We are nominated for a major award…again!

Back in 2018 BC (Before Covid), we were just receiving our first guests at the new Pangolin Chobe Hotel when we received notification that we had already been nominated for an international award – Africa’s Leading New Hotel no less!

This was a huge moment for us made even bigger when we actually won it!

Guts and I rented tuxedos and jetted off to the awards ceremony and returned triumphantly to huge fanfare with a trophy (now proudly displayed in the reception area). This win was dedicated to all the hard work that Guts and his team had put in to make the dream of the hotel become a reality…and it was very much deserved.

Roll forwards to 2023 AC and we have now been nominated for an award again. This time Botswana’s Leading Hotel at the World Travel Awards.

Toby and Guts after they had won the award for Africa’s Leading New Hotel.

This time around our competition, in the category , comes from heavy hitters in the Botswana hospitality scene – Peermont, Avani and Protea…..all multi-million dollar companies and most importantly all of them based in Gaborone. In fact, this award has never been won by a property in the north of the country…a fact we are desperate to change! “Let’s win it for Chobe!” is our battle cry!

When we applied for our tourism license back in 2018, we were told that as we were not within a reserve or protected area (although the Chobe National Park boundary is literally 100m away) we were required to call ourselves a hotel. Yes, you could say that this irked us a little at first but actually when we thought about it, being different is what Pangolin is all about, so we have celebrated our difference ever since.

Unfortunately, the odds are a little against us as votes cast by members of the tourism industry are counted as double over the public voters. The Hotel operators mentioned above have vast networks of tour operator suppliers (not to mention their employees) that they can call on to vote for them.

As the majority of our guests book directly with us our base of “potential double voters is smaller” however we are blessed with the most fantastic guests and clients we could hope for and we are sure they will help us over the line!

Below you will see the super simple steps you need to take to vote for the Pangolin Chobe Hotel as Botswana’s Leading Hotel. You will have to register with an email to be able to cast your vote, but you can choose not to receive any comms from them. They are not a spammy organization anyway!

The vote is not restricted to only people who have stayed with us…you can vote for us just because you like what we do….and when you do come and stay feel free to have a pic taken with our new trophy. It will be yours as much as ours!

Voting takes less than 2 mins and we would really appreciate your help and you can’t imagine the joy that a win like this would bring all our staff at the hotel. To win one over the giants of the Botswana hospitality industry would be fantastic.

Thank you so much,

Toby, Guts and Team Pangolin

Here’s a quick video from Toby to explain how it works.

Voting is now open and runs until midnight on 30 April 2023.