SAN DIEGO, CA — The Westgate Hotel is pleased to announce that seven team members were nominated at the 46th Annual Gold Key Awards ceremony. Director of Housekeeping Silvia Karstens received theevent’s top individual honor, Hotel Leader of the Year.

The Gold Key Awards are presented annually by the San Diego hospitality industry to recognize professionals who demonstrate exceptional service, leadership, and contribution to the guest experience. Having seven nominees from a single property is a distinction we do not take lightly.

The following team members represented The Westgate at this year’s ceremony:

• Silvia Karstens  |  Hotel Leader of the Year Winner
• Meli Berisha  |  Guest Services
• Marisela Castellanos  |  Housekeeping
• Yan “Sunny” Sun  |  Food & Beverage, Front of House
• Kathy Velazquez  |  Food & Beverage, Heart of House
• Blanca Guessmann  |  Sales, Marketing & Revenue Management
• Samuel Dame  |  Human Resources

About Silvia Karstens: She began her career at The Westgate in 1981. Over 45 years of service, she has built a housekeeping department recognized consistently for its standards. Westgate Hotel is consistently recognized by TripAdvisor as a Traveler’s Choice destination, and room cleanliness ranks among the top scores in our annual post-stay guest surveys. The supervisors on her team hold a combined 250 years of tenure at this property.

Her recognition as Hotel Leader of the Year speaks to a career defined not by tenure alone, but by the standards she has maintained and the people she has developed along the way.

Please join us in congratulating Silvia, and in recognizing each of the seven Westgate team members honored this year.