hospitality gathers its leaders from across the Southeast for two days of budget meetings, strategy sessions, and reflections on the year behind us. But no matter how important the business discussions may be, everyone knows the real highlight comes during the annual awards dinner — the passing of the Championship Belt and the announcement of Hotel of the Year.

What began as a simple recognition idea has grown into one of the company’s proudest traditions.

The Championship Belt first began making its rounds in 2018 at the Hyatt Place Savannah Airport, symbolizing operational excellence, teamwork, and the relentless pursuit of improvement. Since then, the Belt has traveled hundreds of miles, passing from team to team as different hotels rose to meet the challenges of their year.

The Holiday Inn Fort Pierce claimed the Belt in both 2019 and 2020, establishing itself as one of the company’s early powerhouses. In 2021, the Hampton Inn Atlanta carried the tradition forward with a standout performance of its own. The Belt then returned to Savannah, where the Holiday Inn Express Chatham Parkway earned the honor in 2022, followed by the Holiday Inn Express Port Wentworth in 2023. In 2024, the LaQuinta Inn McDonough took possession of the Belt after demonstrating remarkable improvement in guest satisfaction, expense control, and overall hotel performance.

Now, for 2025, the Championship Belt returns once again to the team at Holiday Inn Express Fort Pierce.

Led by General Manager Cindy Harper, the Fort Pierce team delivered another exceptional year marked by consistently strong guest satisfaction scores, impressive market performance, and excellent profitability. In an industry where consistency is often harder than occasional success, the team distinguished itself by executing at a high-level day after day, month after month. Their operational discipline, teamwork, and focus on the guest experience made them a clear choice for Hotel of the Year.

As the Belt was passed once again during the annual dinner ceremony, it served as more than just an award. It represented years of hard work, late nights, difficult challenges, and teams across multiple states pushing each other to get better. From Savannah to Fort Pierce to Atlanta and back again, the Belt tells the story of Ideal Hospitality itself — a company built not only on hotels and brands, but on people committed to excellence.

And now, the next chapter belongs to Fort Pierce once more.